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Doreen
Pendgracs |
Business / Entrepreneurship Samples: SETTING
A NEW PRECEDENT IN ACCOMMODATIONS When you haven’t actually sat in a wheelchair, it’s hard to imagine each and every obstacle that may stand in your way. “In standard hotels, even the handicapped rooms are not fully accessible to the disabled. In my resort, every room and every amenity will be 100 per cent wheelchair accessible,” says Jenny Tarrant, the owner and designer of Down By the Sea Resort, a work-in-progress set to open this September in picturesque rural Newfoundland. Tarrant knows how difficult travel can be for the physically challenged. Less than three years ago, she was in a serious head-on collision when another driver ran into the truck in which she was a passenger. The other driver was killed. The driver of the vehicle in which Tarrant was riding suffered critical head injuries. Tarrant suffered severe internal injuries, was hospitalized for six months and remains paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the accident. “I’m not supposed to be alive, but I believe my stubborn Newfoundland roots saw me through all this,” she said. Then just 33-years-old, Tarrant was living in British Columbia and knew very little of her Newfoundland heritage. “I’d been living a fast-paced life on the West Coast, was involved in the entertainment industry and had been running a small restaurant in downtown Vancouver,” said Tarrant. “I’d previously only met one of my Newfoundland cousins, but when the accident happened, something drew me back to the land of my father’s family and it has given me the strength to not only survive, but to thrive.” Indeed, Tarrant has used her accumulated knowledge as an avid traveler, her determination not to succumb to being a victim and her self-taught computer skills to design what she believes to be the first resort created by a physically challenged individual specifically for the physically challenged market. “My goal is to set a new precedent in accommodations. I grew tired of paying the same rates as anyone else for a hotel room and then not being able to enjoy any of the amenities. In my resort, even the swimming pool will be accessible to the physically disabled and with careful planning and research it’s not costing me any more than a traditional facility of this size would have cost to build.” Self-taught in CAD, the computer-assisted design program, Tarrant has designed a six-room inn near the tiny community of Lawn, Newfoundland on the beautiful but relatively unknown Burin Peninsula – just a short ferry ride away from the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. “Newfoundland has always been Canada’s best kept secret, and the Burin Peninsula is Newfoundland’s best kept secret. We offer an ideal destination for anyone seeking seclusion and a special kind of ambiance. But we have a long way to go in developing tourism and I’m trying to change all that. I’m shooting for a 4 ½ to 5 star rating from Canada Select and have included an immense attention to detail to see that we get it,” she said. Tarrant says that even though many properties in other jurisdictions have attempted to offer what they call wheelchair accessible rooms, they’ve fallen far short of truly achieving that goal. “No matter what type of carpet you have in the room, it’s difficult to navigate on in a wheelchair. Therefore, none of our guestrooms will have carpet. As well, I’ve never been able to wheel my chair under any desk in a wheelchair accessible room. They’re always way too low. We’ve got specially-designed desks that are high enough to enable a wheelchair to fit under them. Hoteliers must remember that even though we’re physically disabled, we would still like to be able to sit at the desk and write a letter or use the telephone!” Many details in the washrooms also leave traditional wheelchair accessible rooms falling short of what Tarrant hopes will be the new standard. “Bathroom doors are seldom wide enough. And you’ve got to have enough room to park the chair by the toilet. Our rooms will also have a bath bench and bath chair, and the shower heads – in addition to being handheld -- should be individually adjusted for each handicapped guest upon check-in. It’s pretty near impossible to adjust a shower-head once we’re in the shower,” explains Tarrant. “And sinks are almost always impossible for us to get close enough to. Our rooms will have wall-mounted sinks that are open underneath so that you can pull your wheelchair right up close. Who needs the ornamental cabinetry?” ... page 2. |
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