Room Rules to Travel By

By Marilyn Shalma

Contributed by: G.T.

Call as early as possible to make your reservation.  Reserve carefully.  Make sure that the hotel or motel clerk knows exactly what your disability is and what accommodations you will need upon arrival.

Ask for assurance of accommodations and record the name of the person who gave you the assurance.  If necessary, ask to speak with the reservations manager or general manager.

Be assertive, calm and friendly.  Document, document, document!

   When making your reservation, always book directly with the hotel at which you want to stay.  The people at central reservations services simply don’t have the answers to the questions you need to ask.

     When contacting the hotel, tell them that you need to talk to someone who can give you some details about their rooms equipped for guests with disabilities.  The first question to ask is, “Have you ever been in these rooms?”.  If the answer is “no”, ask to speak to someone who has.  Avoid questions that can be answered with a yes or no.  Instead of asking “do you have a roll in shower”, ask them to tell you about the bathrooms.

     If you have trouble getting the information you need, ask for the head of engineering.  He or she may have been involved in the design and construction of the accessible room(s). and know a great deal about them.  Another good source is the head of housekeeping.  If all else fails, ask for the general manager.

     Never assume anything.  You may find that your room is accessible bout you could still be surprised to find that elsewhere in the hotel there are steps without ramps.  Reserve a room on as low a floor as possible.  In an emergency, elevators are often turned off and you will have to walk down or be carried down stairs.