Hotel Accessibility Review – Hampton Inn

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We stayed at the Hampton Inn St. Louis/St. Charles, Missouri for two nights.  We had reserved a block of rooms for an event.  The sales manager who coordinated our block of rooms was delightful to work with and very helpful during the many months we planned.  The rest of the staff was pleasant during our stay and one particular desk employee was quite fun, even volunteering more than once to take pictures of our group during the times when we were gathered together there.

The breakfast room, although it seemed a bit small for the hotel size, was a great place for family to congregate and visit.  Some in our group really enjoyed the pastries at breakfast and many appreciated the complementary coffee and fruited water in the lobby area.

Upon entering our room, I was happy to see that a major design flaw in most accessible hotel rooms had been remedied there.  In many hotels, the wide bathroom door, when open, blocks the path to the main door.  For those on wheels, a number of forward and backward movements are required to gain passage one way or the other.  The design of this room was quite different as a pocket door was used for the bathroom, thereby eliminating the need for a door to swing out.  The pocket door included engraved glass with a nice message.

 

Difficult to read on this picture, but it says “It’s a happy day in a happy place.”

If the door’s handle had been placed differently, just two inches to the side, it would give that much more clearance for the width of a wheelchair.   Still, the opening was sufficient and it is a great idea to use a pocket door!  Collisions with the swinging door were not missed!

The sink area had a bar/handle placed in front to help pull up to it, but I found it to be more of a hindrance than a help as it prevented me from getting closer to the sink.

There were good grab bars around the toilet.  The toilet paper holder was different, and may have been appreciated; but it was loose and the roll of paper fell off and rolled away a number of times, leaving someone like me with limited options.

  

Often, hotel accessible bathrooms install a seat in the shower far away from the shower controls and nozzle, rendering it useless; but the placement in this one was done well, making it very functional.

 

We enjoyed our stay there.  We rate it as one of the best hotel accessible bathrooms we’ve seen.  The winning feature was definitely the pocket door.