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Ian C. Ireland

@iancireland

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Creative Director @mrianworld
Founder & Head Nose @olfactorydept
Travel Advisor @foratravel

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@michelinguide has been handing out hotel Keys across Australia and New Zealand, and I wanted to know what they actually tell us.

One Key means a very special stay. Two means exceptional. Three means extraordinary, the sort of hotel Michelin considers a destination in itself. @mountmulliganlodge has one. @jackalopehotels has two. @southernoceanlodge was promoted to three this year.

I have no trouble believing these are good hotels. I’m interested in the space between the award and the guest’s experience. Michelin talks about character, design, service, consistency and value. I’d love to know how often an inspector stays, what they notice when something goes wrong, and what, in practice, moves a hotel from one Key to two.

I’ve been trained in LQA and Forbes Five-Star standards That training has left me with a habit of noticing the smaller things: whether someone remembers a request, how a room has been maintained, and what happens after the impressive arrival photograph has done its job.

The carousel explains the Keys. The longer piece is on Substack, where I have a few more questions for the Michelin Man.

#travel #hotels #michelinguide #australia by @iancireland

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17 days ago

Japan in winter seems to require two entirely different wardrobes.

One for Tokyo and Kyoto, where I’ll inevitably spend too much time in tiny bars, hotel lobbies and shops selling one very beautiful object I absolutely do not need. The other for Hakuba and Hokkaido, where the plan becomes snow, an onsen and being back inside before dinner.

So this edit is really a collection of places I’d like to stay along the way.

TRUNK and K5 in Tokyo. Nazuna Kyoto Nijo-jo. House of Finn Juhl in Hakuba. Mūwa Niseko. The Knot Sapporo.
There are bigger names, newer openings and considerably more expensive rooms across Japan.

These are simply the ones that caught my eye. A converted bank in Tokyo. A machiya in Kyoto. Finn Juhl furniture in the Japanese Alps. A ski hotel where I could quite happily decide skiing was optional.

Consider this the shortlist before someone gives me a credit card and things get out of hand.

#foratravel #japan #traveladvisor #foracommunity by @iancireland

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24 days ago

I’ve spent a lot of my life in hotels.

Working in them. Inspecting them. Opening them. Travelling between them. And, occasionally, arriving at one far too late at night and discovering the only thing left on room service is a club sandwich.

So joining Fora Travel as an independent travel advisor feels like a fairly natural extension of something I’ve already been doing for years: noticing what makes a hotel, a city or a journey worth remembering.

I’m interested in the places with a point of view. The small hotel doing something beautifully. The restaurant you hear about from the person behind the bar. Taking the ferry instead of an Uber because the journey is actually better. And knowing when the grand hotel really is worth the money.

I’ll be sharing more of those places here through City Notes, beginning with Sydney, alongside hotels and journeys I think are genuinely worth travelling for.

Ian Ireland × Fora Travel
Places. People. Culture. Good days.

#foratravel by @iancireland

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a month ago

Travel Notes / Adelaide / Part 1

I’ve always enjoyed arriving somewhere with a plan, then finding myself doing something entirely different.

Adelaide was a little like that. Long lunches, good wine, conversations with locals and a few unexpected discoveries.

There’s a real appreciation for craftsmanship here, from JamFactory to R.M.Williams.

I tend to travel with my nose as much as my eyes. The smell of an old building or a restaurant preparing for dinner often stays with me longer than what I actually saw.

A few notes from Adelaide. @iancireland taken in Brisbane by @iancireland

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a day ago

THE HOTEL EDIT / SURF HOTELS

We packed the boards, a couple of T-shirts and that's about it. (Jokes, I took 3 cases)

There's something about a good surf town. Early mornings, sandy feet, coffee before you've properly woken up and the sort of afternoon where lunch somehow turns into dinner.

And you don't actually have to surf to appreciate any of it.

For this month's Hotel Edit, I've pulled together a few places around Australia where the accommodation is just as interesting as the coastline. A mix of old-school motels, beautifully considered little hotels and places that understand the appeal of doing very little.

No elaborate itinerary required. Just check the swell, find somewhere good for breakfast and see where the day goes.

A little Australian summer inspiration, before the Christmas madness begins.

#TheHotelEdit #SurfHotels #AustralianHotels #BoutiqueHotels #SurfTravel ForaTravel AustralianSummer by @iancireland

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a day ago

WHAT WE CARRY.

We don't just put products in a tin.

We put some thought into what goes in there, and more importantly, why.

An old teddy bear. A camera. A ticket from somewhere. A few things that probably mean absolutely nothing to anyone else.

I've always been interested in the things people keep. Especially the things that have very little monetary value but somehow survive every house move, relationship and attempt at decluttering.

Fragrance is a bit like that.

You can spend months developing something beautiful, but it's the person wearing it, the place they wore it, or what was happening in their life at the time that gives it meaning.

So when we started putting together What We Carry, I didn't want another photograph of products arranged neatly in a box.

I wanted to know what else might be in there.

The things we keep. The things we lose. The things we can't quite bring ourselves to throw away.

And somewhere amongst all of that, a little fragrance.

MR IAN | WHAT WE CARRY.

#MrIan #WhatWeCarry #NicheFragrance #ObjectsOfAffection #AustralianPerfumery by @iancireland

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a day ago

Before You're Ready.

I've spent a ridiculous amount of time waiting to be ready.

Ready to launch something. Ready to share an idea. Ready to put something into the world that other people might have an opinion about.

I'll change the name, adjust the packaging, revisit the photograph, question the entire idea and then convince myself it just needs another week.

I've always called it attention to detail. And sometimes it is. Other times, I suspect it's a rather elaborate way of avoiding the possibility of getting something wrong.

When I started Mr Ian, I wanted to create things that meant something to me. Fragrances, objects and stories that came from my own experiences and observations.

Somewhere along the way, I forgot that I was allowed to trust my own judgement.

So I'm trying something different.

Backing my ideas. Making decisions. Putting things into the world while there's still a little uncertainty attached to them.

Not everything will work. Some things will probably be terrible. I'll undoubtedly look back at a few decisions and wonder what on earth I was thinking.

But at least they'll exist.

Before You're Ready.

I think that's what Mr Ian has been about all along. I just hadn't quite worked it out yet.

Yes, that's fragance in the fridge..

#beforeyoureready #mrian #backyourself #fragrancebelongsinthefridge #defender by @iancireland

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2 days ago

I've been thinking about Christmas fragrances.

Which is slightly ridiculous when it's October and Brisbane is already getting warm.

While I was away for Veuve Clicquot's Le Picnic, I found myself thinking about the smell of a long lunch. Champagne, grass, warm air, the sort of afternoon where nobody is particularly interested in looking at the time.

Then I started thinking about Christmas.

I've spent the last two Christmases by the sea. No snow, no roaring fireplaces, no cinnamon-covered everything.

Just salt on your skin, sunscreen, open windows, cold drinks and the peculiar feeling of not knowing what day it is.

So I've been back at the fragrance table, playing with a few ideas.

The scent of a field. The long lunch. Christmas by the sea.

I'm rather taken with the last one.

Although I suspect I'll end up making all three. by @iancireland

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3 days ago

BORROW MY 24HRS: TOWNSVILLE

I spend a fair bit of time in Townsville, usually on my way to or from Orpheus Island or Pelorus. And while most people see it as a stopover, I've developed a bit of a soft spot for the place.

It's not somewhere I'd necessarily tell you to spend a week, but give me 24 hours and I can find plenty to keep myself entertained.

I'd check into Ardo (I'm biased), find somewhere for a drink, spend more than I intended at Hause of Wilde, eat pasta at Shop Six and probably convince myself that gelato from Juliette's counts as sightseeing.

The next morning, coffee at Pedlar Project and, if I'm feeling particularly ambitious, Castle Hill at sunrise. The views are worth it, although my enthusiasm for early mornings is somewhat less reliable.

This isn't a guide to everything you should do in Townsville. It's just what I'd do with 24 hours, a room key and nowhere particularly urgent to be.

And sometimes, that's quite enough.

#BorrowMy24Hrs #Townsville #NorthQueensland #ForaTravel #MrIan by @iancireland

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5 days ago

Back in the lab after a couple of weeks away.

A return to raw materials, quiet experimentation and the slow process of refinement.

Fresh perspective.
New ideas taking shape. Stay tuned. taken in Brisbane by @iancireland

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6 days ago

There was already a scent in the room. The fireplace.

When we began working with @beechmontestate one of the challenges was the in-room fireplaces.

They’re part of what makes being there feel so good, particularly on a cold Scenic Rim morning, but they also leave smoke hanging in the air.

We didn’t want to cover that with something fresh or make the room even woodier.

I kept thinking about wool.

Something soft, warm and comforting. The olfactory equivalent of the blanket you pull over yourself with the fire still going.

We eventually landed on saffron, musk, moss, cedarwood and spice.

Enough presence to soften the smokiness in the room, without taking away the thing that made it feel like Beechmont in the first place. taken in Beechmont Estate by @iancireland

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7 days ago

Like creating an atmosphere, the design process for a shoot begins months in advance with research, references and refinement.

Every detail considered before the day comes together.

Behind The Scenes, we’re working on our next content project. Stay Tuned. taken in Brisbane by @iancireland

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8 days ago