At the very least I'm receiving e-mails, they are working on it? Don't know what they could be working on its quite easy actually, you either have or you do not have rooms for the mobility impaired. If you plan on making them available you should be working on construction plans. As for my trip, been back home now for a bit and have no plans to revisit in the near future.

I found these in my old archives of our trip to Québec city to celebrate the city's 400th anniversary. If I'm not mistaken the city was named the most accessible?

This is a so-called adapted room from the same hotel chain, at least in this instance they made a feeble attempt by raising the toilet making transfers easier yet I can't help but get a kick from their decision to install the grab bar behind the toilet.

Difficult to imagine how one would use it to assist in standing unless you were forced to sit sideways and yes that's how I had to use it for the time we were there. There were plenty of grab bars in the bathtub however one would have to step over the edge in order to shower or at least have a seat to bathe using a handheld shower, the seats were unavailable.

As for shaving you had a choice of losing your knees since the counter was so low or doing without for a few days. They say a picture is worth 1000 words I will let you be the judge.





On the other hand there are some fantastic hotel rooms that go above and beyond what I would expect. Here are a few photographs of a five-star hotel we recently spent a week at.







As you can see I have not quite mastered the art of positioning photographs within the blog so you'll have to excuse me yet be assured I'm working on it. Now the pictures above represent a five star fully adapted hotel room with all the amenities one would desire, not only is there a wheel in shower there is also a nice soaker tub with proper toilet and a grab bar. At the bed there is a ceiling track for someone requiring a lift, the track extends to the toilet and the shower making this the most accommodating room I've ever been in. I am however a perfectionist and tend to pick out small things which could be improved upon in virtually anything I see, in this instance management were thoughtful in placing a phone next to the facilities help would only be a call away. It's difficult to see since the picture is so small yet if you place your mouse on the picture and left click it will enlarge enabling you to see it quite clearly.
It's unlikely you would utilize the phone to replace a paper roll or bring you an extra towel in essence you would require it if you fell which unfortunately would place the handset out of reach being on the floor not able to stand. I still have to give them five stars for the effort I mean come on now how picky does one have to be.

July 1, 2009 Letter to Hilton

July 1, 2009 Without Prejudice

To whom it may concern,

Having just arrived home from a two night stay at your location in Niagara Falls Ontario I had to voice my concern relating to the lack of facilities for mobility impaired guests even though I was assured rooms for the mobility impaired were available when making my reservations .
Our customer service contact's first name was Jennifer, although she was a recent hire she provided us with exemplary customer service that went above and beyond attempting to satisfy my needs. You should strive to have employees of this caliber in all functions, on the other hand your responsibility should also rest providing your employees with the knowledge and tools necessary to meet your customers needs. Your staff should know before hand which rooms meet a particular customer's requirements without having to go back and forth to the manager and have them provide room numbers obviously pulled out of a hat in the hopes that one will satisfy the customer, at one point my wife and I felt like a yo yo.

Our reservations first started with room 804 which quite evidently did not suit anyone who was wheelchair bound, this followed with a visit to a room on the seventh floor, the 13th floor and then finely the 31st floor room 3101 to be exact. While this room offered a spectacular view of the falls it fell far short from meeting our requirements.

This year I stayed at your establishment in Toronto, Montréal and now Niagara Falls.
The Toronto location was ideal and well-suited for someone with mobility impairments. The shower was a wheel in type with a bench, the toilet had a number of grab bars located as defined by the Ontario disabilities act , for some reason I expected the same level of service from your other locations however
Québec city left a bit to be desired, our visit to Niagara did not even come close to meeting our expectations.

Before MS forced me into retirement ensuring customer satisfaction for our customers was one of my major responsibilities this is why you are receiving this e-mail, as you probably know 90% of dissatisfied customers simply walk away and take their business elsewhere without voicing their concern. Look at it as a way of improving your service since you are receiving honest unbiased feedback from one of your customers.
I can send you pictures of what was deemed suitable for mobility impaired patrons yet these would only confirm that there were no grab bars of any kind at any location and that the shower was suitable for someone who could stand and walk, I wish I could.

I will be posting my experience on my blog I will be writing a letter voicing my dissatisfaction to the Canadian MS society including the Ontario Gov. general. I cannot believe that an establishment such as the Hilton would knowingly misrepresent its facilities to potential guests. Quite simply if you require the services of an ergo therapist, a physiotherapist or even someone familiar with the Ontario Disabilities Act I am certain they would be more than pleased to assist you in making minor modifications to your existing layout which would at least designate some of your rooms as truly accessible. I am certain you can understand why I would not be able to recommend the Hilton as suitable for individuals such as myself.

You can be certain I will include you in the documentation I forward to the parties mentioned and even provide you with an opportunity to visit my blog to view the so-called accessible rooms.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement, while the view was spectacular it did nothing to meet my needs.

Regards

Michael Halashyn

107-515 La Gappe
Gatineau, Quebec
J8T 8R8
819-568-4690
mhalashyn@videotron.ca

Hilton in Niagara Falls comes up short offering services for mobility impaired guests.

Without Prejudice

We had planned a trip to visit the Niagara Falls area at the end of June and decided to make our reservations at the Hilton after all I always felt it was the best.
One of the many disadvantages of being disabled begins with reservations, virtually all hotels or entertainment venues require you to contact them directly to reserve accessible rooms or in the case of concerts reservations are made by calling the hotel. The rooms suitable for mobility impaired guests are almost never noted on their websites. This raises another concern in that you cannot make your reservations online and in most cases you lose any incentives or price reductions which may apply. Case in point my wife and I traveled with another couple who were able to take advantage of discounts we were unable to attain. In the end we lost out and ended up paying more than our friends.
Before we left I contacted the hotel that is the Niagara Falls Hilton in Niagara Falls and confirmed the availability of rooms accommodating mobility impaired guests. After being on hold for a bit the person confirmed that rooms were available thus I made the necessary reservations. As I mentioned previously the cost was a bit more than our friends yet when you are wheelchair-bound you cannot take the chance so you accept it and pay the extra cost.
I explained our ordeal in detail with the letter that follows, after visiting several rooms it was either five or six I've forgotten it became apparent that this hotel offered no rooms for the mobility impaired. We settled on a suite located on the 39th floor providing a spectacular view of the Canadian falls. That was great the only problem was that I had to do without a shower for two days and using the toilet facilities proved to be quite a challenge as a matter of fact we left the hotel to use the facilities at another location which were adapted.

For me the answer is quite simple if you do not have rooms suited for mobility impaired guests say so at the beginning thereby saving everyone a lot of grief and negative feedback which will give a heads up to anyone thinking of booking at this hotel if they require mobility modified rooms. As I said the room on the 39th floor was spectacular yet in all honesty I would've settled for something on the first floor facing the rear of the building if it had only been modified to suit my needs.

I sent the following letter to the Hilton and have yet to receive a response which shows me how much they care about customer service. Not all Hiltons are the same as I've had terrific service and suitable modified accommodations at the Hilton in downtown Toronto, the Hilton in Québec city at least made an attempt yet it fell a bit short of providing excellent accommodations however I was told of their limitations when I made the booking which made all the difference as I knew what I was getting into. The Niagara Falls Hilton said nothing other than yes we have rooms for the disabled. That is my bone of contention I've included a few photo graphs so you can see what they consider adapted? I wish I could have them spend a week in a wheelchair having to stay in one of their rooms.