Bathrooms
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Travelling and staying at hotels a lot, I am frequently disappointed by getting rooms which are not, or only partially, accessible. Therefore, I've decided to build an online collection of bathrooms and what I think of their accessibility. Look, read and evaluate for yourself whether your own access needs are met. If you have your own comment (maybe even a picture) of a place that was particularly good or bad, send it to me and I'll post it here! |
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Germany Bad Aibling, Bavaria Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart Berlin (city centre -- Ku-Damm) Langenselbold (near Frankfurt) Much (near Cologne) Kelberg (Eifel region, near Nuernburg F1 race track) |
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Great Britain Broughton, Scotland (Glenholm Centre) Dunoon, Scotland (Dhailling Lodge) Edinburgh, Scotland (Trefoil House, business closed since Feb. 2003) Edinburgh (Ardgarth Guest House) Edinburgh (Brae Lodge Guest House) Edinburgh (Craigievar B&B) Edinbane, Isle of Skye Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire Staoinebrig (Stoneybridge), Isle of South Uist (Crossroads B&B) |
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Italy San Giuliano Terme (nr. Pisa) Sterzing (South Tyrol, near Austrian border)
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Other Austria Denmark
Czech Republic Belgium
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Hotel
Sankt Georg, Bad Aibling, Bavaria, Germany
Date: 10 April
Wow! One of the very few bathrooms that's absolutely flawless accesswise (designwise -- it does look a bit like a hospital bathroom). Big enough to play soccer in. Expensive furnishing with German brand name products. 100 % compliance with German industrial standards for barrier-free access. Comment: Perfect access, better (but also duller) than my own bathroom at home. Rating: A |
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Date: 11 April 2000
Sorry, this is not an accessible bathroom. Obvious mistake: There's no roll-in shower. At least there was a sliding door and enough space inside the bathroom to move around with my manual wheelchair. Cheap materials (plastic handrails) and poorly working toilet flushing (yuck). Comment: Acceptable for one night, if you can't find anything better in the area (I couldn't) Rating: D - |
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Hotel
Zoll, Sterzing, South Tyrol, Italy
Date: 26 April 2000
A great looking, superbly designed bathroom. I particularly like these two rectangular glass doors forming what appears to be a shower cabin, but opening wide enough to make the shower accessible. No shower seat (I used a standard plastic garden chair -- it was a bit narrow to make the transfer). Accesswise, the lack of grab bars must be noted, especially around the toilet. Look at the fantastic room price, though! This included an excellent breakfast. South Tyrol -- Europe's value for money region. Comment: I want this one for my own apartment! Rating: B |
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Hotel
Nestor, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Date: 1 June 2000
This disastrous bathroom is a fine example for how even many upper class hotels discriminate against their disabled guests by accommodating them with a largely unusable bathroom. What would able-bodied guests say if they couldn't even use the washing basin (because of that stupid horizontal bar), yet had to pay full price? To be fair, this wasn't supposed to be a handicap room. The hotel had only one (out of 150) which already had been occupied by another wheelchair user. But a hotel equipping its bathrooms with expensive marble and such redundant features as TV-loudspeakers must also be able to offer more than one handicap room to its disabled clients. Comment: All the marble doesn't help if disabled guests can't take a shower. Rating: F |
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Germany Date: 28 August 2000
This centrally located middle class hotel caters for its disabled clients with fully accessible handicap rooms. No access mistake was made. But the fan didn't work -- the likely cause for a rather unpleasant smell. Good overall service for a relatively reasonable price (Berlin!). Comment: Stay at this hotel if you want both good access and a central location. Rating: B
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Holiday Inn Garden Court,
Langenselbold, Southern Hesse, Germany Date: 17 November 2000
Excellent bathroom! Finally a German hotel that really cares about disabled guests. Look at the washing basin and compare to the one above at the Hotel Nestor. See the difference? The bathroom was so spacios that it even could afford a door opening to the inside. My new reference! Comment: Too bad Langenselbold is such a dull town! Rating: A + |
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Ferry "Admiral of Scandinavia"
(DFDS Seaways) Date: May 31st and June 16th , 2001
Ferry berths cannot be judged by hotel standards, I know. Nevertheless, even
though this ferry company labels itself "a better way of
travelling", this vessel should be avoided by disabled travellers. It is the oldest
ship of the fleet, and ferry travel sucks more and more, anyway. The crew
consists of cheap workers from all kinds of countries, including Eastern
Europeans who get drunk and screw around at night (the disabled cabin is
in the staff area, that's how I found out).
Comment: A worse way of travelling. Avoid this ship in particular Rating: D -
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Trefoil House, Edinburgh, UK Date: June 1st 2001
Edinburgh is an expensive city, and this place is probably one of the
best chances for reasonably priced and handicap accessible accommodation.
Trefoil House is a charity, and the estate's general state of repair suggests
it is a somewhat underfunded one. My room, however, was quite nice and
the bathroom was 100 % accessible. Average British B&B breakfast (either
it tastes bad or its is unhealthful or both. If you like porridge: Lucky
You! -- You're able to get something that's both nutritional and healthy)
Comment: Good value/money ratio Rating: B
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Edinbane, Isle of Skye, UK Date: June 4th - 9th 2001
Excellent, award-winning B&B. Excellent room & bathroom. Excellent overall service. Looking forward to stay there again! Comment: Highly recommended Rating: A |
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Scotch
Corner Travelodge
Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire, UK Date: June 16th 2001
A typical motorway chain motel, conveniently located to make an overnight stay on your way to the Highlands. Not the place to spend your honeymoon at, but acceptable in the absence of better alternatives. The disabled bathroom had no wheel-in shower, but the bathtub was specially designed and fitted with solid grab rails. The space behind the bathtub was large enough to make a transfer on. From there it was really easy to get down into the tub using the handrail. Comment: Not the best value/money ratio, but acceptable Rating: C |
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Activotel
Much, Much, Germany (near Cologne)
Date: August 7th - 11th 2001
What is it with German hotels that they just won't care about
the demands of disabled guests? This is quite a nice activity hotel, but
contrary to its self-evaluation not an accessible one. The bathroom was
specially designed, but the management declined to put in a wheel-in shower,
due to "plumbing difficulties" which -- they think -- make it impossible
to offer accessible bathing/showering facilities. Bullshit.
Comment: *Duh* Rating: D |
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Skaerbaek
Fritidscenter, Skaerbaek, Denmark
Holiday Self-Catering Cabin Date: August 18th - 25th 2001
Also suitable for disabled sports teams who could rent out more than 1 cabin. Gymn not suitable for basketball, though. Good swimming pool and bowling lanes providing a range of activity alternatives if the weather is too bad to enjoy Rømø's splendid North Sea beaches. Comment: Ikke så dårlig! (Jutish understatement) Rating: B |
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Hotel
Wienecke IX, Hannover, Germany
Date: 2nd December 2001
I hope this hotel stays in business -- I was almost the only customer. Comment: Excellent room Rating: A +
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Ardgarth Guest House, Edinburgh, Scotland
Accessible guest house accommodation in Portobello, Edinburgh's seaside suburb. Distance to city centre, ca. 6 km, bus stop nearby (LRT line 26, nearly all buses we saw on this route had wheelchair lifts). Just a stone's throw from the beach. The bathroom reminded me a bit of the one at my parents' house where my
dad unsuccessfully tries to keep it in good DIY repair with his two left
hands. Thinnest duck tape to fix a badly leaking shower hose...
aaargh! It was accessible, though. Our ground floor room was large and had
two big radiators, but they failed to make up for the poorly insulated
windows. Take your Comment: In summer months a good compromise between comfort and price Rating: B -
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Hotel Ibis Friedensbrücke, Frankfurt, Germany Date: February 2002 At first sight, this handicap bathroom, especially the roll-in shower,
looks very good. When I transferred over to the shower seat, however, I
noticed a stupid mistake which made using the seat nearly impossible. The
problem is the shower unit -- it is placed waaaaay too close to the seat. When
you sit on it, you really haven't got a chance to avoid touching the hot water
supply. Very, very, uncomfortable. As you can see in the right picture, there was a narrow gap beteween a wall and the bed. I barely fit through it and my chair is just 67 cm wide. Comment: perfect only for people who like to burn themselves from hot water pipes Rating: C - |
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Gran Dorado Heilbachsee, Kelberg, Germany
Date: March 2002
This
self-catering cabin belongs to a holiday park in Germany's Eifel region,
close to the famous Nürburgring racetrack. Comment: Bathroom okay, everything else a bit uncomfortable. Not my favorite place. Rating: B - |
Note: The bath seat is my personal property and not a regular part of the bathroom's furnishing |
Hotel Globus, Prague, Czech Republic Date: May 2002 Price: CSK 2.800 (ca. 88 / USD 80) My first trip to a formerly communist country ends with an optimistic
outlook: Visiting Prague is possible also for wheelchair users. This hotel
is situated in a suburb called Horni Roztyly. Large, accessible bathroom.
The bathtub is quite high and deep, usable only for wheelchair users with
good upper body strength. Comment: Okay Rating: C- |
| unfortunately no picture available -- sorry for this! |
Sofitel
Ghent, Date: December 2002 Price: 110 (double room, weekend bargain rate) Ghent is a wonderful Flemish city, and if you are looking for a luxurious hotel right at the heart of the old town, the Sofitel might be the right place for you. The luxury has its price, but at least you also get a perfectly accessible bathroom! Hint: Only 300 metres away is an Ibis-hotel that reportedly also has wheelchair-accessible rooms. Both Sofitel and Ibis belong to one company, accor. Whereas Sofitel is the top brand, ibis hotels are for the economy tourist. However, my experiences with ibis hotels regarding accessibility are quite good. Comment:
Rating: A |
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Brae
Lodge Guesthouse Date: April 2003 Nice STB *** guesthouse in South Edinburgh, on a major bus route into town. Good room, somewhat smallish bathroom. Uncomfortable shower seat, as so often the case. I was able to manage, but not really comfortably. Not recommended for power wheelchair users due to lack of space. Friendly proprietress, I just hope her friendliness wasn't triggered by the hidden knowledge of having ripped off another dumb tourist... On the other hand, Edinburgh is just an expensive city to stay in, and apparently there are plenty of people who are stupid enough to pay these prices again and again. Hey, I'm not stupid, I'm just addicted! Comment: average comfort, high price
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Hotel
Ibis Mariahilf Date: June 2003 Well, here we are again with another not-so good bathroom experience. Faulty design of the shower reduces the rating for this otherwise quite acceptable hotel. Ridiculous shower seat. People with less severe disabilities might be able to negotiate, but I wasn't. On my complaint, the manager on duty failed to understand what I was talking about . Not a good sign for accessibility awareness. Comment: Economical hotel close to one of Vienna's
transport hubs, bathroom large enough, but shower annoyingly inaccessible Rating: D
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newly built Hotel close to the Hannover
fairground. The bathroom is both stylish and excellently equipped.
Very rarely have I seen a hotel room where such high regard has been paid to
accessibility of details -- up to a lowered peekhole in the door so that
wheelchair users can look through it. Look at the wardrobe -- isn't it neat?
Mount Everest expedition sleeping bag with you when
staying during freezing temperatures... anything more chilly can't be
possibly called a house! Food quality above average. Proprietress friendly, but
cunning.
If you are staying at this hotel, avoid the shower seat by having the staff put a plastic chair into
your bathroom.
The
cabin sleeps 6 people, but only one wheelchair user at a time, due to the
fact that it only has one narrow downstairs bedroom. Accesswise, the
bathroom was well furnished and equipped. I liked the shower seat very
much, everything else was a bit on the cheap side. In its kitchen, the
cabin has no baking oven as the holiday park wants you to spend more money
in its restaurants. 
Wheelchair users considering to make a reservation should be aware that
the area is very hilly, which has an annoying consequence for the main
service building. It covers a steeply sloping area without having a lift,
which means long and arduous detours for wheelchair users.
