Inclusive Luxury Hotels - find out about ILH

Heritage

Inclusive Luxury Hotels may be a new name, but it is built upon decades of experience at the forefront of inclusive hospitality and luxury travel.

As part of the Inclu Travel Group, our philosophy has been shaped through many years of working closely with guests, hotels, and global travel partners to create travel experiences that feel more thoughtful, more seamless, and more welcoming for a wider range of travellers.

Our leadership team brings together more than sixty years of collective experience across luxury hospitality, accessibility, guest experience, and inclusive travel design. This depth of understanding informs every part of what we do – from how we curate our hotel collection to how we personally coordinate each journey through iLH and IncluTour.

But experience alone is not what defines us.

What matters is what that experience has taught us:
that no two guests experience travel in the same way, and that true luxury is rarely about excess – it is about feeling comfortable, understood, and genuinely cared for throughout the journey.

That belief shapes every recommendation we make, every hotel partnership we build, and every journey we help create.

Because for us, inclusive luxury is not a niche or a category.

It is simply hospitality, thoughtfully delivered.

And at every stage of the journey, our starting point remains the same:

You belong here.

Pioneers of Guest Inclusivity in Luxury Hospitality

At Inclusive Luxury Hotels, we believe inclusivity in luxury hospitality is defined not simply by physical features or accessibility standards, but by how a guest is made to feel throughout their journey.

That belief underpins our philosophy of Conscious Guest Inclusivity™ – an approach that looks beyond design alone to consider the complete emotional and practical experience of being welcomed, understood, respected, and genuinely cared for.

True inclusivity is rarely created through checklists or visible adaptations alone.

It is shaped through awareness.
Through sensitivity.
Through thoughtful service.
And through the confidence a guest feels when a hotel has anticipated needs before they ever need to be explained.

This philosophy is brought to life through the IncluCare Framework™ – our specialist framework developed to help luxury hotels elevate how they welcome and support a broader range of guests across the entire hospitality experience.

The IncluCare Framework™ encourages hotels to look more deeply at how different guests may experience:

arrival and transfers
accommodation comfort
restaurants and shared spaces
wellness and leisure experiences
sensory environments
service culture and communication
confidence, dignity, and emotional ease throughout the stay

Importantly, this extends beyond visible accessibility and considers the needs of guests with physical, sensory, cognitive, neurodivergent, wellbeing, and non-visible requirements in a more holistic and human way.

Hotels awarded ILH Signature status are those that have chosen to embrace this philosophy at a deeper operational and leadership level.

These properties have invested time, training, reflection, and commitment into creating experiences that feel more intuitive, more adaptable, and more reassuring for a wider range of travellers – not through performative gestures, but through quietly exceptional hospitality.

Because when service is truly thoughtful, luxury becomes something guests can enjoy comfortably, confidently, and without compromise.

And that is the future of inclusive luxury hospitality.

Meet the Directors

Richard Thompson

Co-founder and CEO

For more than 25 years, Richard has tirelessly applied his vision, knowledge, commitment and passion for making travel accessible and inclusive – everywhere, to everyone.

Richard’s journey is a heady fusion of independent exploration across 70+ countries, and half a lifetime turning adversity to his advantage after his own life-changing personal injury. Tirelessly, he has inspired and rekindled travel ambitions for those that thought their travelling days were over and turned oft-abandoned dreams into transformational and memorable reality – regardless of how complex a person’s additional requirements are, or where in the world they want to explore.

Regarded by the UK legal profession as the country’s leading inclusive travel authority, Richard is regularly called upon to provide expert opinion to the Courts. He is also in demand to educate, enlighten and inspire the industries of travel and tourism industries across the globe. And now, as co-founder and CEO of Inclu, leads a team of the worlds leading inclusive luxury hospitality and travel experts in transforming the landscape of discovery and exploration for disabled people across the globe.

Ian Carter

Co-founder and MD

Ian dedicates his time to making the world more accessible, to all. For more than 30 years he has applied his tech credentials to practical solutions and services with a specific focus on travel, tourism and online disability awareness training. Ian co-founded the Good Access Guide, Equo and Inclu Consulting and trained as an accessible travel specialist travel agent.

Alison Pearson

Director

At 17, Alison sustained life-changing injuries that reshaped her future – just as they have for so many others. She understands the challenges, the pain of adjustment, and the profound journey of rebuilding a life – not only for the individual but also for their loved ones, whose lives are equally and deeply affected. Alison’s role is one of the most important in travel and hospitality today… crafting inclusive products and services with our valued partner brands and showcasing and selling them to an audience who have the ambition and resources to travel… if only we can give them trust and confidence to do so.

Evie Freeman

Director

Evie joins us as a Non-Executive Director and brings a wealth of experience from the corporate world to help guide and nurture the Inclu team. And this all came about from a chance meeting between Evie and Richard, our CEO, at the International Women in Travel & Tourism event in London in 2024.

What people say about Inclu…

“It is with great pleasure that we are writing to inform you that IncluCare has been recognized in Condé Nast Traveler’s first-ever Bright Ideas in Travel list.

Honorees were selected by our global network of editors working in CNT’s seven territories: the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, India, the Middle East, and China.

Inclu is pioneering a new era of education, connectivity, and support to reshape the opportunities within the industry”.