an experience at the ho-jo....

what makes your home “home”. is it where all your stuff is, or is it a certain feeling that emits from our hearts once we get there? i love home. this weekend, bryce and I came home to new hampshire for the long holiday weekend. it was a spur of the moment decision, which i am happy we made! we left friday ~ bryce met me at work and we started driving at 4pm. by 7pm we had FINALLY made it out of the DC/Balitmore area. it was the worst traffic i have ever experienced (ok I’m being dramatic and am exaggerating…. but still, it was really really bad). 

stunning reception desk. this one has an area for accessibility.

we decided we had to stop in new york for the night and sadly our budget only allowed us to stay at the four seasons of newbourgh, new york….. howard johnson’s. we walked into the hotel room and i instantly felt like i needed a shower, and wanted to lock the doors immediately behind me. the room was dreary, outdated, and felt unsafe. it also had an interesting scent to it, one that reminded me of an old person and sour milk. it made me think a lot about how we perceive our surroundings and what makes us comfortable. what DOES make us comfortable? how come a dingy hotel room does nothing for me and makes me feel a certain way, even though i’m only staying there for less than 10 hours? 

beautiful hotel room. sleek and yet comfortable.

when I went to check in to the lovely hotel, i instantly started thinking about how this hotel wasn’t ADA compliable. the reception desk was way over the normal acceptable height. it was uncomfortable for me, even, and i am almost 5’8”. i started thinking about how awkward the counter was… it was at least 5’ in height. who designed that? clearly they didn’t have a good knowledge of accessibility. how would a person in a wheelchair converse with the person behind the counter? another thing both bryce and i realized was the doors in the hotel room – they opened the wrong way. and they were SO skinny. when you design interiors you have to think about these things. i am writing this short post to not only further show why interior design should be a profession, but why it really does impact society. as simple as a hotel making you feel uncomfortable, and if there really was an emergency, would this hotel allow for the egress that needs to happen?