When I was a kid, we didn’t travel much, but on the rare occasions that we did, at the end of the day, when choosing where to stay, the kids in the back seat wanted a POOL! The result – over time, motels without a pool lost or went out of business.

In my skiing 20s, I alternated between staying in an old inn in North Conway with two baths to a floor (there were sinks in every room) and a tourist home in Bethel where you shared a bath that was pretty old-fashioned. However, the prevailing winds of travelers those days voted against shared baths, and those places eventually went out of business or had to do extensive remodels.

The market changes, and consumers dictate who will survive and who won’t. The market rules. And those rules change whether we like it or not.

Innkeepers who want to keep the tide of Airbnb-style accommodations from coming to Maine are like video store owners who don’t want Netflix in Maine. Using their political positions to increase their profits, some innkeeper/politicians are attempting to use legislation to do so. Shame on you. You were elected to serve the people, not yourself.

Innkeepers have had a lovely ride, but the consumers will choose whether to continue to put gas in your car. I am sure your niche market will continue.

And thank you for restoring those old energy-guzzling, high-maintenance architectural behemoths of the past. They are grand old ladies, and I enjoy their presence in our communities. It has been fun.

But your days as “king of a castle” – as Frank Isganitis, Rockland mayor, innkeeper and supporter of a bill to regulate short-term rentals, wants to be – are coming to an end. The tourists who bring money to Maine are voting. And no law is going to change how they vote.