Following up on my prior post on the Renaissance Pittsburgh, I checked in yesterday expecting a disaster. It was even worse than I imagined.
When I initially checked in and tried to confirm that the room was an accessible room with a king bed and a tub, I was told that there were no accessible rooms with a tub. I explained that I discussed this very issue with the hotel’s GM and was told that the room I was assigned has a tub. Another individual behind the front desk indicated that there was a note and that my room does have a tub. So I take my key and head upstairs. The room I was assigned was at the end of the hall. Upon entering, I am faced with the fact that the pathway into the room has a very tight turn and is extremely narrow. There is no way that my wheelchair would be able to get through:
I call the front desk and explain the situation. I am advised that the bellman will come up with keys for a different room. The bellman arrives and we head over to the next room. It is even worse:
Who designed these rooms? Have they even read the ADAAG? How do they expect a wheelchair user to enter these rooms? Totally and completely unacceptable for a hotel of this caliber (for any hotel, really).
I go back down to the front desk and explain that neither room is acceptable. The rep shrugs and says that all of the accessible rooms are the same. I ask if the bellman can help me move some furniture to allow me to enter the room. The rep agrees and the bellman and I head back up to the first room. He moves one of the nightstands and pushes the bed over to allow me to get into the room. OK – great. Now I can get into the room. Quite an ordeal for anyone to go through to simply get into a hotel room.
PS – if you need ice, it’s nice to know that there is an automated door opener. Too bad it doesn’t work (see below):
