Before the trip, someone in this group pointed out that when you reserve a handicap room, you can't count on getting one. Apparently, you are only making a "request". Keeping this in mind, and knowing we were getting there late and had to get to my sister's house before it was too late for her to have dinner, we went straight to my sister's house and called the hotel. I said, "We're here, we still need that handicap room. PLEASE hold it for us." They assured me, "NO PROBLEM! It'll be here until midnight."
We went to dinner, and then to the hotel...around 10pm. They sent us to our room. Got there....noticed it didn't look like a wider door and there were no handicap signs....so I told Mom and Wendy to wait in the hallway. Sure enough...it was a regular room. I picked up the phone (again, we were handling our own luggage cart...being stubborn..doing it all ourselves...so there was no bellman). The girl on the phone said, "Ooops, sorry, but we don't have any handicap rooms left." Say WHAT???? She said SHE was the one that talked to me, earlier, but she'd made a mistake and didn't realize there were no more handicap rooms. I said, "Let me talk to the manager." He said, "Are you sure you need one? Can't we just do things to accomodate you?" I said, "Not unless you want my mother to refrain from going to the bathroom for four days!" (Of course, I didn't offer that we had our own commode.)
So, while I was on the phone, he made several adjustments in his reservations computer, and said, "Do you want me to come get you, or would you just like to meet me at room 1081?" I said we'd meet him there. Sure enough, the room was lovely. The door had a lower peep hole, for viewing from the chair. The room had an extra refrigerator, for medicines and for keeping food in the room (easier for the handicap than going out for all meals.) The bathroom had a nice grab bar railing by the toilet...and we lucked out that it was on the right hand side. Next time, I'll not take chances...I'll ask which side the rail is on and make sure we get one just like this. Then, I said, to the manager, "I'm so interested in all the adaptations to the room...we're new at this." He said, "OOOOOH, well...you should also check to make sure there is nothing under the bathroom sink...so the chair can get in there." Kewl. I was impressed. Then I turned to check out the shower. OOOOPS!!! It was a bathtub!!!! I said, "OOPS? What's THIS?"
He said, sheepishly, "Yea, I know. We haven't quite finished retrovitting the rooms. They'll all eventually have wheel-in showers. Right now, we just have the tub, with railings, and a hand held adjustable height shower head."
I asked, "What is Mom supposed to do for a shower?"
He said, "Well, we can bring her a transfer bench. Will that do?"
Heck yes!
They brought a wonderful bench that worked perfectly!!!
Then, we looked at the bedroom. LUCKILY, the bed was near a wall...with just enough room to wheel the chair in. But there was a nightstand, where we needed to put the commode. No problem. We moved it out and set up the commode. We had everything like at home, except the grab bar on the wall...and the toilet paper hanging off the bar. Had to make a few adjustments. I'd forgotten the lid for the bucket, and this commode didn't have a lid on the chair...so there was no place to put her water bottle, flashlight, etc. So, I took the rubber bath mat and showed her how to lay it over the bucket, then put it back over the back of the commode when using it, then flip it back down. Then, we took a wire rack from the refrigerator and put it over the mat and that made a nice place for her water bottle. When she got up during the night, she had a little system...put the bottle on the bed post, put the rack on the pillow, flip the rubber mat back...and you know the rest. :) It worked great...and I got my sleep, while she did her thing, during the night.
Our only complaints with the room, was that the main door and the bathroom door were both spring loaded. They kept closing on us. When I write my "evaluation" letter to the hotel, I'll suggest they at least provide door stoppers. I'm guessing that the doors have to be spring loaded for fire reasons. But they were a real nuisance to us. I'll also suggest that they inquire whether a reservation for a handicap room is a "request" or a "necessity". And in the future, I'll not just speak to the reservations person. I'll contact a manager BEFORE getting there and explain that with us, it's handicap room or NOTHIN'!!!! It's not just a convenience...but a necessity.
