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.

I don’t think you are being unreasonable.
We stayed in a country house hotel last year. It was our second time staying at this hotel as our previous experience had been very good. We were initially bemused to find we had been allocated an accessible room (even though we had not requested this, had not been informed of this & had booked many weeks in advance). The first night was a disaster. There was some sort of emergency lighting outside the room that flashed through the spy hole every minute (had to stuff toilet roll into the gap to block it). The “accessible” bathroom was difficult to use - nowhere to hang a towel, no toilet roll holder, no shelf, or anywhere to place toiletries, the wet-room shower flooded the whole bathroom. No mirror over the sink. The next morning we were woken up by staff loudly arriving through the corridor outside our room.
I went to reception & was told no rooms available. I sat there & listed all the issues with the room & after about 15 minutes a new “upgraded” room was found. Now that room was another story and why we never returned to that hotel.
I hope you get somewhere with your complaint, as it’s unacceptable to be fobbed off with an inferior service when you are paying top prices for a hotel room.

Even when it’s mentioned in the context of discussing the dog staying in the property? Why for example, would a conversation such as “Yes dogs can stay, I’ll put you in room 101, that’s an accessible room by the way” lead you to think they meant the bathroom?

I’ve stayed in places which have specific dog friendly rooms which have access onto a fenced in patio area or patio doors with direct access to the grounds. I would never assume they meant the bathroom if I’d been speaking about the dog staying.

I've done two searches for a weekend at the Premier Inn where I paid £200 a night and both came up at £200 or more a night, just random weekends one in October and one in November. No breakfast included either.

You’re away for the weekend and unless you plan to spend the majority of your time in the bathroom I don’t see why it’s such an issue. At least it’s clean and works.

No. On a cheap night it's around £50 you just need to book in advance.

tinyurl.com/ea2fyvpn

Sorry to learn of your experience and thank you for your support.

The bathroom itself looks clean and actually nicer than many accessible rooms. If I’d booked a Premier Inn, Village Hotel or Easy Hotel I’d be fine with that as it’s still functional.

If I’d booked a deluxe room in a fancy spa hotel where every photo showed luxury bathrooms and free standing tubs, yes I would be annoyed too and I’d ask to move rooms and in your case complain about it not being what was booked.

Ignore all the people saying if you wanted a nice bathroom you should have specified it, that is what they advertise and so it’s reasonable to expect that as standard (especially when booking a deluxe room!). If every photo shows tea making facilities should you still enquire if your room has them? You could, but you probably wouldn’t would you.

If they did inform him by simply saying ‘it’s an accessible room’ then that’s poor customer service. Many people outside of hospitality will not understand what that actually means. ‘It’s an accessible room so the bed may be lower than you’re used to and the bathroom is adapted for people with mobility issues’ takes an extra 5 seconds and is the proper way to manage expectations of your customers.

It’s not ableist to be disappointed with a shower room instead of a free standing tub when that’s what you believe you have paid for. It is however, truly a shame that so many accessible rooms are so basic as if disabled people don’t deserve and luxury or nice details too.

Well, if they actually said 'that’s an accessible room by the way' then I'd definitely think it was accessible in the usual sense, BECAUSE OF the 'by the way'!
But in any case, I've only ever heard the word 'accessible', in the context of accommodation/office buildings etc, used to mean suitable for people with disabilities. It'd never occur to me that it meant anything to do with dogs. Even if someone did think it might mean something like 'access to the garden' I'm surprised that he didn't get that clarified, because of its more usual meaning.

Fine. Whenever I’ve priced it up (well in advance) it’s been £200ish. I would say ALL hotels are dirt cheap mid January because no one travels then ( speaking from experience having worked in hotels).

And how awful that people with a disability will be given this sub standard room as their only option.

Yes and their partners (like me) often the rooms aren't in great places, noisy places for example. I've got to the stage where I don't look forward to trips because of the rooms. Personally it's the noisy places that bother me.

Any response from them @DBD1975 x

Free standing bath. Same as the other. If you go on your knees you can see the plumbing and dust behind it which no chamber maid ever cleans unless told by supervisor....relax ....you're uptight.

It clearly hasn’t been tied to a cistern though has it?
Typical MN performative hygiene ocd “Ewww, shower curtain, toilet brush, dishcloth, crumb, carpet, speck of dust, clutter, Oh no! Look how superior we are 🤮🤮🤮”

What do you think the boxed out bit behind the toilet pan is?

I thought everyone eschewed shower curtains these days, amazed to discover some people still live in the dark ages!

I’ve explained in a previous post why shower curtains are grim (although I do think it should be bloody obvious why). I don’t think having a clean bathroom makes me superior to you, do what you like in your own house, I just hope you’re not running a hotel/b&b and inflicting those standards on paying customers like the OP!

I find those kinds of showers cold, too much air comes in from the rest of the room. But it’s only a couple of days, have a lovely time and don’t spend long in the bathroom!

Accessible would have made this clear. This is exactly what an accessible bathroom looks like. Wet room, additional adaptations.

And accessible bathrooms are not 'old people' bathrooms! They are for disabled people, who can be any age.

To everyone who posted kind comments and supportive messages on this thread - thank you. I have taken on board all the responses (including those who didn't agree but did so constructively). I am grateful to everyone who took the time and effort to answer my post.

I just wanted to provide an update as, after negotiating, the hotel have reimbursed 50% of the cost of the room, which I feel is acceptable and I am happy with.

If anyone wants to post anything negative or wants to tell me I am an entitled Prima Donna please don't, I heard you the first time.

To everyone who made this post about my husband being at fault, he wasn't, the hotel were.

To everyone who weaponised my post against me in terms of being anti-disabled people, you don't know me or my circumstances.

To the person who criticised my dog, he is not a 'flipping' dog. He is currently curled up, fast asleep on his sheepskin rug and will be having chicken for his dinner tonight, so you can 'flip' off.

As I say I am very grateful for the support and the kind comments, there are some very lovely Mumsnetters out there xx

That seems like a very fair result.

I'd have been happy with a 50% reduction too OP. Good result.

Wonder if people who need an accessible room get it cheaper than the rooms with nice bathrooms. I doubt it somehow, good for you but isn't it awful for the disabled.

Ahhaha, no they don't. They pay more than for a standard room because it is bigger. Its discriminatory, but hotels can't seem to get their heads round that and many do still charge the 'premium' rate for a larger room.

Well done OP. I'm glad you were reimbursed. It doesn't take away the disappointment of the stay but I suppose at least you can put it towards another weekend away (somewhere else!).

Yep, 50% seems very fair and what I would have been going for. Well done OP.

They aren't always bigger and are frequently in less desirable parts of the hotel for example on a recent stay we were opposite a room used by staff including for getting cleaning stores. It was noisy from early morning to night particularly due to staff often having a chat outside the room and the constantly slamming door.