Magnetic north

It’s the small touches that elevate the experience of staying in the new Flynn hotel in Cairns. Sure the 311room five-star hotel has plush rooms and an enviable position in the CBD overlooking the Esplanade, lagoon pool and the smudge of hills rolling down to the water. But in the fridge there’s a welcome bottle cocktail of Davidson Plum negroni made nearby at craft distillery Wolf Lane, in the wardrobe a yoga mat awaits to help stretch the rigours of your journey away and water is in reusable glass bottles and cardboard containers as part of a hotelwide initiative to cut waste.

It adds a more intimate sense of connection for guests already likely dazzled by the headline features of a day spa and two suspended, glass-ended pools with views across the esplanade to the Coral Sea, one flamboyantly situated above the Boardwalk Social dining precinct.

Flynn is the third luxury Cairns hotel in the Crystalbrook Collection, opening in late 2020 to join the Bailey and Riley in a massive investment by Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud.

Ready to beckon guests out of their rooms with super-comfortable king-sized beds, rainforest showers and fast wi-fi are in-house restaurant Flynn’s Italian, where cocktails include a cane cutter’s mojito, the rump steak is from Crystalbrook Station, three hours inland, and there’s Far North Queensland prawn linguini, sustainably caught reef fish, and Daintree barramundi.

Downstairs at Boardwalk Social it’s a more lively, casual vibe, with a long bar dispensing 36 beers on tap and 40 gins, live music, plenty of TVS to catch up on sport and an array of pub food including burgers, tacos, salads, battered barramundi and chips and pizza. Or pop into Whiskey and Wine for a nightcap.