0
The website informed us that the hotel had “three rooms with accessibility standards” and subsequently we booked a wheelchair accessible room for two nights.
On arrival we checked in and were sent to our accessible room (Room 225) it was at this point that the problems arose. It was clear that a great deal of work had been done to the room to make it accessible. It had a huge en suite bathroom of about 4.5 metres square with all the adaptations a wheelchair user could require. It had a door to the bathroom which was 900mm wide and in line with the Scottish Tourist Boards top access category, a room with plenty of space to manoeuvre, an emergency call system in case of problems, an accessible wardrobe and shelving. In all one of the better accessible rooms we have stayed in. This was all very puzzling to us as the access to the room itself was via a door of only 675mm actual width and 550mm useable width which meant that I was in fact unable to enter the room. This falls well below any standard for wheelchair access and is nowhere near to the requirement in the Building Regulations: Technical Standards Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations 1990 (Part S) and its subsequent amendments which requires a minimum useable door width of 750mm to ensure access.
On speaking to a member of staff we were told that “there had never been any problems with this room” but she would attempt to find us alternative accommodation. She returned later with an offer of your sister hotel in Glasgow on the other side of the river. This was not a suitable alternative for us as we had especially chosen the location at Glasgow Airport.
I was then left with no option but to get out of my wheelchair, crawl into the room, have my wheelchair disassembled by my wife, brought into the room, re assembled and then I had to get back into it. This operation was needed every time we entered or left the room. This whole incident caused me and my wife great deal of distress. It was humiliating to have to do this in the sight of other guests who were passing by. Neither of us could sleep because of concerns about getting out of the hotel should an emergency arise and our relaxing weekend break was totally ruined. To add to this it was implied that somehow I was the problem and not the room when it was patiently obvious that the door to the room was almost half the width of the bathroom door IN the room! After our initial discussion we were at no further point contacted by management or anyone representing the hotel to see how we were coping.
It was clear that the hotel had spent great deal of effort in adapting these rooms internally but to do so and not enable access into the room itself is bizarre.
To suggest that this had never been a problem is equally incredible as it is obvious to anyone.
As you should be aware, section III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) states that it is unlawful for service providers to discriminate against disabled people by providing them with a lower standard of service, or service on worse terms for reasons relating to their disability. Also, since 1 October 1999, you have been required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to enable disabled customers to access your services. This includes removing physical barriers and altering practices, policies and procedures that make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of any service which is offered to the public, a service provider must take reasonable steps to:
• remove the feature, or
• alter the feature, or
• provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature, or
• provide a reasonable alternative method to making the service available to disabled people.
Please could you tell me what steps you have already taken to meet this legal duty?
In particular, what action do you intend to make to alter the access door to the room so that it allows the some level of access that you have already provided within the room?
When do you expect this work to start and be completed?
If no such work has been carried out or is planned, please could you explain the reasons why?
I believe that this incident raises two issues.
1. That I have been discriminated under section III of the Disability Discrimination Act and suffered humiliation and discomfort and a spoiled holiday because of the hotels misleading publicity in claiming to have three “Accessible Bedrooms” and to be “fully DDA compliant” and in its not offering an acceptable alternative to me.
2. That the hotel will continue to claim accessibility when this is patently not the case and that more disabled people will suffer the same humiliating experience.
Please consider the serious issues that my experience has raised. I look forward to your written response within 14 days. If I do not receive a written reply within 14 days I reserve the right to take action in the Sheriff Court under the Disability Discrimination Act.
I have attached photographs that illustrate the problem.
Yours sincerely
Photos of the room.
The bathroom INSIDE the room
The bathroom door INSIDE the room
The door TO the room
A pretty pissed off me!
Tin
Top
Hopefully, they won't try to spin it, and they'll simply do the right thing and be accountable, making the necessary changes.
