The time has come for the big trip you’ve been planning for months. Your bags are packed and you’re ready to go! You thought of every detail and, most importantly, made a reservation for a wheelchair accessible hotel room months ago.
You arrive at your destination and check in to your hotel and that’s where it happens. You are told that all of the accessible rooms were occupied and unavailable, so you are given a standard room. The room does not work. Your hopes for a relaxing, comfortable (and accessible!) vacation quickly fade.
We hear this a lot. It’s the same story over and over and over again from wheelchair users.
This occurs because some hotels and motels do not have any accessible rooms. Chapter 2 (“Scoping Requirements”), Section 224 (“Transient Lodging Guest Rooms”) of the Americans with Disabilities Act says that if the number of hotel guest rooms provided is between 151 and 200, the minimum number of required rooms without roll-in showers is six, and the minimum number of required rooms with roll-in showers is two. As detailed in the chart below, regardless of the number of guest rooms provided at a given property, there is always a minimum number required. Simply put, the larger the hotel or motel property, the greater number of guest rooms with mobility features.
(Click chart to zoom)
Furthermore, Section 224.5 (“Dispersion”) states:
Guest rooms are required to provide mobility features complying with 806.2 and guest rooms required to provide communication features complying with 806.3 shall be dispersed among the various classes of guest rooms, and shall provide choices of types of guest rooms, number of beds, and other amenities comparable to the choices provided to other guests.
Our advice for the future, when making the reservation, specifically ask for a room with two beds and a roll-in shower. Ask for the room number and make sure it is printed on your reservation. You may actually get what you asked for!