Overview

My wife and I (we both have mobility problems, I use a wheelchair out doors and my wife uses walking sticks when she is not pushing me) have just spent a week in Berlin, Germany. The trip was organised by Enable Holidays (10 out of 10), whose service and support was excellent, all arrangements were made by a combination of emails, phone calls & post, all we had to do was get ourselves to and from Edinburgh Airport. Ground support at both airports was very good but there is still room for improvement, I have spoken to staff at Edinburgh Airport separately. On arrival in Berlin, we were met at the airport by a local rep and taken to a wheelchair accessible vehicle which took us directly to our hotel, the Melia, which as far as we could tell is centrally located but in what had been East Berlin.

Transport & Parking

Not Applicable

Access

The hotel entrance is made up of three side by side doorways, firstly a normal outward opening door, then a rotating doorway, with a wheelchair button and then a sensor operated automatically opening door. Unfortunately the sensor did not always work but reception staff always came to our assistance. The reception area, on the ground floor, is large and spacious and has good lighting at all times. Unfortunately the whole of the check – in area is at chest height (standing). Once we had checked in and been given our swipe card keys, we were taken to one of their fully adapted rooms (on the fifth Floor). The rep had come with us and before he left he gave us local contact details for himself and an idea of the local assistance he could provide. We also agreed the collection time for our homeward flight, by wheelchair accessible vehicle. The room was spacious with plenty of room for me to get around in my wheelchair although its size might be a problem for a non-wheelchair user. The bathroom was well laid out with drop bars on either side of the toilet, I could get my chair under the sink and the room had under floor heating. Turning space was adequate. For the best visual description of the shower area, see the photograph on the hotels web site. The main dining room is on the 1st floor and is also used as the breakfast area, again staff were always happy and willing to help whenever required and space for my chair was never an issue. In the evening a ground floor bar was open to guests. Also on the ground floor and as part of the hotel building, there is a tapas bar and although it has level access, none of the tables in this area are wheelchair friendly, see hotel web site pictures. Wheelchair friendly tables are available in an upper area which is accessed by stairs or a street level entrance which means you have to leave the hotel to use it.

Toilets

The only wheelchair accessible public toilet in the hotel is on the ground level. The toilet is roomy with dropdown bars either side of the toilet, there is room under the sink for a wheelchair user and both the toilet flush and the tap are sensor operated.

Staff

The staff were friendly and welcoming, they were also multilingual (we heard at least 4 languages being spoken) so communication was never a problem.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Unfortunately my wife hurt her foot on some cobbles, so we were unable to do much sightseeing by foot; however we did notice the following: A subway system is available but I cannot comment on it suitability for disabled people as we only passed an entrance with stairs leading down to it. Buses and trams were easily available and marked as wheelchair accessible but again I cannot comment on their suitability for disabled people as we did not try to use them. Dropped kerbs are available but at least in the surrounding area to the hotel, they did not always match up on both sides of the street. Tram lines could also present a tripping hazard as they run down the middle of the road. Taxis were easily available but appear to be all normal cars. Cobbled areas appear to be part of most pavements; the cobbles are much smaller than those in Edinburgh and can be quite uneven