As you may have realised, both my husband and I are disabled and we have Accessible needs, as he is a wheelchair user.
People may have a few extra needs, but that isn’t a reason to make everything they have so basic.
It is only a couple of years ago since I booked us a Deluxe Room, in Miami and then advised we needed an Accessible Room. On the website it advised that Deluxe Rooms were available as Accessible. When we arrived it was late at night and dark, it had been a horrible drive from Orlando. It was when we woke in the morning that we actually saw the room was nothing like expected. Online it had showed a water front view, a table in the room and two chairs. We had no table and no chairs, everything had been removed from the room to make it Accessible, which left no where to sit, unless you were in the wheelchair. The bed was too high to sit on. The bathroom had also been emptied to allow wheelchair access, to the extent the toilet rolls had been put in the wardrobe. Oh, and the view was an industrial area.
This was a hotel that was part of the IHG Group.
Recently, I booked a Marriott Hotel and I booked a Club Room. I noted that we needed a walk in shower and accessible room. A few days before I rang to check that we had the correct room allocated. I was then told that none of the Club Rooms were Accessible. The hotel were very good and they refunded the price difference and allowed us to have the perks of the Club Room and the Club Lounge. Last week I booked an Accessible Room and then requested access to the Club Lounge, even at a premium only to be told that if I wanted the Club Lounge I had to book a Club Room. Eventually it was sorted out and I am more than happy.
So many times when we book an accessible room we get such a basic room it is unbelievable – why is it this way, even in a lot of large hotels. Just because we are disabled doesn’t mean we don’t want attractive rooms etc.
