Special report by Simon Sansome
A few weeks ago staying at Hammersmith Premier Inn I was unable to fully access their accessible room.
I booked the room online and, being a wheelchair user I would expect a walk in shower in an accessible room. This was clearly not the case.
Working on this issue with Lady Tanni Grey Thompson (Paralympian), we approached Premier Inn hotels to see if they would meet with us to resolve the situation as it was clear their accessible rooms were not accessible.
Premier Inn refused to meet with us until the issue was resolved with Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority.
The Advertising Standards Authority have now concluded their investigation and have reported that Premier Inn are in breach of advertising rules regarding accessible accommodation.
The advertising standards authority said in an email: “Having gone through the booking process myself on Premier Inn’s website, I can see that when selecting an accessible room, customers are taken through their selection of hotel, price and meals, before being asked to input personal information and payment details.
On the third page of that process, entitled “Choose your meals”, the website states “You have selected an accessible room. To ensure that we can meet your requirements, we recommend that you telephone the hotel directly to check the suitability of accessible rooms at the hotel”. However, that page focuses on the selection of meals with prominent images and messages of the offers they have available, and customers are able to select “Continue” without having to scroll down the page to the information that recommends calling the hotel to check suitability.
My initial view is that the website is likely to be in breach of the Advertising Code by failing to make clear at the start of the booking process that those selecting an accessible room will need to contact the hotel directly to check that there is a room available that will meet their needs. I have therefore written to Premier Inn today to request that they make changes to the website by making that information clearer.”
The Advertising Standards Authority also added that if Premier Inn do not change the way accessible rooms are booked then they will have to consider further action.
It is a shame it had to go this far as I contacted Premier Inn on numerous occasions explaining the difficulty in booking an accessible room. Tanni Grey Thompson has been working with Whitbread to try to improve accessibility for disabled customers but was given the cold shoulder by the hotel chain.
Now after months of investigation Premier Inn have been found in breach of the advertising standards. I hope that they will make immediate changes to their booking system, but this investigation also has implications for other organisations like Travelodge, Hilton Hotels, Holiday Inns, Air B&B as they will now have to make similar changes, which will give more independence to disabled customers.
Ability Access 
This has happened to me so many times and Premier inn don’t care. They say their rooms are fully refurbished and accessible so you expect a wet room, but 9.9 times out of 10 it’s a bath with rails. Rails don’t equal accessible!
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This is not just as simple as stated about accessible rooms. Nobody thinks about the disabled person who is stuck in a wheelchair and they have a leg or two stuck out in front of them. They cannot turn corners in tiny corridors and lots more than that, but we are told the rooms are accessible, but you cannot get to them or in them without doing some serious gymnastics to get the wheelchair into the room that is supposed to be wheelchair accessible. Well Premier Inn and all other hotels, put a door access direct from the car park, with the room number reserved for that room to allow access to ALL disabled people. It’s about time a hotel chain took a stance and led the way for ALL disabled people to be able to get a disabled accessible room that they can access, preferably from outside as this would make it easier. Thanks for reading this.
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I’m afraid it’s the age old thing that as long as you can get in then that’s there part done. It’s like having access to shops you can get in but because of all the items in the aisles you can’t move but shops can’t be prosecuted because you have got in the shops doorway.
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Extra interesting to phone and book an accessible family room, because the family rooms aren’t accessible, and disabled people don’t have children. So, yeah, I can sleep in the same room as my kid, but I apparently can’t pee with the door closed.
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they are all the same do as little as possible who designs these rooms who checks them bot disabled peoole at any stage I bet .no plugs by beds for machines we use oh we have a lead ok now h&s issue. no hoists single beds most times no family disabled rooms anywhere .family or disabled not both together .corridors with fire doors no ease of access opening buttons no adult changing rooms .disabled loos with loads of bins in for nappies so less turning area so it goes on & on !!! why is it dusabled alone have to phone hotel/restaurants / theatres to check things discrimination all the time .
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Really annoys me my wife needs electric bed and hoist and roll in shower etc etc. If we are lucky to get an accessible room we then have to hire equipment in current hire cost around £500 per week (or part of week) it’s disgusting!
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This isn’t just an issue about selecting and booking an accessible room to find out it is not. On our last stay their website clearly stated for the selected hotel that all rooms were accessible so I didn’t make a specific request. On arrival there were stairs and no lift, the room had a bath but no walk in shower, and the restaurant had steps to access the buffet breakfast area. A complaint is to be made for what it may be worth!
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Hotels are a joke.
Of the accessible rooms I have stayed in over the last 5 years (8)..
Two not actually accessible on the grounds my wheelchair would not go through the door without me getting out and removing a wheel.
One, accessible doorway but oh, theres two sets of steps (three down round a corner then a single one further on) along the corridor to get to it.
One, accessible doorway to room however THREE doorways along the corridor required BOTH wheels removing.
One (a hilton!) … low level bath, no rails, bathboard requested, supplied without the feet that lock it in place, staff wholly unaware that these were missing and this was dangerous.
Of the 8, only three had wet rooms, and one of those the adjustable seat did not work (but was fixed promptly, Brussels!)
One, room was accessible, had a wet room, however none of the fire escapes in the hotel were accessible (steps down outside instead of ramps, where ramps would have been easily accomodated) and the accessible toilets in the main hotel were in tight corners so the wheelchair would not go in the door (door wide enough but not enough room to turn in).
Of them all the best was the one in Brussels, but oh, every single one I paid more for the accessible room than I would have for non accessible.
Best accessible bathroom ive ever used….. scruffy motorway services off the motorway between Calais and Brussels, on an industrial park – wide access, shower, changing table, clean, warm, etc etc. Perfect.
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