Accessible hotel recommendations?

CarolWHerts

Can anyone recommend a hotel or other accommodation on the south or east coast where I can take my disabled parents for a short break?

We need good parking, full wheelchair access, lots of sturdy handrails, especially around the toilet and bathroom, a high toilet seat, and a reasonably high bed.

Rooms that have recently been kitted out as accessible are usually fine, but we have also been given some thoughtless shockers with wobbly rails and no space to manoeuvre a chair. It's hard to tell from online listings, although I have now learned to phone before arrival and interrogate them on the most vital points, which sometimes works, if the person answering the phone has any understanding of the issues. 

But I know there are some excellent places out there and would like some suggestions. 
Price, thankfully, isn't an issue, although we are just as happy in low budget caravan type homes as in posh hotels, as long as the accessibility is there. 

For my part, I can recommend Northgate House, which is attached to Buckfast Abbey in Devon, where we stayed recently and which has excellent facilities and accessibility, thoughtfully designed in as part of the build.

TBagpuss

You could consider the Grove hotel in Bournemouth. 

It used to be owned and run by Macmillan Cancer Care as a location for people with terminal cancer to take holidays. They had to close it for economic reasons and another local hotelier took it over, but I belive that they purposlely retained some of the accessible rooms.

I haven't been there , it came up in a discussion I had eleswhere.

I belive that they don't accept children or stag/hen parties so probably fiarly quiet! 

Savvy_Sue

After next weekend I'll be able to report back on what accessible rooms at Premier Inn are like ... They don't all have lifts, I know, so that's always something you'd need to check. 

Savvy_Sue

As promised, accessible rooms at Premier Inn 

Spacious, large bedroom, with an emergency call button which reaches onto the bed. The bed is lower than usual. I'd say well adapted wet room / bathroom, with plenty of grab handles. However the bathroom door is heavy to slide.

No grab handles in the bedroom space. You can BYO, I think there's something which fits under the mattress if getting out of bed is an issue. Then it's a case of putting the walking frame somewhere sensible. I'm not sure the wheelchair would fit alongside the bed.

They asked at check-in if we'd need assistance in an emergency.

And you have only to ask for a vibrating pillow alarm and they hand one over. 

What they don't have is baby monitors, and with hindsight I'd have brought one. If there's going to be a fall, it will be on the night-time trip to the loo, and the alarm will be useless, because it's the wrong side of the bed.

Alternatively I'd have asked for connecting rooms, but too late now. They do have them, but in this case the accessible room is connected to the 'wrong' room. 

Hanging space is all wheelchair accessible but you'd need help to get the extra pillows down.

BIG problem this morning when the corridor to breakfast had the room service trollies abandoned along its length. Not all can be squeezed past, and anyone self-propelling would really struggle.

But staff could not be more helpful.

CarolWHerts

Many thanks for the thoughtful replies. All this anticipating and worrying can be quite exhausting, but it's so nice when we find somewhere that works. I must remember the tip about the interconnecting rooms - used to do this with the children - hopefully the accessible/interconnecting combo is available.

Savvy_Sue

Agree, there's a lot of anticipating and worrying goes on, and I have to say I'm relieved we decided to spend an extra night away to 'recover' from the main event - I recognise that's not always possible, but do give yourself recovery time afterwards if you can - I think we all need it, TBH, organisers and organised alike!

One other tip, book cancellable rates as much as you can, even if it means paying a bit more. We were originally going to use another chain, and I'd booked multiple rooms for different family members. A conversation with one of them alerted me to Which ratings, where Premier Inn generally scores very well. Yes it's a chain, BUT it's consistently good. We've used several, across the UK, and now that's often where I start my search.

One thing I particularly like is that you can phone each hotel direct - to book, to check something, to tell them something. 

mobileron

Premier inn ask for disabled room will meet your requirements also blue badge parking outside reception.
There website will show you a disabled room.

Newly_retired

Often the breakfast area of Premier Inns is in another building. Are they always fully accessible?

Savvy_Sue

Newly_retired said:

Often the breakfast area of Premier Inns is in another building. Are they always fully accessible?

That would always be something to ask, but in my experience they are accessible. At our most recent stay, some areas were stepped, but no shortage of level areas, with wide doors and level access between the bedroom area and the restaurant.