Access to Hotels

Ensuring full access to your hotel is one great way to expand your customer base. Millions of people with disabilities travel regularly, and many do so with family and friends. Individuals with disabilities control $176 billion in discretionary income, and this figure does not even include the spending capabilities of their traveling companions. Older travelers and aging baby boomers also benefit from your hotel’s accessibility features. 

Disability Etiquette Tips 
1. Speak directly to the individual you are addressing, not to a companion or sign language interpreter. Never shout at a person. Speak in a normal tone of voice.
2. When you meet someone with a vision disability, always identify yourself and others who may be with you. Be sure to let the individual know when you are leaving.
3. Listen attentively when talking with people who have difficulty speaking, and wait for them to finish. If necessary, ask questions that require short answers or a nod of the head. Never pretend to understand; instead, repeat what you have understood and allow the person to respond. 
4. Service animals are working animals, not pets. Do not pet, feed or distract them. 
5. Avoid words/phrases such as handicapped, victim, confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair bound, cripple, suffers from, retarded, mute, or dumb.


Practical Tips: Serving Customers with Disabilities 

1. Train hotel staff in disability etiquette. 
2. Have a pad of paper handy in case a guest is deaf or unable to speak. 
3. Welcome service animals into your establishment. Service animals assist people with all types of disabilities, including individuals who are blind, deaf, have epilepsy, use wheelchairs, and many others. 
4. Ensure that all reception counters, bars, and self-service areas (e.g., ice and vending machines) can be reached from a seated position. 
5. Make sure your staff is aware of your hotel’s accessibility and is trained to respond accurately to inquiries about accessibility. Have a list of your facility’s accessible features available for staff and identify those features on your website. 
6. Before denying a disability-related request, consider reasonable creative solutions, which may include borrowing or renting equipment from other hotels or service providers. Remember, people with disabilities are your customers. 
7. Make sure that the hotel staff knows whom to contact for immediate assistance when a piece of accessibility equipment breaks. 
8. Make sure guests with disabilities are included in your emergency evacuation plan. 
9. Make sure that your hotel’s website is accessible and includes alt tags (text describing graphics) and/or a link to a text only version of your site. 
10. Utilize available federal tax incentives to make your hotel more accessible and to hire employees with disabilities. Many states also offer tax incentives. 
11. To learn more about serving customers with disabilities, utilize this U.S. Department of Justice online training: www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm
12. Get training from a knowledgeable resource, like the DBTAC National Network of ADA Centers; (800) 949-4232 V / TTY or www.adata.org for more information. 

Examples of Areas to Assess for Accessibility 

Parking lot, entrance
Lobby, service counters
Guest rooms, restrooms
Meeting rooms, restaurants, bars
Outdoor areas
Swimming pool, fitness and game rooms
Elevators, hallways
Communication (TTY, Braille, etc.)
Emergency exits

All of these areas have specific accessibility requirements. Your regional DBTAC (Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center) is available to discuss these requirements, provide training, and answer your other ADA questions. 

This brochure also includes illustrations of four international symbols of access (the wheelchair symbol, the symbol for interpreter services, the symbol for Braille, and the symbol for hearing assistance), as well as the signs (American Sign Language) for the following words: 
Name
Address
Restaurant
Room
Correct
Understand
Bathroom
Bar
Write
Help
Where
What
Welcome
Thank you


This brochure is not intended to provide legal guidance. For more information about the Americans with Disabilities Act and the hospitality industry, contact your regional DBTAC (Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center).

For More Information
(800) 949-4232 V/TTY or www.adata.org
Supported by NIDRR grant #H133A060085.