HotelChatter

On the Website
So why are hotel websites so inaccessible? Partly because of the irritating trend for flash websites. For a recent, typical example, try the Hotel Bellechasse where we grabbed the screencap above. It would be okay if there were a non-flash option, for those who have visual impairments or mobility problems which make it difficult to handle a mouse, but most don't.

Partly also because hotels simply don't bother giving access information on their website - disabled people aren't sexy enough. If you're lucky, you'll find a sentence claiming "2 rooms for the disabled" or similar. But nothing on whether there are ramps, loos, accessible restaurants, what type of bathroom or bed there is, whether there are hearing loops or vibrating alarms on offer. Nothing.

On the Phone
And so you phone up to find out the information - try asking the dimensions of the lift or whether there's a handrail in the toilet or whether they'll cater for your gluten-free diet in schoolboy German. Even if the language barrier doesn't exist, most receptionists don't have a clue - if you're lucky you'll get one that admits they don't know rather than invents the answer to cover up.

And so when you finally decide to go for it and book, you find you cannot specify an accessible room through the website (even if you can use the website in the first place). So you have to phone up, and then find you can't get the website discount price as you're not booking through the website (even though it's not your fault but theirs that you can't). And when you finally do manage to book, you're really never sure if you've booked what you want and need.

On Arrival
And when you arrive, what do you find? Often, that although the hotel claims to have a lift, it's the size of a small suitcase and certainly not suitable for your electric wheelchair. Or that there are several steps down to the restaurant, but no-one thought to mention it ("we can carry you, Madam"). Or that the room turns out not to be suitable, but the hotel's full and there's no way of moving to another room. And if you're really unlucky, you'll arrive to find that the staff don't give a flying stick about your predicament and tell you to ask the manager on Monday (this is on Friday night).

Moan, moan, moan
But it's an important moan. Roll on the day when hotels recognise that not all their clients are hip, fit 20-somethings who can bound up three flights of stairs, climb into roll-top baths and navigate flash websites with their middle toe.