Hotel Accessibility: Factors to Consider When Making Your Hotel More Accessible

A key part of running a successful and reputable hotel is being able to welcome guests from across the world. This includes making sure your hotel is accessible for guests with restricted mobility or a disability. If your hotel isn’t accessible, you make it difficult - if not impossible - for employees, visitors or guests with a disability to enjoy their stay comfortably or safely. Here, we’ve shared four steps to think about when making your hotel more accessible.

Create a user-friendly booking experience

When it comes to creating a more accessible hotel experience, many establishments stumble at the first hurdle: the booking process. Making sure guests with visual or hearing impairments can navigate your hotel’s website with ease is the first step towards inclusivity. This includes adding subtitles to videos and making sure text size can be adjusted.

You also need to make sure potential guests can find out everything they need to know about your hotel. If your hotel has been designed with accessibility in mind, make sure this is listed clearly on your website for guests to browse.

Offer dedicated disabled-friendly rooms

To ensure your hotel is completely inclusive, make sure there are disabled-friendly rooms on the first floor. These rooms should be designed to provide a safe and comfortable experience for guests with visual or hearing impairments, neurodiverse conditions, or restricted mobility. In addition to designing rooms for wheelchair access, consider features such as sensory lighting, soundproof walls and braille signs.

Consider fitting overhead hoists to make bedrooms more accessible for wheelchair users. These can make it easier for guests with reduced mobility to get in and out of bed safely.

Make physical adjustments throughout the hotel

It’s important to think about the accessibility of every zone in your hotel. For instance, if you have a swimming pool, consider fitting large steps or a ramp instead of pool ladders. If you have a hotel restaurant, install a wheelchair-friendly ramp or a vertical platform lift. Make sure your communal toilets are fitted with grab rails and emergency assistance pull strings.

There are lots of adjustments that can be made to accommodate guests with disabilities; ask the general public what would make their hotel experience better and use this information to make a change.

Put your hotel staff through comprehensive training

No matter what physical adjustments you’ve made to your hotel, it will still be difficult for guests to enjoy a comfortable stay if your employees haven’t been trained properly. Your hotel staff must be able to offer assistance where it’s needed and should understand how to facilitate guests with ranging abilities.

Training should be company-wide; your guests should be able to seek assistance from any hotel employee they ask, whether it’s your receptionist or restaurant serving staff. Your hotel staff must treat every guest kindly and respectfully at all times.

Installing disabled access lifts, including vertical platform lifts and overhead hoists, is an essential step towards increasing your hotel’s accessibility. For a bespoke solution to suit your hotel needs and make your guests feel safer and more welcome, look no further than ADL Lift Services. We install, maintain and repair all types of lifts, including a range of disabled access lifts, for homes and businesses throughout Scotland. For more information, contact us at ADL Lift Services today