Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil - Hotel (Mercure Colinas)

Mercure Colinas - Av. Dr. Jorge Zarur, 81, torre 2, Jd. Apolo, São José dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil

This hotel is set right next door to its sister hotel,  the IBIS, reviewed here. Mercure is a slightly more upmarket brand of Accor hotels. The hotel has one wheelchair accessible room.

Flat entrance to the hotel with automatic doors. There is level access throughout the lobby, bar and breakfast area of the Mercure.

Handicapped room is on the first floor (the lift/elevator is of small but adequate). The room is compact but well designed and there is space to maneuver. There is enough room between bed and wall and bed and built in furniture. The workdesk is at a comfortable height. The electric sockets and wired internet connection (there is also wifi) are located in the wall behind the desk and are very easy to reach. Closet has a bar at a comfortable height for hanging shirts etc. Light switches are by the bed and easy to reach from the bed. I like this feature, you can turn all the lights in the room, except the desk light, on or off from the bed.

The bed (queen size) is at a perfect height for transfers and is comfortable.

Air conditioning unit is operated by a remote control and works fine. TV remote control stored beside TV at comfortable height.

A sliding door leads to the bathroom which is large with plenty of turn space. Ample knee room under sink. Slanted mirrors make for easy viewing when seated. Toilet is easily accessible for a 90° transfer. Grab rails well positioned. The towels are stored on a shelf that is high and access to it is blocked by the toilet. This may put the towles out of reach for some wheelies.

The shower is an open, roll-in, design with a fold up, sturdy, shower seat mounted with plenty of access room for transfer. Shower controls are easy to reach. There is a combined hand held hose and wall mounted rose, with a control on the hand held unit to select which one you want. The wall mounted unit is positioned directly above the seat. The seat is small, and I found I always needed one hand on the grab rail to help me balance. However the grabrails are sensibly positioned.  There is no temperature cut-off so you need to be careful when adjusting the temperature to avoid scalding de-sensitized areas of your body.

The staff are very friendly and quick to help with carrying trays or moving furniture.  The restaurant is accessible and provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. The nearby Colinas shopping centre has shopping, food and an excellent chascurria, all with good wheelchair access. It is possible to walk to the shopping centre although you have to cross a few busy roads to get there (pedestrian crossings are plentiful).

All in all, a very comfortable, accessible option in SJC.