Being a frequent hotel guest I feel I can give an honest opinion of accessible rooms and facilities and pass on suggestions on what could be improved to improve the experience for
future guests. Accessible rooms are generally akin to standard hotel rooms and it is the practice of most hotels to remove furniture such as sofas, comfy chairs and small tables to give the illusion of a larger space and leaving its occupants with the bare minimum. The Premier Inn have stated on their website that if an accessible room is a bit on the small size they replace the kingsize bed with a standard double bed. This practice is unfair and where is the equality in this act?
Accessible bathroom facilities don't fare much better with most looking clinical and functional at best. Many are tiled white with no imagination. The bathrooms are either a wheel-in shower or a lowered bathtub with grab rails. A lot of disabled people out there wonder who was the bright spark who thought it was a good idea to put bathtubs in these bathrooms. In my
opinion whoever the person was did not do enough research into the clientele who would using the facilities. Not everyone has the ability or upper body strength to transfer using bath boards.
It often feels from personal experience that walking disabled guests requirements are largely ignored. Often we do not require the extra space to manoeuvre around a room but do need the facilities that a wheel-in (walk in) shower can provide.
When the facilities allow I always opt to stay in a normal guest accommodation because it offers me more choice of room grade and extras like access to private lounges, extra room facilities and often better location within the hotel. Disabled people often chunter on about equality but that will only happen if they stand up for their rights. That is why I believe that the solution is a guest room that can be designed for use by both disabled and non-disabled guests with a bathroom facilities that offer both bathtub and a walk-in shower.
It was last summer (2015) that I first became aware of the possibility of a competition which would be run by RIBA for an architect to design an attractive accessible hotel room template or a room template that can be easily altered for a disabled guest. The Premier Inn was mentioned as a possible partner but that was not confirmed.
Apparently hoteliers such as the Premier Inn, IHG, Hilton Hotels and Millennium Hotels amongst others do not want rooms to look "medical" in anyway. I am not the biggest fan of accessible guest accommodation in hotels but I would never describe it as looking "medical"; spartan maybe but not "medical".
It doesn't help that that groups such as a Inclusive hotels group who generally meet every one or two months in London to discuss and work on guidance and how to present it to hotel groups. This group is made up of designers, access professionals, occupational therapists and supply specialists. I bet there is not one disabled person amongst this select group of individuals and that is what irritates me the most is the do-gooders or people who have been on a course or to university and think they know what it is like to be disabled, I always say "walk in my shoes for one day" no one can possibly know what obstacles and challenges we face daily and the mental and physical effort it takes to do the simplest of tasks.
Moving forward to December (2015) and I received another email telling me that the design
competition was going to be launched shortly and is in conjunction with a hotel chain; could this be the Premier Inn I ask? I was asked if I would submit my thoughts on what I look for in a successful hotel stay. I was chuffed to think that I had been asked to contribute my views and was asked to do this as soon as possible because a broad agreement on the competition had been made. I sent my document a couple of days later and awaited feedback but I heard nothing for sometime until I sent a email. The feedback I received had said it was "extremely useful" and being of a curious nature I replied to ask how it was useful to them and I was taken aback by the reply which said that I was more concerned with luxury and comfort and they were so concerned whether they can use the loo and therefore they did not notice the ambiance of the room. Another email waffled on about about rules of the competition being drawn up and the not knowing what the guidance would include.
I am so angry and feel used by a person who I thought had the same ideas about equality for disabled people in our society being disabled themselves. Accessibility had brought us in contact and it had inspired me to do more as a campaigner for disability rights to try and make a difference. I am exasperated knowing that I can do nothing about the way I was used and I do not know if or how my suggestions on a successful hotel may be used in the future. I submitted that document in good faith and expected nothing back and in hindsight I should have asked questions when I was approached; I have learnt a valuble lesson here.
Finally, I do not know what they thought I was going write about hotels but for me accessible bathrooms are generally the same large, clean and adequate wherever you stay and especially in chain hotels, so I do not understand their loo comment. I do not believe I have done anything wrong in wanting comfort and luxury when staying in a hotels; after all isn't that what equality is about. There is a lot more in my document so if anyone would like to read my thoughs on a successful hotel stay I will post it.
 |
| Premier Inn |
Accessible bathroom facilities don't fare much better with most looking clinical and functional at best. Many are tiled white with no imagination. The bathrooms are either a wheel-in shower or a lowered bathtub with grab rails. A lot of disabled people out there wonder who was the bright spark who thought it was a good idea to put bathtubs in these bathrooms. In my
 |
| Holiday Inn |
It often feels from personal experience that walking disabled guests requirements are largely ignored. Often we do not require the extra space to manoeuvre around a room but do need the facilities that a wheel-in (walk in) shower can provide.
When the facilities allow I always opt to stay in a normal guest accommodation because it offers me more choice of room grade and extras like access to private lounges, extra room facilities and often better location within the hotel. Disabled people often chunter on about equality but that will only happen if they stand up for their rights. That is why I believe that the solution is a guest room that can be designed for use by both disabled and non-disabled guests with a bathroom facilities that offer both bathtub and a walk-in shower.
It was last summer (2015) that I first became aware of the possibility of a competition which would be run by RIBA for an architect to design an attractive accessible hotel room template or a room template that can be easily altered for a disabled guest. The Premier Inn was mentioned as a possible partner but that was not confirmed.
Apparently hoteliers such as the Premier Inn, IHG, Hilton Hotels and Millennium Hotels amongst others do not want rooms to look "medical" in anyway. I am not the biggest fan of accessible guest accommodation in hotels but I would never describe it as looking "medical"; spartan maybe but not "medical".
It doesn't help that that groups such as a Inclusive hotels group who generally meet every one or two months in London to discuss and work on guidance and how to present it to hotel groups. This group is made up of designers, access professionals, occupational therapists and supply specialists. I bet there is not one disabled person amongst this select group of individuals and that is what irritates me the most is the do-gooders or people who have been on a course or to university and think they know what it is like to be disabled, I always say "walk in my shoes for one day" no one can possibly know what obstacles and challenges we face daily and the mental and physical effort it takes to do the simplest of tasks.
 |
| Premier Inn ??? |
I am so angry and feel used by a person who I thought had the same ideas about equality for disabled people in our society being disabled themselves. Accessibility had brought us in contact and it had inspired me to do more as a campaigner for disability rights to try and make a difference. I am exasperated knowing that I can do nothing about the way I was used and I do not know if or how my suggestions on a successful hotel may be used in the future. I submitted that document in good faith and expected nothing back and in hindsight I should have asked questions when I was approached; I have learnt a valuble lesson here.
Finally, I do not know what they thought I was going write about hotels but for me accessible bathrooms are generally the same large, clean and adequate wherever you stay and especially in chain hotels, so I do not understand their loo comment. I do not believe I have done anything wrong in wanting comfort and luxury when staying in a hotels; after all isn't that what equality is about. There is a lot more in my document so if anyone would like to read my thoughs on a successful hotel stay I will post it.
No comments:
Post a Comment