ffutures: (marcus 2013)
[personal profile] ffutures
For some reason my hotel room (in the Campanaille, Glasgow SECC) is "accessible" for wheelchair users - not sure how this happened since I didn't book it intentionally, but the hotel are firm that it's the right room and I'm not causing a problem for any disabled guests.

So, first impressions; apparently disabled people need little or no table space, since the only horizontal surfaces are a small shelf holding the TV and phone with a small amount of extra space, and a small highish shelf with the kettle. The available space is just about enough for a laptop, except that there's no accessible mains socket - it's behind the TV which can't be moved. The only place in the room with an accessible socket is the kettle shelf, way too small for most laptops.

There's no curtain in the bathroom for the shower, so water presumably goes all over the floor, which does not feel especially non-slip. The razor socket seems a bit high for someone in a wheelchair and there's no shelf to put a razor or electric toothbrush down safely while plugged in; there's a small flat bit by the sink but it would be easy to get it wet or drop it in the basin. The only flat place to put e.g. cosmetics or medication is the window sill on the other side of the basin.

The basin is also too small to put the kettle under the tap and fill it with more than a small cup of water - you have to tilt it about 45 degrees.

I don't know if this is the norm for accessible rooms, so far I am not impressed. I've asked for another room, but they can't do it until tomorrow at the earliest. We'll see what happens.

Later - it occurs to me that a disabled occupant might well want to recharge an electric wheelchair overnight, use a CPAP machine, etc. There is nowhere to plug them in.

Date: 2014-04-17 05:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] stevegreen.livejournal.com
Sounds dire, Marcus. My sympathies.

Date: 2014-04-17 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ffutures.livejournal.com
The bathroom floor turns out to be ok, the rest is about as bad as it sounds. The stupid part is that they've obviously spent money on eg the bathroom, which is much bigger than usual, but I suspect had no input from real disabled people, especially those with extra needs requiring electrical equipment.

Date: 2014-04-17 08:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ffutures.livejournal.com
Sorry post without giving an example - a CPAP machine, for instance.

Date: 2014-04-18 01:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dsample.livejournal.com
I suspect that the primary requirement for being able to label a room as "accessible" is that there is room to maneuver a wheelchair around it, so some "non-essential" items got left out, so they could check some boxes on their forms.

Date: 2014-04-18 05:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ffutures.livejournal.com
I'm sure you're right. I think they meant well, but could have done a lot better if someone had given it some more thought.

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