‘There are more luxury hotels that welcome dogs than disabled guests'
When luxury travel is done right, it anticipates your needs before you even arrive. Whether it's setting your villa to exactly 22.5C, choosing the thread count of your sheets, or dispatching a 'bath butler' to prepare your soak with hand-picked salts and a curated soundtrack, no request is too niche.
This is what luxury promises: personalisation, exclusivity and ease; everything money can buy and, more enticingly, everything it can't.
It's precisely this culture of precision and guest-centred service that should make luxury travel the ideal environment for disabled guests. After all, in a world where pillows can be tailored to your cervical curve and a preferred brand of spring water shipped in ahead of arrival, surely accommodating access requirements, like a roll-in shower or sensory-friendly dining space, should be par for the course.
And yet, the needs of disabled travellers have long been absent from the luxury travel conversation. While properties the world over have rushed to become pet-friendly, family-friendly, eco-friendly, few have stopped to consider what it means to be truly human-friendly. But at the intersection of luxury and accessibility lies an overdue truth: the highest standard of service is one that includes everyone.
As a wheelchair user, I've experienced the jarring disconnect between how luxury is presented and how it's actually delivered for disabled guests. Physical barriers are more common than you would expect (steps into reception or stairs within the rooms) but equally as limiting are the attitudinal (staff who check me in with a confused or awkward look on their face) and financial (stays costing more because only suite-level rooms have been adapted for wheelchair users) barriers.
Last week, Inclusive Luxury Hotels (IHL) – a new discovery and booking platform from accessibility specialist IncluCare, part of the Inclu Group – launched, along with a promise to revolutionise what it means to be both luxurious and inclusive.
For the first time, disabled travellers now have a trusted, independent way to find high-end hotels that don't just claim accessibility, but prove it.
To make the cut, each property has undergone a rigorous audit, encompassing not only physical access but also service and booking transparency. That last part is crucial; accessible rooms must be visible and instantly bookable online as, according to Inclu, an estimated $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in accessible room stock goes unsold each year simply because it's invisible.
Making that inventory discoverable is quietly radical, long overdue and a win-win for both travellers and the industry.
Behind this effort is travel industry stalwart Richard Thompson, chief executive and co-founder of Inclu, himself disabled following a spinal cord injury in 1986. Thompson has long been one of the most vocal disrupters in this space and launched ILH with trademark candour. 'There are more luxury hotels that welcome dogs than disabled guests.' It's a shocking line, but painfully true.
The World Health Organisation counts 1.6 billion disabled people worldwide; add travelling friends and families and you're staring at a spending power north of $13 trillion. In Britain alone the 'purple pound' is worth £274 billion. Most of that money is eager to flow, but with little information on where we can spend it, our choices are limited from the outset.
IncluCare's verification process is both rigorous and refreshingly holistic. It begins with a comprehensive appraisal of the property's infrastructure and guest experience, followed by a bespoke and thorough education programme for all staff. Adjustments are then made, from physical adaptations to improved booking processes, before a property earns Verified status.
Only then can it appear on the ILH platform. Amilla Maldives was the first hotel in the world to achieve Verified status and my stay there was genuinely unforgettable. I didn't have to advocate for myself at every turn. The access was already there, elegant, thoughtful and seamlessly woven into my stay. Other hotels currently on the platform include urban retreats Pan Pacific London and Conrad London St James.
Top-tier properties are also awarded star ratings, indicating the extent to which they've evolved. A five-star rating, for instance, signifies at least two years of continuous development, staff-wide training and the introduction of assistive technology such as pool or spa access for guests with reduced mobility, or tools to support those with sensory and cognitive disabilities. These aren't surface-level tweaks that merely meet basic accessibility compliance; they're operational shifts grounded in a new understanding of inclusivity, excellence and, of course, luxury.
Only when staff can read a set of access needs the way a sommelier reads a wine list, suggesting the perfect combination of equipment, room category and accessible experiences, will Thompson be satisfied. IncluCare's training covers everything from how to guide a blind guest to a sunset bar to how to offer a quiet dining corner for someone with sensory sensitivity and how to phrase assistance without stripping us of our agency.
What really sets this platform apart is its mindset. Thompson calls it 'conscious inclusivity' – a shift away from tick-box accessibility, towards a broader, more human view of what it means to be welcoming. It's about acknowledging that disabled guests don't just want to be accommodated – they want to enjoy, indulge and experience luxury on their own terms, just like anyone else.
With 11 more hotels in the pipeline, give it 24 months and we will soon see a global map of verifiably inclusive hideaways. ILH guarantees a layer of certainty that this sector – and the industry at large – has mistakenly overlooked: a promise that in these hotels, everyone can check in knowing their needs, no matter what they are, will be met. And if that's not the very definition of five-star hospitality, I don't know what is.
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