About IHN
With the increased demand for accessible hotels and sleeping accommodation to cater for people with a range of impairments and user needs (including families), there is a need to explore how access to, and use of, accessible bedrooms can be as inclusive as possible to all guests while also understanding client needs and requirements for a room that can be let to all.
There is also a need for guidance on how to make hotels and sleeping accommodation to be user-friendly for hoteliers, B & B owners and other guest room operators, who may be aware of their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 but may not know how to go about making their accommodation inclusive, not just for the purpose of avoiding legal action but for the comfort of all of their guests.
The IHN first convened to address these issues in 2012. The group now meets every 1-3 months to share knowledge, experience and ideas and generate user-friendly guidance documents. All members give their time and expertise free of charge and include hotel operators, access consultants, occupational therapists, product designers and others involved in inclusive design or policy. The network is currently led by Rachael Marshall and supported by CAE and Arup.
The IHN has published two guidance documents to date: Access to Hotels for People with Hearing Loss (November 2016, updated in October 2017), written by Chris Harrowell and the IHN, and The Use of Hoists in Guest Accommodation (October 2017, updated in 2018). A comprehensive resource about Sanitary Facilities in Guest Accommodation is currently in development, which will complement the guidance in BS 8300-2: 2018.
IHN publications:
- Access to Hotels for People with Hearing Loss;
- The Use of Hoists in Guest Accommodation; and
- Sanitary Facilities in Guest Accommodation (in progress).
Contact the IHN
If you would like to join the network, find out more or have comments on the guidance documents please contact
You can also visit IHN on LinkedIn and follow the group on Twitter.
The next meeting of IHN is planned for:
Date: Wednesday April 3rd, 2024
Time: 15:00 - 16:30
Venue: online (Teams).
If you would like to join the meeting pleae contact
The IHN is well-known in the access and inclusion world, but it would be great to get more operators on board because these are the people who can really make a difference to guest experiences. To date our achievements have included:
- Involvement with the inaugural Bespoke Access Award (link to RIBA page);
- Publication of Access to Hotels for People with Hearing Loss (link to IHN / CAE page);
- Publication of The Use of Hoists in Guest Accommodation (Same link as above);
- Advanced but not-quite-ready-for-publication development of Accessible En Suites in Guest Accommodation;
- The Hoists document is referenced in BS 8300-2:2018;
- Various talks at conferences; and
Collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management faculty (link to CMU course page);