Currently away for the weekend, is this acceptable?

[DBD1975]

Would appreciate views on whether or not I am being unreasonable in thinking en-suite facilities are not acceptable.

We have paid £440 for a weekend break in the UK. I am not happy and asked to move rooms but was told not possible as fully booked.

Don't know if I am being unreasonable and others would find this shower room acceptable or I am not being unreasonable and it is not what others would expect.

They probably did say that it's an accessible bathroom to your DH, who didn't really know what that meant. I would not be in any way happy with an ensuite like that for a nice weekend away. It's horribly clinical, and I would definitely want a bath.

All the quibbling over whether £220 is expensive or not expensive is just so ridiculous. It doesn't matter what @DBD1975 paid, she was expecting a fancy bathroom with a freestanding bath, and got what was pictured. That is the issue.

I agree. Having been left with nerve damage following hip fracture and surgery, I am unable to stand or walk unaided so am familiar with rooms such as these. The ignorance on this thread is astonishing but not surprising. Hotels have a duty to keep accessible rooms reserved for people who need them, until the hotel is fully booked, in which case if they haven't been requested by someone in need of them, they will be filled by guests regardless, rather than be left unoccupied. I wonder if the OP's booking was made rather late. The fact that the hotel is fully booked this weekend means that some able bodied guests will inevitably be allocated the accessible rooms that haven't been booked by guests who need them.

I do agree with the pp who mentioned rainfall showers - that's the last thing an accessible bathroom needs. A shower head and hose on a riser rail enables the person who needs to sit, to lower it to a suitable height for them, and if they have an able bodied partner/companion with them, then they can raise it to standing height if they wish. Similarly directing the flow of water.

As for "cheap" - anyone who thinks accessible bathroom equipment is cheap clearly has never needed to install any of it in their own homes.

Much as I enjoyed taking baths in hotels before I ended up in my current state, I would suggest to the OP that the bathroom is only a small part of the stay. It is clean and functional, so if all else is well with the hotel, I think under the circumstances mentioned above, there isn't much genuine cause for complaint. I appreciate that "count your blessings" may seem old-fashioned to some, but I think it's apt here. Enjoy your weekend, OP.

Oh come on.

It's been explained up thread why a shower screen is not suitable for an accessible bathroom.

If you want a bath then why don't you ring or email to say that in advance? I hate baths and only want a shower so I make sure that is what I get.

Don't think you've ever stayed in one if you think that's what it costs. I've just done two nights in a central London Premier Inn for £235 and it had a lovely bathroom.

That is not a bathroom. It's got a dressing table and a lamp in it so it is a bedroom with a roll top bath in it.

No it isn't, unless we are talking London prices.

Is that a wet room? It looks good, much nicer than most of the ones I have seen.

I think the booking over the phone may be the culprit.

When we travel with a disabled relative we always have to call to make the booking, some big chains even have dedicated lines for accessible bookings. It is not possible to make the booking online many places for the accessible rooms.

I wonder if whoever took the booking was more used to matching phone call bookings with accessible rooms.

Thank you and so sorry to learn of your experience at a very difficult time in your life x

@dontmalbeconme That is obviously supposed to be an accessible bathroom, and I am a full-time wheelchair user. It is not functional as an accessible wet room, and that is for various reasons.

There does not appear to be a toilet paper holder or dispenser anywhere near the actual toilet. A great many places have the toilet paper placed in an impossible to get to place when you are actually sitting on the seat eg. It is often atrached to the wall beside the user, but also too far back for the person sitting on the seat, which would probably be awkward, even for an able bodied person, for me with my upper body only able to twist a little, I just can't reach it in that position.

Luckily/unluckily for my husband, and partly for me too, my DH is my sole carer, and with my disabilities being what they are, I cannot use any bathroom without my husband's help, so in this instance he would be able to pass me the toilet paper.

There appears to be a paper towel dispensar on the main back wall, but how is a person who can wheel their own wheelchair supposed to get from the sink (I presume there is a sink) to the paper towels without having to use wet hands to propel their chair to the paper towel. If it is not a dispenser for paper towels, then I sincerely hope that it isn't the toilet roll holder! Then onto the shower, where is the foldable seat for the disabled person (me) to sit on? I cannot shower whilst standing up, even with my husband's help. It isn't clear in the photo, but I can't see a little shelf by the shower for my own toiletries, and I prefer to take my own!

So, at a cursory glance, it is not even a good accessible bathroom. I think that able bodied men must design and/or fit these wet rooms, because if you are standing up to pee, the toilet roll being behind a person who is sitting down, is probably fine for an adult male.

Why, if I were to go to a medium to pricey hotel, for whatever reason, can't my bathroom/wet room be almost as attractive as the rest of the guest ensuites? The accessible ensuite could be tiled with lovely marble (or whatever the other bathrooms in the hotel are tiled with), instead of public toilet type tiles. The surfaces that the sink sits in could also be covered in Italian marble, or whatever the other bathrooms have. If the other guest rooms have a quality hand-wash and a seperate container with hand conditioner in it. then so should the accessible room. As for those paper towels - if that is what they are, they should not be used in any quality ensuite - most disabled people, including me - can manage to dry our hands on a towel, hopefully a nice thick and soft hand towel.

@DBD1975 You are definitely not being unreasonable to be bothered by that wet room, it looks ugly, and it's layout is very badly thought out. As the hotel staff can't move you to another room, they should either be offering you an acceptable (to you) amount of money back, or two free meals in their restaurant, or a very nice bottle of wine with some chocolates. If they just offer you two free drinks at the bar, that is totally unacceptable. I hope you can still have a lovely weekend xx

You’ve been given the accessible room
I had this once and complained so got moved
They are horrible and not the luxury you saw online

Im guessing they are full but if not
ask to be moved.

£220 a night isn’t cheap so complain complain complain
Tell them you’ll put a bad review on all online platforms as you weren’t told you’d get an accessible bathroom

Remember if there’s nothing in writing they can’t prove they told you what sort of a room you’d get

As everyone says, if you wanted a bath you should have requested one. You have paid less than £500 for two nights, so it's by no means a "luxury" hotel, given that you are laying basic chain prices.

Those are certainly not typical rates, and you know it.

I can see the toilet roll to the side of the toilet, not on a holder but sat on a countertop so I presume that's where the sink is as there's a hand towel hanging from a rail below it. The thing that you thought might be a paper towel dispenser is the fold down seat.

Ah, how lovely to see so many Mumsnetters out in force who think that £220 a night is basic budget prices. Also heartening to hear that so many of them don't give a flying fuck about the aesthetics of their holiday accommodation (sure, of course they don't). Just as long as they can sleep, wash and poo. That was a nice little story wasn't it. And now everyone, back to the real world.

It's a bit HMP Bronzefield.

Got it in one. What colossal privilege those people have, sneering their way through life at the lesser people who care about it.

Thanks everyone for your comments I really appreciate everything everyone has said but especially those who have been helpful.
My husband travels a lot in this country and abroad for work and constantly books hotel rooms. We are both working age, the reason he rang to book over the telephone was because it was a spa hotel and we couldn't get the deal on the spa if we booked online.
My husband frequently stays in Premier Inns and is well aware of the cost, and the standard of rooms at Premier Inn (he said the bathrooms at Premier Inn are better).

As for the cost maybe I am out of touch but to me £440 for 2 nights bed and breakfast for 2 is probably mid range ( it is a lot more expensive than a Premier Inn).

The spa whilst in walking distance of the hotel was still some distance away, again not as expected.

We booked to take our dog with us and I think my husband was probably told it was an 'accessible' room but he would have taken that to mean it was 'accessible' in terms of taking the dog out, not an 'accessible' bathroom.
I am going to email the hotel to complain and thanks once again, for your support lovely, kind Mumsnetters it is much appreciated (and for those of you who weren't please don't worry about posting to tell me you weren't because I have read all the comments).

500
for 2 nights?

go premier inn - they usually have a bath

Makes me sick. Not only that, but are we really supposed to believe that so many of them don't care what their hotel facilities are like? For all their money, they must have a pretty low bar is all I can say.

my husband was probably told it was an 'accessible' room but he would have taken that to mean it was 'accessible' in terms of taking the dog out, not an 'accessible' bathroom.

"Accessible" does not mean "pet friendly" That's a really bizarre interpretation.

Just asan example we stayed here for 2 nights at weekend earlier in year - it doesn’t have a spa admittedly - it did however have big fabulous rooms ( even at not the top rooms) and huge really luxurious bathrooms and toiletries plus a free G&T each or wine and superb top end breakfasts cooked to order- cost £248 ( total) if anyone fancies a treat yourself weekend for sensible money I can recommend it - you do need to drive in or get a cab into Christchurch

https://www.booking.com/Share-7FoQyJv