Novotel on Collins

270 Collins Street

Melbourne

VIC

Australia 3000

http://www.novotelmelbourne.com.au/

These notes are intended to provide guidance for wheelchair users considering this hotel. If you are looking for comments on the hotel experience see tripadvisor. The conclusion: a well located hotel with excellent wheelchair facilities, recommended. 

The hotel is located about midway on Collins street so is right in the bustling center of Melbourne. We were able to explore the city on foot (or wheel) from here. The hotel is surrounded by shopping malls and many tiny alleys with interesting cafes for breakfast lunch or dinner. Many cafes are not accessible, but have outside tables. 

There is a ramp from the street to the ground level concierge station.  A lift (elevator) from here goes up one floor to the reception area. On this level there is a bar and restaurant, all of which are fully accessible.  There is an accessible toilet off the bar area but it is a bit cramped and may not work for all chairs. Another toilet past reception and the lifts, near the meeting rooms, offers a better option. 

The wheelchair accessible room I booked was a Queen bed with a pull out sofa bed. I initially intended to use this for the kids but since a third adult joined our group we ended up taking two rooms - the accessible and an adjoining superior room (non-accessible).  The room was very large, one of the largest I have stayed in, and there would have been plenty of circulation space even if we had used the pull out sofa.  As it was, moving around the room was no problem. 

The room was located fairly close to the lift (elevator) down a carpeted corridor. The work desk was very large and easy to use with electric sockets easily accessible above the desk.  The mini bar and accoutrements were accessible and the TV remote control was in easy reach. The a/c controls were easily reached. The closet was easy to get to and the hang rail was a normal walkie height. A light switch by the bed controlled this main room lights, but not the desk light and floor mounted lamp so you had to remember to turn those off before getting into bed.  (A master switch by the door turned everything off - a pity there wasn't one by the bed). The bed was about 20" (50cm) high and easy to transfer in and out of. 

The bathroom was very large with plenty of circulation space. There was a shower with a large, wall mounted, fold down seat and a completely separate bathtub.  The shower rose was a hand-held unit mounted on a vertical rail. It was possible to reach the top of the rail while sitting on the seat. The controls were easy to reach and there were well positioned handrails. The bath had no shower rose attachment and was a standard height. 

The toilet had plenty of space around it and was suitable for a right-handed 0 to 180 degree transfer. There were well positioned grab rails. The sink had good knee space and was easy to manage. The mirror was tilted and provided excellent visibility. 

All in all I found the hotel very well suited for wheelchair and handicapped accommodation and would use it again. The staff was very friendly and helpful.  Recommended. 

Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver

These notes are intended to guide wheelchair users interested in snorkeling on the GBR.  They reflect my personal experience only and represent just one day - do your research if you plan to try this experience, and if you a in north east Australia you really really must try this experience! It's worth pushing yourself out of your comfort zone for.

After doing a little online research and exchanging emails with a few people I felt that Quicksilver (http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/) gave me the most confidence in their familiarity with and ability to accommodate wheelchairs so we went with them. I travelled with my wife and two very young children (6 and 7 years old) and three adult friends. I am a T4 complete paraplegic, with a rigid light manual chair. I can swim but I had no previous experience of snorkeling.

Quicksilver offer a range of reef trips, but the one you need to take is to go to the Agincourt reef platform as this is the only one with good wheelchair access. The boats to the reef depart from Port Douglas and they have two large boats with wheelchair access. Embarkation from the port was easy, a member of staff helped push me up the fairly gently sloping gangway.  There was a steep sloped ledge at the end. On board there was a table (conveniently located near the bar!) reserved for wheelchair access, with the seats removed on one side of it. A bench seat beside the table offered the opportunity to get out of your chair if you prefer although it faces away from the windows and view.  The staff were very attentive and reassured me greatly as I tried not to show my nerves. There is an accessible toilet although you have to negotiate a lip from the salon to get outside. The staff offered a ramp to assist with this but I was able to just "curb hop" it. 

Upon arrival at the platform after about 90 minutes journey, you disembark onto the platform itself.  Access to the lounge and main platform is via three very steep ramps.  You will need assistance going up and down - I don't think anyone could manually push themselves up them unless they are extremely athletic.

The staff provide masks, snorkels and buoyancy jackets.  Although I can swim I decided to take a buoyancy jacket for stability and I am very glad I did. On this experience you really need to great yourself into as comfortable a position as possible so thAt you can focus on the wonderful marine sights. There isn't much point in getting fins if you can't move your legs. I would recommend swim shoes though just to provide protection for your feet. I didn't have any but would have had greater peace of mind if I had.

Once the main rush of people getting into the water had abated, and I had applied sun screen etc. I told the staff I was ready. They really want to see you go in with a buddy. Since my wife was fully preoccupied in the water with  the kids I was very glad to have an adult friend (and experienced snorkeller) with me. 

The platform has a chair lift. You perform a 70 or 90 degree transfer from your wheelchair onto the chair lift. Staff will assist you a little but are not trained to perform lifting and so on so if you need that level of assistance you need to bring some helpers with you. Once on the chair lift, they strap you in and lower you very slowly into the water - about a meter below. Once in the water they pull you to the swim platform where you an finalize your preparation, affix your mask and snorkel and prepare for something wonderful.

Once you slide into the water there are lines with bouys that you can use to provide both stability and confidence. I stayed very close to these for the first ten minutes but once I got confidence I let go and was able to drift and swim with the fishes.

I found it was very easy to get into a horizontal "viewing position" face down in the water simply by moving my head forwards. Getting back up into a vertical position where I could remove the snorkel and breathe normally was a bit more problematic. I achieved it by flapping my arms wildly to try to raise my torso out of the water. Initially several people thought I was drowning so I had to work on my technique to look more like an intentional move and less like a scrabbling kitten.

I stayed in the water for about 45 minutes (you can get up to 3 hours or so in the water if you are prepared to skip lunch) until I began to get quite cold (it was July - mid-winter). During that time I views an astonishing vista of incredibly beautiful fish and coral, up close and far away. At points I was just a few feet from the coral and at other points fish came right up and stared into my mask. What a truly remarkable experience, and it is imperative that we take every measure necessary to protect and enlarge the GBR to preserve it for our own and future generations.

There are no accessible changing rooms - I just put on a dry shirt and stayed in my wet swimming trunks and sat in the sun until they dried out.

The platform has other viewing opportunities such as a semi-submersible boat and observation platforms below the sea level. However none of these are accessible unless you can walk down a few steps. I was completely satisfied with the snorkeling experience so did not miss these at all.

The platform also offers diving but unless you are experienced or really determined to dive I think the experience you get snorkeling is as good as it gets. The variety of life and the colors are greatest near the water's surface.

The return to shore was uneventful with easy boarding once you got up the three ferociously steep ramps on the platform.

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef is one of those things I thought would never be part of my experience once an accident put me in a wheelchair for life. Well, I was wrong and if time and money allow it, you should try it. Disability is the last excuse you should use!

The Darling Hotel, Sydney, Australia

80 Pyrmont Street (at The Star), Sydney, New South Wales 2009, Australia

Visit Hotel Website

These notes are intended to provide guidance for wheelchair users considering this hotel. If you are looking for comments on the hotel experience see tripadvisor. The conclusion: a lovely hotel with interesting and elegant features, but the high bed in the accessible room means I would not recommend it for wheelies.

The hotel is located close to Darling Harbour. We arrived without a car, walking up Union St.  Access to the hotel was a little hard to find. You can go through the Star Centre but you can also access the hotel from Union St. directly. Looking from the street you see a rotating door, with steps behind so it does not look accessible. In fact, there is a button operated automatic door and a lift to the lobby hidden from view. It’s easier if you arrive by car at the front door!

The lobby area is fully accessible with hard floors. There is level access to the star complex with its shops, restaurants and casino. Sokyo restaurant and bar are directly accessible from the lobby.

The wheelchair accessible room I booked was a King bed. I was told that the hotel does not offer any other configuration in an accessible room. The room was close to the elevator with carpet flooring in the corridor. The room is large with sufficient space to get around. The work desk is at the end of the bed, and a circular utility table was also placed at the end of the bed. The table had to be moved in order to make room for the chair between bed and desk. One that was sorted there was plenty of access around the bed. All light switches are easy to get to, as is the control for the blinds and the air conditioning.  The TV remote control was left in a leather pouch by the bed. 

The minibar and its accoutrements is easy to get to. The clothes closet has two sliding doors. The hang rails are not lowered but I could still reach them.  The iron was out of reach from a wheelchair.  While there are light switches placed close to the bed to control all lights in the room, it is quite a challenge to reach them from the bed without falling out! However the TV remote had a "room off" button which turns off every light in the room. Unfortunately there is no equivalent "room on" button!

The bed was about 28" (700mm) high and  was nearly impossible to get into from my chair.  It is disappointing to see The Darling following the current trend for very high beds. This one was way too high for a comfortable transfer and the act of getting into bed was exhausting and risky.

The bathroom is large with plenty of circulation space.  The toilet has plenty of space around it and would support anything from a 0 degree (parallel) to a 180 degree transfer. It is very far from the wall with no back support which makes sitting on it and balancing very tiring and ultimately dangerous. However, this seems it be an Australian access regulation requirement more than a specific design of the hotel as I have seen it in many public toilets. The grab rails were well placed which helps. The sink was easy to access with ample under sink knee room. The shower was large with a good solid large fold down shower seat. All controls were easy to reach from the seat. There was a hand held shower rose and a centre ceiling mounted "rain shower". The rain shower kind of misses you when you are on the seat though. The hand held rose was clipped to a rail on the wall that had a clever lever coming down which meant you could adjust the rose right up to even its highest level. Towels were placed in easy reach and there were plenty of them.

The Darling is a high end hotel with great design, great finishes and lots of attention to detail. The electrics in the room suffer a bit from design over function.  Ultimately, a well designed and functional accessible room was completely negated by an inaccessible bed. Not recommended...unfortunately as I loved so many things about this hotel.

Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa

25135 Park Lantern · Dana Point, California 92629 USA

Visit Hotel Website

These notes are intended to provide guidance for wheelchair users considering this hotel. If you are looking for comments on the hotel experience see tripadvisor. Conclusion: A lovely resort, fully accessible despite many different levels, let down by a bed in the accessible room that is too high to use.

The hotel has a fine location at beautiful Dana Point. It is located high on a bluff with a steep set of steps leading to the beach and harbor area below.  The hotel is on many levels with steps but all areas of the hotel are wheelchair accessible - although you may have to follow a convoluted route to get to some places!

There are three steps up to the entrance, with gently sloping ramps on both left and right. The front doors are automatic. The reception area is fully accessible. Off reception is a bar/cafe area up a couple of steps, with an outdoor seating area with fabulous views. Both are accessible via ramps but it is kind of hard to find them. Best to ask a staff member to show you.  The restaurant is one floor down, accessible via lift (elevator).

All areas of the grounds, including the swimming pool, seemed to be accessible. The pool has a lift chair attached to one corner to enable transfer in and out of the pool.

The wheelchair accessible room I booked had two double beds since I was travelling with my family. The room was a long way from the elevator over thick pile carpet which made wheeling difficult. The room itself was very large with plenty of space around and between the beds. Sliding doors opened onto a balcony and there was no trouble wheeling over the small lip to access it.

The work desk was a comfortable size and help.  The power sockets were below the work desk and a little awkward to reach, but not impossible. The closets, minibar and coffee maker were all accessible although the mini-bar dry goods and menu were out of reach. The TV remote was in a cradle in front of the TV and easy to reach. A/C controls were also at a good height. The bed was nearly impossible to get into. There is a trend at the moment for very high beds. This one was way too high for a comfortable transfer and the act of getting into bed was exhausting and risky. The room lights could not be controlled from the bed.

The bathroom was very large, the shower enormous! The shower had a fold down seat and the controls could easily be reached from that seat. There was a single hand held shower hose on a wall mounted rail. The toilet had plenty of circulation space around it suitable for anything from a 0 to 180 degree transfer, and well positioned grab rails. The sink had plenty of knee room and was easy to access.  A large mirror gives a decent view of your upper body but it is not tilted making it difficult to get a full length view. The towels are hung on a bar in the shower and are accessible from a wheelchair. 

We had two minor problems with the room - not worth complaining about at the time as we were only staying one night. However, when we mentioned them on checkout they immediately waived the resort fee as a courtesy gesture.  This is a lovely hotel, with great facilities and service. However I don't think I can recommend it, or use it again myself, simply because of the ridiculously high beds. Is there an ADA guideline for bed height?  If not, there should be!

Carton House, Maynooth, Co. Kildare Ireland.  

tel. +353 (0) 1 5052000

 

http://www.cartonhouse.com/

These notes refer mainly to the wheelchair accessible aspects of this hotel. For comments on the hotel service and facilities see tripadvisor.

Carton House is a hotel, golf course and spa located in a fine example of a typical home of the old Irish landlord class. It is located about 30minutes from Dublin Airport and maybe 45 minutes from Dublin city center. Despite being built long before anyone thought of wheelchair access, the modernization of the hotel has produced a fine hotel with excellent access throughout. Wandering the grounds might present some challenges, but since I did not have time to explore I cannot really comment on that.

Entrance to the hotel lobby is through a modern entrance at the side of the original old house. Access is level through automatic doors. The lobby level, bar and restaurant are all on one level and easily accessible although the distances between them are great. The flooring is mostly hard cover with occasional sections of carpet – easy to traverse in any case. There is a dedicated large accessible toilet near reception.

My room was on the first floor of a modern extension to the old house and had a king bed. The lifts (elevators) are quite a way from the reception, but are large, and my room was very close to the lift.

The room itself was large (very large by Irish hotel standards) and easy to navigate. There is a large, comfortable workdesk and enough room between the desk and bed for my chair (680mm) to pass through with plenty to spare. Power sockets were easy to reach at desk height, as was the desk lamp. The bed was slightly below wheelchair cushion height so transferring was very easy. The bedside lights and room lights had switches by the bed. The air conditioning controls were easy to reach. The TV controls were left by the TV within easy reach. 

The closet had no door and was easy to reach and hang clothes on. All storage was accessible.

The bathroom was spacious with easy access to the toilet for a 90 degree or a parallel transfer. A folding handrail from the wall was well positioned. Sink was easy to use with plenty of knee room underneath. There was a roll in shower, with a small sturdy foldable shower seat on the wall. I found balancing on the shower seat a little precarious, but the handrails helped. The shower rose is fixed and protrudes from the wall above the seat giving plenty of coverage although it means there is no way of avoiding the couple of seconds of cold water that runs when you start the shower! The controls were easy to reach. Even at the hottest setting the water temperature was not dangerous although I did not notice any marking to suggest that it was temperature limited. All towels were left within easy reach.

 

I was attending a business event which utilized meeting rooms in the old house. All the rooms we used were on the ground floor, but I did notice on elevator running up the center of the old stairwell. All rooms we sued were fully accessible and there was an accessible (albeit poorly signposted) toilet nearby. The floors are the original floors and can present occasional hazards to a wheeler with broken stone slabs and so on. But I would not have them any other way – the character of the old house is great and the meeting rooms had a lovely old world, sophisticated feel to them.

The room really had nothing to fault it. Given that, and the excellent service and ambience of the hotel I would strongly recommend it for any wheelie seeking a country “feel” in a location not far from Dublin and Dublin airport. .

 

The Novotel Toulouse Centre Compans Caffarelli is convenient to the conference centre in Toulouse, and about a 20min wheel from Place Wilson in the centre. The hotel is set in pleasant surroundings with a nice urban park just behind it. These notes are intended to assist wheelchair users or handicapped travellers considering it as a place to stay while in Toulouse. I stayed here four years ago (see review here) and found it good, but I can no longer recommend it. The main change is to the bedroom.

The room was difficult to navigate. When I stayed here before, the gap between the end of the bed and the workdesk was a little tight, but I could reach all areas of the room with no great difficulty. However, now the gap between the bed and workdesk was much tighter – I estimate 600mm or less (24”) – and I was unable to pass through. This meant that half the room was inaccessible to me, including the workdesk, the power sockets, a chair and table, and the TV and TV remote control.  Apart from that the points made in the original review are still valid.  

Because of the difficulties navigating the room and getting in and out of the bath I would not recommend this hotel for wheelchair users travelling alone. Ambulant disabled, or wheelchair users with walkie companions would get by okay.

 

Novotel Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil

Avenida Dr. Nelson D'Ávila, 2200 Vila das Acácias, São José dos Campos - SP 12245-031

Phone:+55 (12) 4009-7826

http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-0472-novotel-sao-jose-dos-campos/index.shtml

These notes refer only to the wheelchair accessible aspects of this hotel. For other reviews see TripAdvisor.

There is a flat entrance to the hotel with automatic doors. There is level access throughout the lobby, bar and restaurant area, and accessible toilets off the lobby. Circulation in the public areas is excellent. Hardwood floors make wheeling very easy.

My room was a standard double bed wheelchair accessible room. The room was large enough – just! There was a very tight space between the bed and the edge of the minbar unit. Initially I couldn’t fit through, but by pushing the bed over be about 15cm (6”) I could get through comfortably. (My chair is 680mm – 28” – wide). The work desk is very narrow and has to be to accommodate a wheelchair between the desk and the end of the bed. Once past the bed there is adequate turning space. There is a sofa bed in the room also, but if it was pulled out and made up the room would be barely usable for a wheelchair. The bed is at a very comfortable height for transfers. There is no bedside locker or shelf which was a bit awkward.

The workdesk was at a good height, and although narrow it could accommodate my laptop comfortably. Power sockets were easy to reach. Light switches were at a comfortable height, and all room lights could be turned on or off while lying in the bed. The A/C was controlled by a remote control device which was left in easy reach beside the TV remote.

The closet had no door and had a clothes hang rail that could be pulled down to wheelchair height. While some storage was too high to reach there was adequate drawer and storage space down low.

The bathroom is large with plenty of turn space and has a very wide door sliding door.  There was ample knee room under sink. A large mirror gives a decent view of yourself and is tilted downward.  The toilet is easily accessible for a 90^o transfer. It is a standard toilet with a plastic fitting to raise it to a height suitable for ambulant disabled. Personally I find those very uncomfortable and difficult to work with, but your mileage may vary. Grab rails are well positioned and the towels are hung on the grab rails within easy reach.

The shower is one of the room’s better points. It is a roll-in shower with a sturdy fold down shower seat mounted to the wall suitable for a 90 degree left hand transfer. There is a hand held hose mounted on the wall in a fixed position, and a second rose in the middle of the ceiling which soaks you nicely when seated on the seat. Water controls were within easy reach. The water never got dangerously hot.

Although the room is a bit on the small side, I found the hotel from an access point of view and I would recommend this hotel for wheelchair users.