Our knowledge is personal.

Tracey Delaney, Co-Founder

A life lived from Japan to France

A relationship with Japan that began in childhood.

My relationship with Japan began in the late 1980s, when I was selected to represent my school in an exchange programme between New York City and Tokyo junior high schools.

I spoke little Japanese. My host family spoke little English. Yet the experience felt remarkably natural. Japan was intriguing and unfamiliar, but at the same time I felt an unexpected sense of familiarity.

I returned to Japan through university, spending a year at Waseda University, followed by work as a Coordinator for International Relations in Yokohama through the JET Programme. I later built a corporate consulting career with Deloitte in Tokyo. I speak fluent Japanese.

Those experiences gave me more than destination knowledge through years of travel and living. They shaped my understanding of cultural context, communication and the importance of seeing a place on its own terms.

From Japan to sake.

Years later, questions from friends and fellow travellers about Japanese sake made me realise there was another part of Japanese culture I wanted to understand properly.

In 2017, I studied for the SSI International Kikisakeshi qualification in London. What began as a desire to answer questions about sake became a genuine fascination with its diversity, craftsmanship, history and modern expression.

Since then, I have visited breweries, led tastings and talks, and co-founded the world’s first brewery dedicated to sparkling sake, The Sparkling Sake Brewery.

Sake has reinforced something I have come to value about travel: the more you understand the people and traditions behind something, the richer the experience becomes.

The world through the lens of the best service brands

Before Maison V, I spent 15 years at American Express, one of the world’s leading service brands, leading brand and marketing teams globally. That experience shaped my understanding of what makes an experience truly remarkable — the attention to detail, the quality of service, the thoughtful touches and the feeling of being genuinely valued.

Through my career, I gained exposure to an exceptional portfolio of hotels, travel experiences and service standards, and developed a deep appreciation for the value of travel — not just in monetary terms, but in the joy, perspective and lasting memories it brings. It also gave me a valuable understanding of credit cards, loyalty programmes, points, benefits and travel partnerships, knowledge that informs the way we approach every Maison V journey.

I now spend my time between France, USA and Japan — fluent in French and deeply rooted in the regions and cultural fabric.

Why Maison V: The Co-Founders

Maison V brings together this personal history with the complementary experience of my fellow founders, Lachlin and Chris. Both seasoned travellers and erudite wine and sake scholars. Chris is one of the world’s few Master Sommeliers and Lachlin is a WSET Level 3 in Wine and Sake Scholar.

Together, we draw on our knowledge of Japan, France, wine, food, hospitality and travel to help clients make thoughtful choices about where to go, where to stay and how to experience a place.

We do not believe every journey needs to be elaborate, expensive or planned down to the last minute. We believe it should reflect the person taking it.

Sometimes that means a specialist introduction. It is also the thinking behind our Provenance Sessions — place-specific encounters curated to bring a region to life. Sometimes it means choosing a less obvious place to stay. Sometimes it means knowing when to use a benefit you already have, or when to leave a day unplanned.

That is the spirit behind Maison V.

Travel with provenance. Places understood, experiences considered, journeys designed around you.

— Tracey Delaney, Founder

The founders

Three complimentary perspectives, decades of authentic experience and expertise, and a shared belief that the best journeys are built on understanding rather than convention.