Room for Improvement?

By Margaret I. Negodaeff

How many times have you encountered barriers in a Canadian hotel? How many times have you found that, perhaps, the light switch in the guest room has been lowered -- but the bathroom is utterly inaccessible? Or you find you can get through the door -- but not out again, since the door handle is a knob, not a lever? If you have low vision, have you had difficulty using the telephone or the heating controls? Have you ever reserved a hotel’s accessible room weeks ahead of time, only to be given utterly unsuitable accommodations when you arrive? If these situations sound familiar, you’re not alone.

The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) has realized that an incredible amount of revenue is being lost just because people with disabilities, and seniors, don’t need the hassle. Many Canadian hotels are not up to snuff when it comes to accessible public areas and accommodations, and many staff have never been trained to recognize and meet special needs. Enter Access Canada.

Access Canada is specifically designed to help hoteliers serve the needs of seniors and people with disabilities. It’s a global initiative never before undertaken, and is endorsed by the International Hotel Association, made up of properties in 149 countries. The United Nations has applauded the Hotel Association of Canada, stating that "Access Canada meets or exceeds all international standards," and holds up the program as a model to all UN countries.

Tony Pollard, President of the HAC, explains that the association’s first step was to produce the Access Canada Standards and Rating Program operator’s manual. This easy-to-read but detailed publication was developed by the Alberta Hotel Association -- 40-plus hotels in that province have now completed Access Canada Certification. Now in its second edition, the manual outlines building requirements for Canadian hotels (note that Access Canada is not developed to parallel or replace building codes, but to educate and train both builders and hotel staff). The second stage of the program includes a CD-ROM, video and manual for use in staff awareness and sensitivity training.

The original participants in research and development included a barrier-free standards committee, focus groups in Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria, B.C., and "benchmarking hotels" in Edmonton. The Alberta Hotel Association (AHA) found that although people with disabilities and seniors are large and growing markets, much of the accommodation industry has not responded to the needs of these customers. Yet the HAC notes that the market of Canadians aged 60 and up have a higher disposable income than other segments of the population, and a greater propensity for longer stays.

The Alberta Hotel Association has estimated that as far back as 1990-91, the province played host to 2.5-million visitors with disabilities. "Bed-nights" totalled over 8.5-million. Apart from the domestic market, the number of international trips taken by mature travellers is expected to increase by 33 per cent between 1995 and 2000.

After reviewing 51 international rating systems for barrier-free standards, the AHA challenged itself to "Do It Better... Do It Right!" The solution, they say, is not just making physical changes to a property, but ensuring that guests (and remember, the customer is always right!) receive accurate information, and have their needs met when they arrive.

Access Canada reports that people with disabilities rarely travel alone, but generally prefer not to travel in distinct groups. Those with families tend to vacation as a family or couple, and travel mainly in the shoulder and off-seasons, when the hotel industry is typically searching for business. What more, says the AHA, could a hotelier ask for?

At the moment, people with disabilities, their families and their travel agents must call directly to book hotels. It is, of course, essential to get the most detailed and accurate information about facilities and services, and a guarantee that these will be available on arrival. These items, notes the hotel associations, are key to making a final purchase decision. If neither is available, people will simply take their business elsewhere or not travel at all.

Just what is required? Because there are usually only a few barrier-free rooms at any given hotel, owners do not "load" this room type against the master inventory in the reservations system. Instead, they hold it back for direct reservations or for last-room availability. If the room type is actually in the system, there usually isn’t much detail for the agent to pass on. Hotels need to provide toll-free reservation numbers and detailed information to travel agents and central reservations staff.

Tony Pollard of the HAC stresses that hotels do not have to get into major construction contracts to serve the needs of this client base adequately. To wit, Access Canada focus group members specifically asked for: ease of access on path of travel; basic room layout; improved signage; alternative communication methods; improved information systems; staff training; availability and portability of technical aids; and easy adjustments, e.g. bathroom doors that open outward.

At least one major hotel chain has jumped on the bandwagon with gusto. Last January, Choice Hotels’ president and CEO, Craig P. Farrell, spoke at the World Congress for Travellers with Disabilities, in Miami. This was the first time a hotel chain had attended and spoken at the congress. Mr. Farrell, who talked about travel difficulties faced by his father, a user of dialysis, has now accepted an appointment to the congress. As part of the global executive, he will be instrumental in planning the 1999 event. In this year’s speech to the congress, Mr. Farrell also suggested that hotel chains and other travel suppliers should consider establishing in-house specialists to coordinate travel arrangements for agents and their clients.

To date, three Quality Hotels (part of the Choice chain) in Toronto have solicited the help of Gerald Parker, President of Beyond Abilities International, to help them identify areas that could become more accessible, and to conduct sensitivity and awareness training with the staff. The chain’s director of public relations, Tara Wilkinson, reports that steps so far include the installation of telephone teletypewriter (TTY) units, closed-captioned TV, bed shakers, public telephones with volume controls, flashing fire alarms, medical refrigeration, larger print menus, and evacuation route lights. All three hotels have been recognized by several groups, including the CNIB, as accessible hotels. Specially equipped rooms are sold out continuously.

The training sessions, reports Ms. Wilkinson, have helped staff feel more comfortable in serving guests with special needs, improved communication skills, and helped guests with disabilities enjoy things that should be taken for granted when travelling.

Choice is planning to conduct a cross-Canada audit of all facilities, publicly endorse Access Canada and roll the training program out to licensees by the end of 1998. On completion of the audit, the chain will assess and assist hotels in developing their individual requirements to meet program requirements.

The Access Canada program has four levels of accessibility. The aim is to: "decrease physical and service barriers; increase overall guest safety; encourage and increase travel in Canada; respond to a rapidly aging population and increasing travel pattern of people with disabilities; promote universal design; increase guest orientation and comfort levels; and support hotel owners in implementing the system."

Level-one properties provide effective service to seniors with normal effects of aging on hearing, vision and agility, and people with mild disabilities; level two is for people with mild hearing loss or stamina/strength/agility limitations, and persons with mild visual disabilities; third-level properties serve people with mild to moderate hearing disabilities or stamina/strength/agility limitations, people with mild to moderate visual disabilities, and wheelchair users who are paraplegic. The highest standard, level four, reaches for excellence in barrier-free design and service for people with mild to severe hearing disabilities, people who are Deaf, people with mild to severe visual disabilities, people who are blind, and all wheelchair users.

Econo Lodge and Rodeway hotels have also introduced "seniors’ rooms" to appeal to a growing population of value-minded senior travellers and some people with disabilities. Amenities include large-button telephones with volume control, large-button clocks and TV remote, brighter lighting, grab bars in the shower and bath, lever-style handles on doors and sinks, hand-held shower or shower massage, and an alarm clock with an oversized number display.

How much of an impact is Access Canada making on the experience of the traveller with a disability? Thus far, it is difficult to find any eastern-Canada hotels participating in the program, but Tony Pollard of the HAC says this is because the program is very new and because the pilot project started in western Canada. "There is a great deal of interest in central and eastern Canada," he asserts. "It’s simply a matter of time before they all become involved."

Ed Wadley, a Toronto resident who uses a wheelchair, visited the Quality Hotel Midtown, one of Choice Hotels’ flagship operations for Access Canada. "They’re going in the right direction," he says of the Toronto hotel. "But the first thing I noticed was that there were no automatic entrance doors." The hotel does have level access, however, which Ed thinks is more attractive and less conspicuous than a ramp.

The room he was shown was "not significantly different" from regular accommodations, but he did note that the light switches and thermostats were lower, including those in the bathroom. There was a cut-away sink, handle taps, and "grab bars everywhere," but no wheel-in shower.

Ed tried twice to open the card-operated door, but that little green light was just too fast for him. "That’s okay if you’re checking in and there is someone to help with your luggage," he says, "but pretty frustrating if you want to come and go as you please."

One thing that pleased him to no end was a fully accessible writing table -- something he says is not always available in hotel rooms. The chest of drawers had knobs, while Ed prefers D-handles -- which, he found, were available in the non-accessible rooms! As one finds time and again in hotels, clothing racks in closets were out of reach. The keypad on the telephone was of standard size, and there was no Braille on the phone or elevator, nor any textural guide for guests who are blind.

There are, however, flashing lights on the telephone and fire alarm, and a kit is available for people with a hearing disability that contains a TTY phone and bed shaker. Although guests with hearing disabilities normally know how to use these products, says Ed, all management at the hotel have taken training courses in setting up the systems.

"Ian Taylor, who showed me around, was very friendly and knowledgeable," says Ed. "Even the hotel’s restaurant staff are very used to dealing with people who have disabilities, as there are accessible apartments right across the street."

In Calgary, Rick Goodfellow, Executive Director of the Independent Living Resource Centre, checked out that city’s Westin, listed as level four.

"I must say they’ve improved remarkably over the last couple of years," Rick notes. "I play in a band, and that place used to be my worst nightmare!" Before renovations, he used to have to go through the kitchen and service elevators just to get to his gigs on the convention floor. But now, he reports, there are "lips everywhere, push-button doors... it’s a lot better, but I wouldn’t say to the ’nth’ degree."

The room Rick was shown was "cramped," with not a lot of room to move around. The concierge did mention that larger suites were available for $20 more, but that is not exactly the point. There was an insufficient turn radius in the bathroom. There was a hand-held but unreachable shower hose; there was no wheel-in shower, although tub seats "are available." There was an interesting swing-out grab bar that served both toilet and bathtub.

One of the problems Rick Goodfellow commonly encounters is being given a room some distance from the elevator. "This room was halfway down the hall and, as a manual wheelchair user, I found the thick carpeting a pain in the butt," he says. "Hotels should realize this and keep barrier-free rooms near the elevators."

Again there was no accommodation for hanging one’s clothing and, in this level-four hotel, the thermostats were totally out of reach. This telephone, too, lacked a large-sized keypad, and there was no TTY.

"I’d say this hotel is about par for the course in Canada, but it wouldn’t be allowed to operate in the United States," says Rick.

"What really bugs me is this attitude that a room is ’somewhat’ accessible. It’s either accessible, or it’s not!"

Meanwhile, the Cornell University Hotel School in New York, the Lausanne Hotel School in Switzerland, and Mercantil Y Hotelera S.A. in Spain have all bought the Access Canada package. In Canada, apart from the Choice chain, no other major hotel groups are apparent purchasers, except for Ramada Limited in Alberta. There are some individual big-name hotels, and a few Best Westerns. There do not seem to be any Canadian hotel schools on the list.

What can the traveller do? It may not be enough to ask hotels if they are participating in the Access Canada program. For now, people with disabilities may need to continue to make accessible reservations the way it has always been done: get all the advance information you can regarding the accommodations -- including floor plans and measurements if necessary; be familiar with your specific needs; and go by word-of-mouth recommendations, such as from friends with similar needs or the local Independent Living Resource Centre.

If you have comments and suggestions on the Access Canada program, they can be directed to the Hotel Association of Canada at (613) 237-7149.

(Margaret Negodaeff is an Ottawa-based business and travel writer.)