A decade ago, when Lorraine Woodward proposed building a seaside family retreat, her teenage sons pushed back hard.
“The boys were like, ‘What the heck, Mom, we can’t even get on the beach!’” she laughs. “‘You realize we have disabilities, right?’” Woodward, a full-time wheelchair user herself, completely understood. But she was tired of searching (mostly in vain) for destinations that could accommodate her unorthodox crew.
“We didn’t travel as much as I had hoped we would, because it was really hard,” says the 63-year-old Woodward. “Imagine—wheelchairs for three of us, scooters, luggage. The boys were graduating high school, and I wanted them to have better opportunities as adults.”
The family ultimately did build a three-story house with an art studio in the basement, what Woodward calls the “private residence” (“I say it with attitude,” she jokes) on the top floor, and an accessible short-term rental in between. More than 450 families have stayed in the rental unit since 2015, Woodward says, and some of their stories have blown her away.
“One family that stayed with us hadn’t taken a vacation in 28 years!” she says. “Their son was blind and used a wheelchair. When he was a child, travel was no big deal—hoist him up, and away you go. Now he’s 6’2” and 200 pounds. It took them 28 years to find a place that worked.”
Another guest came to the rental straight from rehab after a spinal cord injury. “They were afraid their own house wouldn’t be accessible, and they wanted to try something first that might work,” Woodward explains. After a week at the beachhouse, the family went home with buoyed confidence.
These are the types of people Woodward had in mind when she launched Becoming Rentable, a listing service for accessible short-term lodgings. Launched in 2022, the website currently features nearly 1,200 properties, ranging from private apartments and homes to cabins, hotels, and resorts.
“There are 1.5 million short-term rentals in the United States,” Woodward says. “But fewer than 1 percent are truly accessible. That’s 1,500 units nationwide.” And good luck finding those needles in the haystack of Airbnb, VRBO, or other standard search services. While those websites allow users to filter properties for basic amenities such as wheelchair ramps and roll-in showers, nobody vets those properties to evaluate the accuracy of those claims. And even when properties truly deliver the basic features, they only scratch the surface of what guests with disabilities need.
“If you filter for wheelchair access and elevators on Expedia, it returns about 95,000 properties,” Woodward explains. “But then you have to go through them, one by one, to see if there are accessible amenities in the kitchen, the garage, the pool. Most of the time, there’s no information. So five days later you’re still searching, and you just say: ‘Forget it, I’m staying home.’”
Becoming Rentable’s platform allows users to filter for 43 adaptive elements, with separate checklists for bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, doorways, lighting, floor surfaces, and other features. Properties that pass Becoming Rentable’s rigorous accessibility test get a certification badge and enhanced visibility on the site.
Woodward is already earning a reputation for leadership in the accessible travel industry. Evolve Lodging hired her as an accessibility consultant for their Accessible Retreat, an innovative disability-friendly unit designed for wilderness destinations. Becoming Rentable has earned awards from the Vacation Rental Management Association, Skift, and other travel organizations.
“Accessible design really benefits everyone,” Woodward says, “whether or not you’re considered disabled.” To search Becoming Rentable’s listings, visit them at becomingrentable.com.
