I'm writing an access statement for work... grateful for any thoughts

[hanbee]

Hi all,

I'm busy writing the access statements for our holiday cottages and whilst the physical/mobility side is fairly straightforward I thought some tips from you lovely lot would be just the thing to make it a really useful document.

The plan is to post it on our web page and to send it out with any booking enquiries and for it to hopefully give people enough information to decide whether the accommodation will suit their needs. Not interested in "selling" it through this document; I want to be as honest as possible so that people come knowing exactly what they're getting.

With this in mind, what sort of information would you find really useful in informing your decision of where to stay?

Thanks
Han

Lots of 'toddler' type issues, open water, secure garden, secure kitchen. My boys need WiFi. That sort of thing?

When the dc were younger I used the following criteria to filter our options.

are there steps to the front door
is the garden enclosed
bath rather than shower
staircase - is it steep
is there a place for the pushchair (not folded up as need to put dc x 2 in it before leaving house)
can I unload the car with all the equipment and not have to walk far to the front door
don't want lots of ornaments that could be smashed by an autistic meltdown
painted walls far better than busy wallpaper which can be sensory overload and get torn
is there an upstairs tv which has a dvd facility where one dc can retreat to when they need a quiet room

lots of families look at this to help them choose somewhere. You could find a few phrases to use from here which are suitable for your cottages

One other issue to consider is that of allergies - so wooden floors/lino rather than carpet, leather rather than fabric upholstery, proper zipped enclosed hypoallergenic mattress covers would all be big plusses. Also less worry about cleaning up after spills.

Thanks for the tips, really useful. We're in a baby and toddler friendly scheme so have most toddler safe things sorted, I regularly test it with my two herberts, one of who has GDD and some physical/sensory issues. I'm never sure about whether to put catches on the cupboards though, it would do my head it not having them if I were a guest but I know they would drive guests without children round the bend...

eatyourveg thanks for lots of useful info. I hadn't thought about needing to load children into pushchairs before leaving even though a year or so I was having to do this myself with DS1. Weird how quickly you forget and move on to your next set of challenges. Hadn't thought about mentioning not having mad wallpaper or about the quiet spaces either so will add these. The link is also really useful as I can go and have a look at what other people are doing to be accessible to all.

pinkorkid I'd thought about floor coverings and mentioning which of our cottages doesn't allow dogs, that we had hypoallergenic duvets and pillows but I had not thought about mentioning upholstery and haven't even heard of the mattress covers so I will definitely check those out. Thanks.

Its great you found the time to reply to me, I'm really keen to get this sorted asap as hopefully it will allow people to make an informed judgement about whether our cottages would suitable for their needs. There is nothing worse than people being disappointed or miserable on holiday because something isn't right for them when its not something you can do anything about. We want everyone to have a fab holiday here and if we're not the right choice for them would much rather they had a fantastic holiday somewhere else that was right, even if it does mean missing out on a booking.