Big Idea Creates Custom-Fit Vacation For Plus-Size Guests

By Jeanie Croasmun

Keyboards, chairs and even whole office setups have been designed to work for specific sizes; now, apparently, vacations are getting the same treatment.

Freedom Paradise resort in Cancun, Mexico, is letting the size of its patrons dictate the appropriate proportions for the vacation club’s physical environment. According to the resort’s website, that means the resort, with a focus on “plus-size tourists,” is full of furnishings and amenities that are built to fit larger guests.

Double-wide doors, armless chairs, king-sized reinforced beds and buildings that are only one-story high set the resort’s standard for large sized accommodations. But there are other features as well. Sun beds are bigger, poolside lounges measure four feet wide, dining room chairs are over two feet across, benches are made from tree trunks, pool ladders are replaced with wide, comfortable stairs and every bit of furniture at the resort is reinforced.

The resort, which officially opens today, promises a “focus on satisfying the special needs of plus-size tourists” – an audience that is ever increasing in number. And, taking a cue from ergonomics, that means that the large-sized, beach-bound vacationer doesn’t have to work to relax in an environment built for the stereotypically tiny, bikini-clad set.

Source: CNN.com