Editing Pub (section)

===Inns===
{{Main|Inn}}
[[File:Jan Steen Peasants before an Inn.jpg|thumb|''Peasants before an Inn'' by Dutch artist [[Jan Steen]] c. 1653]]

Inns are buildings where travellers can seek [[lodging]] and, usually, food and drink. They are typically located in the country or along a highway. In Europe, they possibly first sprang up when the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] built [[Roman road|a system of roads]] two [[millennia]] ago.<ref>{{cite news |title=8 Ways Roads Helped Rome Rule the Ancient World |url=https://www.history.com/news/8-ways-roads-helped-rome-rule-the-ancient-world |work=HISTORY.com |date=29 August 2018 |access-date=3 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224233314/https://www.history.com/news/8-ways-roads-helped-rome-rule-the-ancient-world |archive-date=24 December 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some inns in Europe are several centuries old. In addition to providing for the needs of travellers, inns traditionally acted as community gathering places.

In Europe, it is the provision of accommodation,<ref>[http://www.pub-rooms.co.uk/ Pub Rooms, pub accommodation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128220034/http://pub-rooms.co.uk/ |date=28 January 2016 }}.</ref> if anything, that now distinguishes inns from [[tavern]]s, alehouses and pubs. The latter tend to provide alcohol (and, in the UK, soft drinks and often food), but less commonly accommodation. Inns tend to be older and grander establishments: historically they provided not only food and lodging, but also [[Stable|stabling]] and [[fodder]] for travellers' horses, and on some roads fresh horses for the [[mail coach]].

Famous London inns include [[the George, Southwark]] and [[the Tabard]]. There is, however, no longer a formal distinction between an inn and other kinds of establishment. Many pubs use "Inn" in their name, either because they are long established former [[coaching inn]]s, or to summon up a particular kind of image, or in many cases simply as a [[pun]] on the word "in".

The original services of an inn are now also available at other establishments. Hotels, lodges, and [[motel]]s focus more on lodging customers than on other services but usually provide meals. Pubs are primarily alcohol-serving establishments. Restaurants and taverns serve food and drink. In North America, the lodging aspect of the word "inn" lives on in hotel brand names like [[Holiday Inn]], and in some state laws that refer to lodging operators as innkeepers.

The [[Inns of Court]] and [[Inns of Chancery]] in London started as ordinary inns where [[barrister]]s met to do business, but became institutions of the [[legal profession]] in [[England and Wales]].