Struggling with hotels…

My regular readers will be aware that, during the football season (August-May), I travel over land and sea to follow the Arsenal. We normally drive there and back in one day but if it’s a long distance away, we have to book into a hotel for the night. The furthest ground from St. Albans in the Premier League is Newcastle but luckily we got that fixture out of the way last weekend. However for the first time, I realised I probably won’t be able to stay in hotels anymore.

In the past, I have managed to quickly stand and twist to get in bed but now I cannot even manage that. The message is not getting from my brain to my legs, which is incredibly frustrating. I just end up shouting at my legs ordering them to work like a crazy person (reminiscent of a certain scene from the ‘Warwick’ episode of The Inbetweeners).  So it’s probably best if I avoid hotels from now on unless my OT can provide some sort of portable hoist.

While I am on the subject of hotels, I would like to wholeheartedly recommend the new Premier Inn on St. Peters Street if you are reading this and would like to visit the home City of ‘Wheelchair Boy’. I have not stayed in it but on Monday, I went on a ‘familiarization’ tour to check out the facilities for disabled guests on behalf of the St. Albans District Access Group (really, I just wanted to have a nose around).

I am pleased to say that it was easily the best Universal Access bedroom I have seen in a hotel. The room itself is huge, everything is at the correct level for wheelchair users and the bathroom is full to the brim with handrails (a very useful thing for those who can just about still transfer). Even the bed was height adjustable. There were only two things missing which would have made it perfect for me. A standing hoist and a clos-o-mat toilet but I doubt either them are going to become standard features in an accessible room any time soon.

My only suggestion is that Premier Inn adopt the same policy as Holiday Inn; they provide a carer's room free of charge.

Bye for now!