Washington DC - Hotel (Capitol Hilton)

The Hilton Capitol Hotel is a full service, pricey, hotel located just a couple of blocks from the Whitehouse in Washington D.C. Indeed, you have a pretty clear view of the Whitehouse from the street in front of the hotel giving you a great sense of being in the nation's capitol! These notes refer to wheelchair accessibility in this hotel.

The hotel offers (very expensive) valet parking only. There is a narrow kerb cut in one location in front of the hotel. Access from the pavement to the lobby is level. The lobby is large and level. The bar and restaurant are up two steps. There is a ramp.

Elevators are large. The room was a comfortable size and slightly over furnished. The web site states that the accessible rooms have a pull-out sofa. This is not true.

The work desk was a comfortable height, and sockets easily reached. Room lights could not be controlled from the bed. The bed was quite high but getting into it was not too difficult.

Bathroom was a comfortable size. Toilet was at wheelchair cushion height. Sink was acceptable, with plenty of knee room underneath. The bath had some badly positioned grab bars (better for ambulant disabled than a wheelchair user). The shower hose was of the hand-held type with the option of placing it on a rail or on a fixed mounting that was too high for a wheelie to reach. (Of course, the cleaning staff placed it on the high fixed mounting!)

A/C controls were at a reasonable height and TV controls in easy reach.

I felt the hotel was over-priced for the quality of accomodations but I guess you pay for location, location, location!