I just came across this article in the July/August 1997 NewsNet. It is
printed by the Ohio Rehab Services Commission. I thought that it would be of
interest to anyone who travels. Trish
Definition of Accessibility Tricky for Hotels
For a person with a disability, it's a common scenario: You plan a dream
vacation or business trip only to find the hotel or motel isn't accessible.
What does the law say?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that all hotels, motels,
inns, resorts and other public lodging places maintain at least one
accessible guest room-unless it will cause an undue hardship. The larger the
facility, the more accessible rooms it must have. For facilities with...
>25 or fewer rooms, at least one must be accessible;
>26 to 50 rooms, at least two must be accessible;
>51 to 75 rooms, at least three must be accessible; and
>76 to 100 rooms, at least four must be accessible, and so forth.
What is an accessible room?
The definition is tricky. For example...
>only one in three accessible guest rooms must have a roll-in shower; and
>facilities with 50 or fewer rooms do not have to provide roll-in showers in
their accessible rooms-a tub with grab bars is sufficient.
However, the law requires all other access codes to be met in rooms deemed
accessible, including...
>32-inch-wide doorways with an 18-inch clear space by each door;
>a flexible hand-held shower at least 60 inches long in the tub or shower;
>lever-type door handles and faucet controls, requiring no grasping or
twisting;
>17- to 19-inch-high toilets;
as sound; and
>36-inch clear space around two sides of the bed, or between the beds if
there are two.
Swimming pools, other public facilities and parking lots should be
accessible, too. For motels where parking is provided at each room,
accessible rooms must have accessible parking adjacent to the entry.
---Excerpted from an article by Ben Mattlin, One Step Ahead-The Disability
Resource, Vol. 2, #16
