Can hotels charge more for handicap accessible rooms, and do they have to make these rooms available to handicapped individuals?
DOJ settlement with Courtyard Marriott: Within 30 days of the effective date of this agreement, Marriott International and Courtyard Management Corporation shall issue to the central reservations office for Courtyard by Marriott hotels and to every Courtyard by Marriott hotel, a memorandum stating that it is the policy of Marriott International and Courtyard Management Corporation: That no accessible room will be reserved for an individual who does not have a disability, unless all inaccessible rooms have been reserved for the date on which a room is requested and accessible rooms are the only ones available; That an accessible room of the type requested by a person with a disability shall be reserved for that person, if, at the time a reservation is made, an accessible room is available for the date(s) on which it is being requested; That if, at the time the reservation is placed, an accessible room is available on the date(s) for which it
Ten years ago I was working in a place with a single specially-designed wheelchair-accessible suite (accessible washroom, extra-wide doors, main floor — so no elevators). The rate was the same as any other room and was of course rented to able-bodied folks as well, when not booked for a guest using a wheelchair. The room was, as I recall, not booked out in advance save by those who made a reservation and requested an accessible room; rather, at 6:00 pm or 8:00 pm or something, when it became evident that no wheelchair-bound guest might be coming through the front door, it was then made available for anyone who needed it. It also thus served as a useful safety valve for unforeseen emergencies — a guest has inadvertently booked for the wrong date and has turned up a month earlier than expected or something. I am sure the “same rate” part of all this was covered by legislation, but apart from that it was all just policy.
First off, it would be helpful to know if this is a chain hotel (Holiday Inn, Hampton, etc) or an independent hotel. Because, this will make a difference in how you handle this. In hotels, handicapped rooms are referred to as ADA rooms, because of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s a national law that has very strict requirements when it comes to hotel rooms. You say the hotel says you originally reserved a standard room. Is this the case? You say it was prepaid in advance, that’s generally the case with online sites such as travelocity or orbitz. Did you use an online site? To answer your questions: 1) Most hotel chains have a standing policy of charging the same for a handicapped room as they would for a corresponding standard room. (IE: a handicapped king room should be the same price as a standard king room.) But, this may not be the case for an independent hotel. Hotel chains are very adamant about making sure their hotels are compliant with ADA codes, and smaller, independ
Let me clarify a few things: 1) We just booked the room through hotwire a couple of days ago and they have no way even requesting a handicap accessible room. 2) We called the hotel after the reservation was made and informed them that we would need a room with an accessible bathroom. They told us that the only two rooms they have with accessible bathrooms were already booked with long-term guests (neither of which need the accessibility) and they are not willing to ask if the guest would move for the night. 3) We were informed that even IF the rooms were available they are more expensive rooms and would require us to pay a bit more money. We are left in a position that we may need to to contact hotwire and request that they refund our money (good luck with that). I just read about a class action suit against hotels.com about this issue, but it seems just as much the fault of the hotel as it is web sites. Finally, I completely understand if the hotel is full and they fill the handicap a
It’s entirely possible that the hotel was completely booked when the handicap rooms were assigned to the long term guests. Or the handicap rooms might be the only rooms that were available for the requested duration. No hotel is going to ask those guest to move to a new room for a single night if only because of the increased cleaning costs incurred. Besides that consideration the long term guests might have requested those rooms for many reasons unrelated to the handicap accessibility of those rooms. Over looking the parking lot/not over looking the parking lot; perceived quietness; distance from the vending machines; ocean view etc. For example travelling business people holding meetings in their room often want ground floor room close to entrances and that is where managers like to put them as it reduces the disturbance to other guests. One of the hotels I’ve worked for had a minor block of rooms separated from the main hotel by the laundry/meeting rooms informally reserved for thes
