The Hotel Room Questions to Ask Before You Book
“Accessible room” on a booking site can mean a roll-in shower with everything within reach — or just a room on the ground floor with a ramp to the lobby. The word is unregulated in most markets, so the reservation screen cannot tell you what you actually need to know. A ten-minute phone call to the hotel can.
Ask these questions before you pay
- “Is the room itself accessible, or only the public areas?” Many hotels have an accessible entrance and lobby but standard guest rooms.
- “What is the clear width of the bathroom doorway?” The single most common deal-breaker for wheelchair and walker users. Ask them to measure if they are not sure — 32 inches (81 cm) clear is the usual minimum for a wheelchair; more is more comfortable.
- “Is there a roll-in shower, and does it have a fold-down seat and grab bars?” A tub with a wall-mounted bar is not the same thing.
- “How far is the room from the elevator, and is there a step anywhere on the route?” Including the little half-step at restaurant terraces that floor plans never show.
- “What is the bed height, and can it be adjusted?” Higher beds suit some travelers and block transfers for others. Hotels can often remove a frame or add a base — but only if you ask before arrival.
- “Is accessible parking adjacent to the accessible entrance, and is it bookable in advance?” In busy seasons the spaces exist but are gone by check-in time.
Two habits that make the difference
Book direct when the room matters. Third-party sites pass on the room category, but special requests travel badly through them. A direct reservation, followed by the phone call above and a polite email confirming the answers in writing, is the most reliable path.
Reconfirm on arrival day. A one-minute call prevents the small percentage of failures — the accessible room given away, the shower seat missing — that are very hard to fix at 9 p.m.
None of this is about being demanding. Hotels genuinely want to get it right; the information simply has to travel from your notes to the person who assigns the rooms.