New Title Now Available

Well, I’m happy to announce that my newest book, There is Room at the Inn was released this week. Looking back, it was a very tough book to research, as it contains 117 properties in 40 states. In reality those numbers only paint part of the picture. The book evolved from my popular InnSider column in Emerging Horizons and the research spanned over a period of four years, during which time I interviewed over 700 innkeepers. I lost track of how many properties I visited. Not all of them made the cut.

Although my goal is to describe the access so people can make appropriate choices, the properties included had to have an minimal level of access in order to be considered. Two examples of items that got properties axed were stairs as the only access to the property and a Victorian claw foot bathtub in the accessible guest room. I still can’t figure out the bathtub, but the owner loudly proclaimed that it was accessible because his quad friend say it was. I just sort of shook my head and continued on my way.

Of course innkeeper attitude also played a large role in my selection, as guests want to be welcomed not merely accommodated. I was thrilled to find a good number of innkeepers who actually went out of their way to make their properties accessible. Of course I also happened across the occasional jerk, like the one who said he wanted to be included in my book but he didn’t want his access mentioned because he was afraid that "disabled people would scare off his normal guests". (his words not mine). He didn’t get it on so many levels.

On the plus side, I’ve had some very positive feedback about the title and I’ve even had a few innkeepers contact me to tell me about their accessible inns (for the second edition).

So, check it out at www.EmergingHorizons.com/inn.