What is an inn?
An inn is an old-fashioned term for a place where travelers seek accommodation for the night. It goes way back in time where inns were first established thousands of years ago when the Romans built their road system. They thought that the people who used those roads would also need a place to stay along the way on long trips and the inn as we know it was born.
Back then, an inn was a place where you could rest, and also a place where you could get food. They had stables in the back for your horses to stay in and instead of having a lobby like we see in hotels these days, back then, you had to knock on the door and the owner of the establishment, the innkeeper would answer the door . and see if you were fit to be allowed in.
As we industrialized, more inns began to spring up, but they closely followed the transportation routes of the time. That is, if the guests traveled by stagecoach, the inns would be on the main roads that were frequented by stagecoaches on their routes. When trains became the norm, they only stopped at select places along a route, and that’s where you’d find inns. People were getting off the train and needed a place near the station to stay.
Nowadays, when everyone has one or two cars and highways are the popular way to travel, what do you see at most highway exits? That’s right, they are full of hotels of all kinds. The same philosophy holds true as it did all those years ago, inns, hotels, motels, and even bed and breakfast establishments should be where travelers will be.
Today, of course, the word inn is sometimes just part of a hotel company’s name, other times they don’t use the word at all, but instead are known as motels or hotels based on the level of service they provide. Gone are the stables and in their place we see parking lots for our ‘horses’. While it may have changed a bit, the main idea has remained the same for centuries.
Some country pubs in Europe are still called inns as they always have been. They are more of a place to have a drink with friends than to stay, but the story remains the same.