Overview

The accessible rooms in this hotel are referred to as Freedom rooms; just three of those have wet rooms. I emailed ahead to make sure we were allocated a room with a wet room. At check-in, and despite my wife being in her wheelchair near the desk, we were allocated room 23, on the first floor. First of all, my wife’s access to that room was impeded by stairs, just ten metres from the room. It turned out there was an alternative step-free route but, before we took that route I decided to check the room. It was actually an ambulant accessible room and not suitable for a wheelchair user, quite compact and with no wet room. I returned to my wife who was with the duty manager, Kieran, who noticed that my wife was stuck at the stairs and went to assist her. I told him of the problem with the room. We went back to reception and he immediately sorted us out with a more suitable room, room 2 on the first floor. Thanks Kieran! When open, the door to room 2 has a gap of 74cm, which was a little tight for my wife’s chair (70cm wide) to get through without catching the frame or door. The doors to accessible rooms in our usual hotel chain of choice are always more than 80cm. The room itself was really spacious with plenty of room for a wheelchair user to move about freely. There were many good accessible features of this room, but a couple that weren’t so good. One good feature were the automatic curtains; give them a little tug and they open and close automatically. Another good feature were the push button panic alarms at mid height and floor height; we often find that the pull cords in some rooms don’t reach to the floor or are tied back. The double bed, at a height of 58cm was a little too high for a wheelchair user. My wife needed assistance to transfer and a solo traveller in a wheelchair would find it very difficult to transfer from chair to bed. The beds in the accessible rooms of our normal hotel chain of choice are at least 10cm lower and are much more suited to a wheelchair user. The bed though was very comfortable, if a little on the soft side for me; my wife though slept soundly on it. The pillows were quality too. There were enough electrical sockets around the room, including on both sides of the bed. The fridge and safe were at an appropriate height for a wheelchair user, but the safe wasn’t bolted to the unit it was in. The tea and coffee making area was also at an appropriate height for a wheelchair user, with room underneath for the front of a wheelchair. They have a Nespresso machine too! The Wi-Fi offered a good signal, with no dropouts. Mobile data (O²) was strong too. The room had plenty of windows, which looked out onto the atrium of the restaurant; so, no view as such but that was of no consequence. The blackout curtains were effective and the A/C very efficient and not at all noisy. The bathroom was not as big as the ones in our usual hotel chain of choice but was big enough. The sliding door afforded a gap of 78cm. The shower surround was two perspex bi-fold doors while, aesthetically pleasing, would be awkward for a solo wheelchair using traveller to operate effectively; curtains are more practical. The thermostatic shower had a rainfall head and a wand, both of which could be used at the same time; so often it is one or the other. A really good accessible feature of the shower was that the shower head and wand could be turned on or off at the press of a button. The water pressure was very good and it remained at a constant temperature whilst showering. The shower area, like so many in hotel wet rooms, was missing a small shelf on which to place shampoo, body wash and so on. It can be very difficult for a disabled person, when seated, to reach necessary items when the floor is the only place to put them. Overall, this was a nice hotel with many good accessible features, and a couple not so good, and we intend to stay here again next year.

Transport & Parking

This hotel does not have parking but, if you have a blue badge there is plenty of on-street parking available nearby; we got a space just thirty metres or so from the hotel entrance. The kerb is dropped just at the side of the hotel, so you can pull onto the wide pathway to load and unload; make sure you display your blue badge though.

Access

There was barrier free access from the car park to reception, the restaurant and to our room. Room 2 is located about ten metres from the lift, via a manual opening door. The lift is a little tight for a wheelchair user with luggage, but that is to be expected as the building has been repurposed. Breakfast and dinner is served in the restaurant, Forme & Chase. For wheelchair access go through the bar area and turn left, where you will find the wheelchair lift to the restaurant level. We didn’t use the Generators rooftop bar as there was a private function on the first night and we were too tired the second night. From the photos it does look accessible for a wheelchair user though.

Toilets

We didn’t use any public toilets so I cannot comment on them.

Staff

All staff we encountered were pleasant and very helpful, particularly Alice who served us at breakfast.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS: Most staff wore face coverings when walking about the hotel and all staff wore face coverings when interacting closely with guests or serving food and drinks. During the current Covid-19 restrictions the housekeeping staff only enter your room to change towels, refresh the tea and coffee tray, leave bottled water and straighten up the bed; there is no full clean, which is to be expected. If you need anything else you can just ask at reception. Notices about social distancing, cleanliness and face coverings were posted about the hotel. Face coverings for guests was recommended but not enforced. Hand sanitizer was available at key locations. There were no signs on the lift advising of only one party/family at a time, but the lift we used was small so nobody could try to get in with us anyway.

Photos