DL Hotel ideas

[VicMom]

It looks like I get to be lucky and escort two clients from my work to DL next year again! Yeah, some days it's a tough job

What I am looking for is suggestions on a hotel that may work for us. Last year we stayed at the Tropicana but the rooms were not well suited for our needs-way too small and for the guys to be able to get into the room we had to get them to remove furniture and then we couldn't get the power chair into the bathroom. The trip before we stayed somewhere further out but the 20 min walk or so (longer for one client to drive his power chair back) was too far and we would like to be closer.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for a hotel that would meet these needs:

*Short walk to the park. We take afternoon breaks so don't want to walk far. We also prefer being able to walk and not have to rely on shuttles/buses for transportation.

*Rooms: adjoining is really important as it allows us to be able to work together for the guys (2 person transfers etc...).
*Only one room needs to have an accessible washroom as if the rooms are adjoining we can share the bathroom.
*Two beds in each room.
*Mini fridge (or ability to get one) is important for medications.
*Enough room so that our clients can get around the foot of the bed-without my having to remove dresser drawers to get that extra bit of space where the handles are sticking out would be a treat-and enough room on the side of one bed in each room to allow for transfers in and out of bed (each guy needs to be able to have their chair parallel to the bed for all transfers).
*We do need laundry facilities.
*Breakfast is not important as we missed it every morning last year.

And a Disney property is financially out of reach. I am wondering if the BW that is right across the street (the one beside the Tropicana) would work or if there is something better that you could recommend?

Thanks

 

[emily94]

Have you checked out the Anaheim Camelot Inn? Its the one that look like a Hanzel and Gretel house! I know they have fridges and adjoining rooms. I personally cannot speak for the accessible bathrooms, but I assume they have them and they would be on the ground floor. I found the double bed rooms to be a great size!

Here is the link to the room types! Hope this helps

 

[VicMom]

Thanks for the suggestion of the Camelot Inn. I will add them to my list of places to contact with my questions to see if they will suit us

I thought that I'd bump this up to see if there are more suggestions? I've been looking at the BWPPI (I think that's the one across from the main entrance, right?) and would love any feedback about the accessible rooms that they have.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I don't have specific experience with DL hotels, but here's my general thoughts/suggestions:

Best Westerns usually have decent accessible rooms, but I wouldn't assume without calling the hotel. It takes more work on your end, but it's worth it to call the hotel and ask about the exact dimensions of the doors, space between the dresser knobs and other objects, etc. You would need to figure out about what door widths, etc. you need. Then you can check against their dimensions. I would not ask them about the specifics of what you need because it's too easy for them to just say "yes" without checking. You might also ask if they have any pictures of an accessible room (I'm assuming you need roll-in shower so do make sure to specify that). It does mean they have to do more work, but your group is paying customers.

I've never heard of adjoining accessible hotel rooms anywhere. Since you think it will be okay for one not to be accessible, it should be okay, however, when asking about dimensions remember to ask about the connecting door and how close it is to furniture. I've seen some right up next to the dresser/entertainment center that might be difficult to get around if the person in the non-accessible room uses a particularly wide or long wheelchair. It's also worth asking how much space is between beds in the accessible room. I don't know if it's a possibility, but if there's enough room to get the wheelchair in and do the needed transfer, it might be worth considering putting both clients in the accessible room. You could leave the door between rooms open so that you can hear if something happens (something like a baby monitor could also work). I'm just thinking it might be easier when it comes to the bathroom if both clients are in that room. It also means that if anything does need to be moved or altered, it only has to happen in one room. I would honestly go in planning that you'll have to move at least some furniture (or ask them to move/remove it after you arrive and know what doesn't work). I'm thinking on the level of any tables or extra chairs possibly needing to be moved.

I'll try to think of any other things that might help you figure out what hotel will work best. As I said, I've mostly had good experiences with Best Westerns. I definitely have also stayed in Best Westerns that had 2 beds in at least some of their roll-in shower rooms (I don't usually need 2 beds, but end up with them sometimes anyway).

 

[Aladora]

I would definitely look at the accessible suites at the Desert Inn & Suites

 

[VicMom]

Good to know about the BW as that was one on my list. Desert Inn is good to know to look into as well. Both nice and close and if the rooms work for us, then bonus!

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. I really do appreciate you taking the time to help us out

The clients have tried sleeping in the same room for one night before and that did NOT go well. So the guy in the powerchair gets the accessible room and the other guy gets the other room. The connecting room is more for staff as the guys tend to stay in their own room so as long as the door opens-inside-we're good. As bad as it may sound, we give the guys 2 sponge baths a day and I have learned how to wash hair with a facecloth so the roll in shower isn't something we've used in the past. The Portofino has connecting w/c rooms and lots of space to get around by the guys found it too far and didn't like the walk in the evening as they found it hard to see when they were tired (and at the end of a long day, I'm all about the shorter walk).