American Council of the Blind of Virginia

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Hotel Wayfinding

Below are 2 ways that may be helpful in finding your way around the hotel for this year’s ACBVA Convention. One is a link to an app, and the other is an MS Word walking guide you can download. Below the 2 links is the walking guide to read here.

Hotel Indoor Wayfinding EnhancedMap

ACBVA Convention 2026 Hotel Walking Guide

ACB of Virginia 2026 Convention Walking Guide

For blind white cane and guide dog users. Revised October 18, 2026.

Friday, November 6–Sunday, November 8. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Holiday Inn and Conference Center, 20 Sanford Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22406. Hotel: 540-368-8000.

Contents

Get to the Hotel

By Train and Connecting Ride

Fredericksburg station (FBG) serves Amtrak and VRE travelers. For a train-plus-car trip, arrange the onward ride to Holiday Inn and Conference Center, 20 Sanford Drive. The station’s platforms have several street access points; specify your actual street-level pickup point when booking the ride. Amtrak’s station overview describes the platform access.

By Rideshare or Taxi

Use 20 Sanford Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22406, with the full hotel name. Request drop-off at the hotel reception entrance. Hotel: 540-368-8000.

Check In and Reach Your Room

Hotel reception is in the lobby; the business center is nearby. Hotel check-in and room keys are handled here. Convention registration is a separate function, opening Friday at 3:00 PM.

The first-floor plan places the guest elevators beside King George Room, with E-Bar across the passage. The guest-room corridor extends from this area toward the fitness center and Guest Laundry. Reception is the contact for the route to your assigned room and its floor facilities.

Reach General Sessions and Other Meetings

Meetings are planned for one half of Mary Washington Pavilion. The pre-function hall outside the Pavilion is the shared approach. The restaurant is on the other side of this hall; the Auditorium adjoins Mary Washington.

Level changes: the plan marks steps near the elevator/E-Bar connection toward the meeting area and ramps on the restaurant side. Reception can identify the ramp connection to the pre-function hall.

Saturday’s opening ceremony is 9:00 AM. Sunday’s program starts 9:00 AM, with the business meeting at 10:00 AM and adjournment at noon. Convention registration is the contact for workshop assignments and room changes.

Visit Exhibits

Exhibits are planned for the other half of Mary Washington Pavilion, opening Friday 3:00 PM and Saturday 8:00 AM. Both halves share the pre-function hall as a reference point.

Find a Restroom

The hotel describes restrooms near the ballroom. The first-floor plan also marks restroom groups near the guest-corridor/fitness area and the restaurant side.

Get Meals, Drinks, and Food to Go

Toast to Toast is on the lobby ground floor, serving breakfast and dinner with counter ordering. It also offers grab-and-go food for takeaway. The restaurant/bar is in the lobby portion of the building, toward the pre-function hall. See the hotel dining page.

Convention box-lunch pickup is Saturday at noon in the Mary Washington room and will be organized by volunteers. The banquet is also in that room and will be served by hotel staff; it takes place on Saturday at 6:00 PM.

Use the Gym, Pool, Laundry, or Business Center

On the first-floor plan, the fitness center is beside King George, toward the guest corridor. The pool is beside that area toward the pre-function hall. Guest Laundry is along the guest corridor, and the business center is by reception.

Take Your Guide Dog to Relief

Contact the convention team or reception for the designated relief location and return entrance.

Get Assistance or Report a Change

Appendix: Optional Route-Learning Notes

For travelers who want a refresher or a framework for exploring a new venue:

  • Choose the form of directions that works for you: room relationships, left/right turns, compass bearings, a route demonstration, or a combination.
  • Build a personal map around useful anchors such as your elevator landing, reception, and the convention foyer. Add destinations in whatever order suits your plans.
  • A route note can record the starting position, turns, arrival cue, return door, and a place to restart. Distinguish permanent features from temporary crowds, furniture, sounds, and smells.
  • For a route you want to explore, useful questions are: What confirms my position? What marks an overshoot? Where can I resume from a known point? Check return access separately.
  • For an outing, connect the transport stop to the actual entrance and plan the return pickup. Keep useful directions and contact numbers offline.

These optional ideas draw on Thomas Bickford’s The Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane, especially its discussion of environmental clues and mental maps, and the supplied structured-discovery and travel-data documents. Bickford emphasizes individual differences in how travelers use landmarks and spatial information.

Appendix: Free Mobile Tools

For signs, menus, outdoor orientation, and remote visual assistance. Stop out of pedestrian flow for camera tasks. GPS tools are for outdoor orientation; camera descriptions can be mistaken. Camera tools need camera permission; calls and many AI features need internet. GPS needs location permission and works poorly indoors.

Seeing AI: iPhone and Android

Free. Read room signs or menus. Guide dog user Deborah Armstrong describes sign reading in her 2024 account; blind commenters report aiming difficulties. Official app site. Test offline functions rather than assuming all modes work without data.

Google Lookout: Android

Free, Android 6 or later; Google account required. Text mode reads signs; Explore identifies objects. Low-vision user Veronica Lewis describes reading posted schedules in her review, updated 2023. Descriptions can miss details. Google help and download. Seeing AI serves a similar sign-reading purpose on iPhone.

Be My Eyes: iPhone and Android

Free volunteer video calls and Be My AI; account required. Ask a volunteer to read a sign or identify a visible door while you are stopped. Blind users report both helpful calls and uneven volunteer skill in this community discussion. AI can misread scenes. Downloads for both platforms.

Apple Maps and Google Maps

Free: Apple Maps on iPhone; Google Maps on iPhone and Android. Use them for outdoor walking/transit planning, not ballroom doors. Blind users’ older Apple Maps discussion and Google Maps reports describe differing results; comments span older app versions. Routes may end at a driveway. Apple Maps; Google navigation help. Downloaded maps do not guarantee offline walking/transit guidance.

Indigo Nav: iPhone and Android

Free outdoor GPS with spoken route information and waypoint recording. APH’s page links both stores and tutorials. User reports include blind-user praise under earlier app names and later location errors. Try it on a familiar outdoor route; it cannot establish the right hotel door or a clear path through traffic.

VoiceVista: iPhone

Free download with sponsorship purchases listed. Preview streets and save an outdoor entrance marker. Blind users discuss benefits and excessive announcements in the community review. Download. Indigo Nav and Google Maps offer outdoor routes on Android, but are not equivalent spatial-audio tools. GPS markers are approximate.

Built-in Magnifier is another free iPhone option, but LiDAR-dependent door and people detection need supported hardware. Check Apple’s requirements; do not assume every iPhone supports them. Seeing AI and Lookout are alternatives for camera sign reading.

Sources

Orientation is based on the supplied first-floor hotel plan, 2026 convention information, preliminary agenda, and hotel meeting information. The companion organizer worksheet contains source analysis and walkthrough tasks.