A hotel accessibility review this time! This one’s a review of the Campanile Hotel in Cardiff following our stay in December.
(Disclaimer: I’m aware “accessibility” means different things to different people, as I said before, these are MY views on my experience of accessibility at this venue as an electric wheelchair user, I obviously can’t speak for others experiences but feel free to add your experiences in the comments!)
Booking
The booking process was fairly simple. I was able to book our room online and just put “wheelchair accessible room” in the requests section on the booking form. The hotel then rang later that day confirming that an accessible room had been put aside for us and outlining some of the accessibility issues we may face. These included the fact there was ramp/ gradient slope between the car park and the rest of the hotel grounds and that there was only a bath in the bathroom and not a shower. I was ok with these issues as it was only an overnight stay and I appreciated being warned about access issues prior to arriving.
Travel
In terms of travel, we took the Megabus from London Victoria to Cardiff Kingsway and then, due to the out of town location of the hotel, basically took Ubers everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean we went from town to the hotel, then from the hotel to the event venue (the event being Cage Warriors 100) and then from the venue post event back to the hotel. The following morning, we finally worked out the buses and took the bus from the hotel to town. For those of you wondering, the buses have a fold out ramp at the front (to be folded out by the driver) and a wheelchair space with a fold out seat for the companion to sit with the wheelchair user.
Experience
The first thing I noticed when arriving at the hotel was that the rooms were separated, as in physically in a different building, from the main reception, this was not what I was expecting having stayed at other Campanile hotels. The next thing to notes was the steepness of that ramp I mentioned earlier. It was REALLY quite steep, I appreciate that I’d already been warned about it, but it was quite difficult for my friend to push me up and down, so if there is any alternative route or any way to improve access I’d be open to helping figure something out. There was also an, albeit small, step into reception which my friend had to lift me over. While I had my friend with me this time, it did make me aware how difficult it would it be if I was by myself (even if it only seems like a small issue). The most annoying issue was that my wheelchair didn’t fit in the bathroom in a way that allowed me to also shut the door. You really can’t call a room fully wheelchair accessible if I have to get out of my chair and crawl to the bathroom!
Overall, while the booking process was simple and there’s some awareness of access issues at the hotel, a better understanding of the true meaning of “wheelchair accessible” would be welcome, and, as always, I’m willing to help the hotel improve their wheelchair access.
Stay Invincible!
Em (Invincible Woman On Wheels)
Invincible Woman on Wheels 