The Trouble with Tribbles... Oops, I mean Hotels

Now that so many of the pandemic rules are lifting, people are getting back out on the road and heading for vacations, business, and travel in general. There are often many hassles along the way – airports backed up and planes not flying on time, gas prices higher than we’ve seen in many years, the costs of EVERYTHING have skyrocketed. But we don’t generally think of issues with our hotel rooms as being high on the list of potential problems. Yet for those of us with hidden chronic illnesses and autoimmune disorders, our disabilities, we often find that in fact, accommodations when traveling can be a nightmare.?

My husband and I recently made a trip to New Orleans to visit with a family member that we’d never met before and were super excited for this trip. The hotel was in the middle of the French Quarter and was quite an old building but had been recently renovated – or so we thought. I had made reservations months in advance to make sure that we would have the perfect vacation. A handicapped room (with a roll-in shower) on the first floor where I could get my electric scooter in and out with no problems.

The first floor was because if there was a reason (like a fire) and the elevators didn’t work, I could get out of the building. I wouldn’t be able to if I had to take stairs. The roll-in shower was because I can’t lift my legs to get them into a tub even if there’s a handlebar to hold on to. I have fallen in and out of tubs and have broken my wrist and ankle as a consequence in the part. These requests to me were simple and easy to understand.

The reservationist told me that it would be fine and that all had been taken care of. I need not worry. However, when we got there, we were given a key to the 3rd floor as far from the elevator as you could get. It was difficult to get both my husband and I in the room, let alone my scooter. Going back downstairs to ask why this had happened, they told me there were no rooms available other than this one – take it or leave it. We took it.

We had to leave the scooter parked downstairs in the check in area and get my push wheelchair out of the trunk. Getting into the teeny-tiny lift, the foot rest got caught in the door and it wouldn’t open. We were stuck for a half hour until my hubby was able to wrangle the feet off the chair. The door laughed at us then and slide open. I had to hop into the room while the chair was folded up outside and carried in. it had to be placed behind the door which made it very hard to open the door to either get in or out.

When we wanted to leave the hotel, we had to reset up the wheelchair (we just left the feet in the room; easier that way) and pushed me to the elevator and down. We then switched the chair for the scooter and we were off until the reverse took place coming back.

The shower was another thing. While it did have the roll-in feature, the floor were ceramic tile (very pretty but also VERY slippery). I had to have hubby hold me up while I was in there (and the bathroom was also VERY small).

The final straw was the fact that I am allergic to strong smells and have serious asthma attacks where there are colognes or other scents in the air. We walked into this room and I was sent into a coughing and breathing calamity because the smells of cleaning products were so strong. Yes, it was nice that the room was sanitary and clean but it took two days of the 7 days we were there to get the smells out. This was because they never came back to provide clean towels or pick up services.

All in all it was a nightmare. We had a great time but no thanks to the hotel. We will never stay there again. Sadly, my story while actually funny now, back in June of 2020, was not funny at all. And the hotel blamed their errors on corporate reservation takers and “gifted me” with a 2000 point bonus. The room was $250 a night and you needed like 120,000 points to exchange if you didn’t want to pay cash.

This is not the only time I’ve had issues and I know many other people (both those with and without medical challenges) that have had nightmare experiences in various different hotels around the country. There are government rules such as the ADA that are supposed to help with these situations, but the hotels either take their chances, or work around the laws in one way or another. It is going to take campaigns against them on social media, on their websites, writing to your Congress person, and helping organizations such as Invisible Entrepreneurs to fight these battles so that we can enjoy our vacations and traveling experiences, feel safe and want to go back again.

This article by Rebecca Theim in https://www.nextavenue.org/handicapped-accessible-hotels/ shares the troubles and remedies of many travelers with hidden chronic and autoimmune disabilities. It is only if we take a stand and share our voices that things will change. Good luck and if you are traveling, ask questions when making your reservations, get the name of the person you are speaking with and make sure that you know your rights.

I hope that you have a wonderful trip!