It was a simple plan. Book a hotel room for a couple days with my family. But lately there’s a new catch. I have Becker muscular dystrophy. I’m not a wheelchair user but my walking is now a lot more unsteady. I need a cane to get around and I’m prone to falls. I can’t get up and down easily or use stairs. My needs have changed so I need a hotel that’s accessible. What I’m finding out is that accessible seems to be another word for complicated.
Accessibility information on hotel websites is often hard to find. When you can book an accessible hotel room, it doesn’t always say what that means. Seeing is believing. I wish hotels would just show me. It would be helpful to see the shower, the grab bars, the doors, and the beds before I check in. And the biggest mystery: the toilet. Why does it seem that every hotel is afraid to show me the toilet? Maybe it’s not the most photogenic device in our lives but it’s far more crucial than the automatic pancake machine. A real accessibility section on every hotel website with lots of photos would give disabled guests an idea of what to expect.
So in my search, I found a nearby inn that mentioned having an accessible room. It sounded promising, but as usual there were no pictures or real specifics. So I sent a friendly note through their contact form. I asked for a more detailed description of their accessible hotel rooms and the hotel’s accessible features. I added that pictures of the room would be really helpful. It seemed like a straightforward request and I figured a small, historic inn would be very responsive.
A few days later I received a reply from the guest services manager. The first sentence read: “The Inn is presently closed for renovation and we are not sure what the room will look like at this moment.” I was a bit underwhelmed by the response. It seemed a bit unfriendly and I found it hard to believe that the hotel didn’t know what their renovated accessible room would look like. But his next line seemed downright dismissive. “It will definitely be one bed and nothing out of the ordinary will be a part of the room. Pretty much a standard room with space to move around if you are in a wheelchair.” There was no offer to follow up and no mention of when the accessible hotel room would be available. He didn’t know my specific accessibility needs and made no effort to find out. I was left feeling unwelcome. The underlying tone was that this hotel would make no effort to accommodate a guest with a disability. I knew that there was no way I’d ever be staying at the ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ inn.
Why do I share this response? I share it because I still dream of a world where accessibility is “nothing out of the ordinary” or when a room with space for a wheelchair to move around in is “pretty much a standard room.” But we’re not there yet. Not even close. So I share this as a reminder that accessibility is also about effort. Make an effort to remove barriers for disabled people because the right to feel welcome to visit the same spaces as everyone else is anything but ordinary.
– Kent Hoffman
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