5 Deciding Factors When Booking an Accessible Hotel

Written by Emma Muldoon, Simply Emma, January 8, 2022

Disability will affect all of us at some point in our lives and currently, 1 in 5 people are disabled. The collective spending power of disabled people is called The Purple Pound and is estimated at £274 billion a year. But for disabled people to be able to spend their money, businesses including hotels must be accessible. The key to happy, returning customers is to offer good accessibility and inclusion.

So with this in mind, here are 5 things I look for when going to an accessible hotel as a wheelchair user and what makes me want to book again.  Of course, these are just some of my most important and there will be more/less depending on your disability.

1. Access starts online

Booking a hotel room shouldn’t be complicated, but for disabled travellers like myself, it can be a challenge. So much time is spent searching on websites looking for the best accessible hotel to meet my basic accessibility needs. And that’s before I even consider other important factors.

When I visit a hotels website, I want to be able to find details about the accessible room quickly. Clear and concise information with photos showing the accessible bedroom, bathroom and facilities help me decide whether it is suitable for my access needs.

Personally, the hotel’s website is the first and often the only place we will look before booking a hotel bedroom. I will simply leave the website if I can’t find any mention of accessibility and I won’t give that hotel my custom.

Access starts online and there is no excuse for not having accessibility information on a business website.  

An incredible 73% of potential disabled customers experience barriers on more than a quarter of websites they visit according to findings from The Purple Pound. 

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