Image: My hotel bath/shower combo in NY, complete with grab bars and a removable showerhead. My pink pouf and prosthetic liner are in also in view.
Lisa

“how’s hotel room accessibility?”

Another great question!

When making hotel reservations, I always request an accessible room. I realize that “accessible” has different meanings for everyone – and every hotel. 

For me, a BKA amputee, an accessible hotel room:

  • Is located on the first floor in case there’s a fire and I need to get out quickly without having to take any steps / get trampled in the stairwell
  • Has a fairly open, easy-to-navigate space so I can  maneuver around with my manual wheelchair when i bring it 
  • Includes charger ports and light switches/lamps near the bed so I can take off my leg, get comfortable in bed, and then turn off the lights while charging my devices for the next day
  • A bathroom with with grab bars, seating, and a detachable shower head

A great article on other types of accessible hotel rooms is here: https://www.braunability.com/us/en/blog/accessible-living/accessible-room.html#:~:text=In%20an%20accessible%20room%2C%20there,impaired%20guest%20to%20an%20emergency.

Recently, my travels took me to two different hotels: one on the east coast of the US, one on the west coast.

For each, I requested ”an accessible room” ahead of time, though I didn’t specify what I needed, and the staff who took my requests didn’t ask what kind of accessibility I wanted. I’m going to change my approach going forward…

Room 1 – The West Coast.

I started in California. The room the hotel gave me was on the fifth floor. Not great in the event of a fire. Or an earthquake. Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with either.

In the room, though, there was plenty of space to maneuver around the bed and to get to and from the bathroom. Yay!

A lamp with charger cables was right on the nightstand between the double beds. Yay!

At first glance, the bathroom looked accessible enough and had a walk-in shower; however, when I later went to actually *take* a shower, there were problems. Boo…

Bathroom issues included

  • No shower seating
  • No grab bars
  • The showerhead was high and fixed 
  • There was a frame the bottom of the shower, so even if I’d brought my wheelchair to sit in, I wouldn’t be able to roll in

Boo…

I was only there for one night, so I made the bathroom situation work. Don’t ask me how, you’re just going to have to trust me…

Room 2 – The East Coast. 

The next week, I flew to New York.

There, my hotel room was on the 12th floor, and walking into that room I noticed something immediately problematic. 

The door opened to a narrow “hallway” type space, and on one side was the door to the bathroom, on the other side a desk and chair. Though the desk and chair were flush against the wall there was barely any space for me and my luggage to move past them comfortably, so no way would I have been able to get through with my wheelchair. Boo…

Luckily, the bathroom door was a sliding one, so it didn’t take up any additional space when opened. Yay!

Unfortunately, the closet, which was to the left-hand side of the king bed, also had a sliding door – a fact I didn’t realize until I tried to use the door as leverage to stand and it (surprise!) slid. Boo….

The bathroom, however, was a different story. The bathroom sink had plenty of space underneath for a wheelchair to slide under, and there was a handy wall-mounted mirror on a flexible arm that could be used if someone couldn’t see the main mirror behind the sink. Yay!

There was a tub/shower combo with grab bars, and the side of the tub was just the right size for me to use it as a seat. Yay! 

The bathroom also included a small stool, which I probably could have used as additional seating while taking a shower. Yay!

Because I did so much walking in NY (which I’ll discuss in another post), I ended up taking baths  – with lots of epsom salt! – instead of taking showers. The grab bars were extremely helpful. Yay!

Additionally, on the bedside table there was a large lamp with charger and additional outlets, as well as a smaller flexible reading light (with its own switch) mounted to the headboard. Yay! 

The east coast won this round!

Accessibility…hotels are kind of getting there…

Even though the ADA has been out for over 30 years, it’s unfortunate that companies have yet to implement requirements to make their spaces accessible to many. 

But there are also lots of people diligently working to ensure the disabled community can have safe, enjoyable travel, too!

In a quick internet search, I found more than a few articles on hotels and accessible. I’ve shared some below that I hope will prove helpful to others looking for accessible hotel info: 

Happy accessible travels!

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