My family and I want to go away for the Independence Day holiday, as millions of people do. But if you're disabled, it's that much harder. Forget about flying anywhere. No thank you! Driving (or in my case, being driven) is annoying enough. Sitting for long hours in a car makes my back hurt, not to mention it makes the swelling in my legs that much worse. Sometimes I need a vacation from my vacation!
So you've arrived at your destination. Now what? You've spoken to a live person and made your needs known, right? A nice lady at the hotel assured me that though they did not have any accessible rooms available, they would have a shower chair handy, put grab bars in the shower, and install a raised toilet seat for the length of my short stay. Free of charge!This is the Holy Grail of hotels, I tell you. Go to the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn in Lancaster, PA if you can! https://bird-in-hand.com/bird-in-hand-family-inn/
I've been to London, and they assured us that the hotel was accessible, and so was the room. Ha! Mind you, it was a Holiday Inn, so we thought, of course they're accessible. American ones are! Not the case. My mother had to do a lot of lifting that trip. Good thing we were only there four days.
I just researched another hotel in another location, with another well-known name. They say the room is ADA-accessible and meets all the requirements. I just looked at the pictures of the room. The shower, while for once being an actual shower, has a lip on the side! I wouldn't be able to get my wheelchair close enough to the shower chair to transfer. Not without someone's help. If you're going to call something "accessible", make sure I can actually access it! We shouldn't need someone's help to do the easiest things like brush our teeth or take a shower. We can do it ourselves at home; why not on vacation?
