Riverbend Inn and Vineyard 16104 Niagara River Parkway P.O. Box 1560 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON Tel: (905)468-8866; fax (905)468-8829 www.riverbendinn.ca
	Riverbend Inn	Entrance off John St

Number of rooms: 21; accessible:1; 8 large rooms on ground floor

Your hosts: John and Jill Wiens

Situated on the beautiful Niagara Parkway that runs between Fort Erie and St. Catharines all along the Niagara River, Riverbend Inn is a beautifully restored Georgian mansion circa 1860. This place has a past and the Weins family delight in showing visitors all its old bones as well as its fresh face.

Known locally as Oaklands in the mid-1800s, the house became a school run by the Ansley sisters for developmentally delayed children from 1927 until 1972, it was then divided into apartments and more recently was the Afrukhteh Fine Art Gallery and Museum until the Wiens family, former proprietors of the Prince of Wales hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake bought the 17 acre property in 2002. The building has been expertly restored, the cherry orchards replaced with grapes, a restaurant and patio added and the grounds featuring centuries old trees made beautiful once again.

A display case in the lobby holds items such as belt and shoe buckles, musket balls, coins, arrowheads and even part of a cluster bomb, all found when the orchard was cultivated to become a vineyard.

Parking: The entrance to the inn is not off the parkway but around the corner on John Street. Follow the signs and you'll arrive at a long alley of huge maples that will take you directly to the entrance and parking. The drive and parking lot are all paved. There is one designated parking spot in front of the inn but there is plenty of room around it. If you tell them that you are coming and that you need room for a side loading van, they will gladly accommodate you.

Entrance to lobby	1860 Czechoslovakian chandelier	almost over the front desk

Entrance: A gentle ramp goes along the side of the entrance to get you in the manual doors. The lobby is small but look up. There is a huge, magnificent 80 year old Czechoslovakian chandelier above you. When John and Jill were about to open the inn, cleaning that chandelier was one of the things that simply had to be done and it hadn't been cleaned in 18 years. Every piece of crystal is wired in place so scaffolding was put up and 16 hours later and a lot of vinegar and water and it sparkled. It still does.

The front desk is small and high at 44" and they will provide a clipboard for anyone seated to sign the register or they will come around to you as there are several desks and tables in the lobby. There is no TTY in the hotel. There is also a desk with a payphone on it in the lobby plus a magnificent staircase but our room is just to the left of the front desk.

John assured me that everything is super insulated so no unwanted sound seeps through from the lobby to your beautiful room just around the corner. The 52" hallway into the room is fairly narrow as construction had to be planned around weight bearing walls but there are two ways into the room and a large scooter might have to access the room by going around to the old front of the building (which is gorgeous), through the right hand door and down the hallway where it is a straight shot right into the doorway of room 102. Your room key gives you access to the hotel from all doors.

Two doubles on platforms	pullout sofa	armoire with TV and gas fireplace

to view tv from bed	tall mirror near door	plenty of transfer room

Bedroom: The doorway into the room is 32" wide, it had a lever handle and it stays open. The fire lip at the entrance is about 1/4" high. There is a lowered peephole in the door. Once in you can't help but be awed by the size and decor of the room. This is quality and it is beautifully appointed. Someone asked John why he used such beautiful furniture in the rooms and he said that experience has taught him, the nicer the furniture the better people treat it. A low switch by the door turns on little pot lights that sparkle in the ceiling and you can also control the gas fireplace right from the doorway. All of the rooms are no smoking, in fact the entire hotel is no smoking. The room has two double beds on platforms with a night table in between them and one on either side. There is 2'6" between the beds and 6'5" from the closest bed to the wall. That's your transfer side and there's plenty of room there for a wheelchair or a scooter and a person can still walk by it. There are lamps on either side and in the middle. All have chain pulls and there is also a telephone and a clock/radio on the middle night table. The room also has an upholstered, high backed armchair, an armoire with a 20" colour remote TV in it that can be pulled out and turned for viewing from the beds or the pullout sofa. There is also a desk, chair, coffee table and a bench for your bags near the door. A large, low mirror over the bench allows you to see yourself from the wheels up. The gas fireplace has a mahogany mantle over it and there are English hunting prints, reproductions of the Impressionists and reproductions of universally recognized quality works everywhere. Direct, highspeed internet is available from the phone on the desk. The room is 22' 8" long and 20' wide where the beds are, narrowing to 13'6" to allow for the three piece bathroom. The closet has a narrow 28 ½" door and it would be difficult to manage in but I could get my scooter into it. There is no lowered rack to hang clothing when seated. John has remedied the situation with an instahanger installed just inside the closet door. It pops out to give you lowered rack space. As well, the armoire has several large drawers where clothing can be gently laid away without creasing it.

The room has two large windows that open. The view is vineyards. Your heat and air-conditioning unit is very quiet and is situated under the north facing window. It is operated by two turn knobs.

There is room service from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A registered massage therapist and an aesthetician are available for relaxation or deep tissue massage or aromatherapy treatments, pedicure, manicure and/or french polish in your room.

Toilet with Versaframe	bench and tub side grip in place	handheld shower head

sink and hairdryer	vanity, toilet and tub with turnaround space

Bathroom: The bathroom door is 33" wide and has a lever handle. There is no lip into the bathroom and it's straight going into the bathroom doorway so there is no hassle turning a scooter or wheelchair from a hallway. The bathroom door opens against the wall but because the bathroom is so large it doesn't block anything; it opens gently on to the wall just before the vanity.

The vanity is 32" high and has a cutout 22 ½" for knees. There is a round sink with lever handles. The mirror over the vanity begins at the vanity and goes almost to the ceiling. The hair dryer is to the right on the wall and is 49" from the floor. There is also a plug there for shaver, etc. The vanity is well lighted.

There is 56" from the sink to the tub. I could not turn around on my scooter in the bathroom but I could back out easily because the door doesn't exit into a narrow hallway. A wheelchair that can turn on a dime would have no problem turning around in the bathroom. The bathroom is 10'10" long.

The tub features a pull curtain and plexiglas bar on the back wall and a portable grip that can be moved along the edge of the tub to accommodate various needs. There is a handheld shower head that lowers to within reach of a seated person and a bath bench provided. The tub has a light over it so the area is bright. Towels are low to the left of the tub and on a rack right in front of the sink. If you need anything lowered or moved, the person at the front desk will gladly help as you are four steps from it. The same goes for anything you might need from the closet shelf.

The toilet is 15 3/4" high and there is a Versaframe installed on it to help people get up and down but it can be taken off if you need to transfer from the left or front. There is also a large J-shaped grab bar on the back wall behind the toilet. Toilet paper is behind the toilet on the wall and there is an extra roll and tissue on the tank top.

The bathroom is well appointed, bright and has just about everything you'd need. Anything extra, within reason, like a raised toilet seat, can be provided if you give them a couple of days.

Restaurant	Lounge	Patio

Lounge, Restaurant and patio: Out of your room, across the lobby and down a short hall and you are in the 50 seat lounge and dining room. The lounge features a magnificent bar with turned marble arm rest and pillars, tons of bevelled glass and draft on tap. The bar (circa 1890) came from an old saloon in Stamford, Connecticut and is the perfect scale for the room. Niagara wines are served in the dining room which looks out onto the patio. It has been said that you could be in the south of France sitting on this patio. The view is Peller Estate Winery and vineyards. Absolutely beautiful. A short hall opposite the lobby restaurant takes anyone using a mobility device out onto the patio. There is a lip on this door of about 3". John is looking into a ramp for it as that lip would stop a manual wheelchair.

Lobby washroom stall	vanity on lobby washroom

The lobby washroom has easy entrance, a large stall with grab bars and is well-lighted. The sink area does not have a cutout for legs, however it does recede 7" to allow someone to reach the taps. John has put a pull on the back of the stall door for easy closing.

Barbeques are held on the patio every day from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. The fare ranges from a simple breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with cinnamon apple butter, warm maple syrup and toasted walnut halves for $8.00 to tenderloin of elk or rack of lamb at $29. The grill ranges from $8 to $19 and desserts like Niagara orchard apple cheesecake with caramelized apple butter are $7 - $8.

Suite 103 has two doubles on platforms	room dining area	gas fireplace with rich mahogany mantle

vanity	no grab bars or hand held shower in this one	no grab bars

Riverbend Inn and Vineyard is a beautiful property. The vines surrounding the inn aren't producing yet but when they do, wines will be made from them specifically for the inn and be paired with specialties of the house from the kitchen. The rooms are spacious and beautifully appointed. If something isn't there that a person with a disabilities needs, John or Jill will do their best to get it for you. We know that the little things missing in the room we audited will be taken care of. We hope they'll buy a kit to allow people who are deaf to use the rooms. There are eight rooms on the first floor, all with wide doorways and all absolutely gorgeous. Only the one room has grab bars, etc. but the others can be used by anyone not needing these amenities. I'll close this review with photos of the suite 103 beside the room designated for people with disabilities to give you an idea of what else is available at the inn. Enjoy!

Aug. 20/04