08/08/2024
Hi there friends, a few weeks ago, I posted about me and my exhaustion after having spent hours and hours and hours…and then a few more hours... speaking to what had to have been 974 hotels in Los Angeles trying to find one that had the magical accommodation I, and so many other wheelchair users need when staying at a hotel.
I wanted to come back and share some pictures of what it was that was so impossibly hard to find.
Take a look at the picture of the bed. You can see that there is space under the bed. That is the single most important accommodation for me and thousands of other wheelchair users when we stay at a hotel. The reason is that we use a piece of equipment to get in and out of bed, and if you look at the picture of that piece of equipment, you can see that the base needs to be able to roll underneath the bed. Without this, I can't get in and out of bed. Period. End of story. No sleep for me, without this.
After Covid, it became nearly impossible to find a hotel room with a bed that does not have an open frame underneath. I understand why, beds are hard to clean under, and sanitation of rooms became a huge issue during Covid, but I humbly suggest that there is a way… Maybe even multiple ways… To have the best of both worlds; the accessibility and the sanitation.
This is why - AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT - it is critical for businesses to include individuals, representing all kinds of diversity, including disability, in the planning and ex*****on of their products and services. This is a huge issue for the disability community that could have been avoided if individuals with disabilities had been involved in the creation on this new "standard", and I have had way too many people tell me that the lack of this specific accommodation is why they stay home.
Not OK.
I want to give huge props to the Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel for such incredible, thoughtful accessibility in their hotel rooms. A few other things I want to call your attention to that made this stay comfortable and exceptional:
🙌🏻 No carpet! When you use a wheelchair or have to be pushed through a room with the piece of equipment, you see below, flooring without carpet, makes all the difference.
🙌🏻 No threshold to balance over in your wheelchair, or with this piece of equipment from the bedroom to the bathroom, and into the rolling shower
🙌🏻 A vanity mirror that is low words, so a seated person can actually see themselves and put on make up or fix their hair.
Thank you, Muscular Dystrophy Association for continuing to send me on the road to do the work I love!
