My Mum is selling the family home, which means I need to find somewhere else to live! The only problem is that wheelchair-friendly rentals are few and far between. I’ve been looking for 3 months and found virtually nothing, and I’m getting desperate!

So if you know of anyone that deals with rental properties who might be worth chatting to, please send me an email with their details – I’d be super grateful!

Thanks heaps in advance,
Red

Now, while it’s great to see others doing their bit to increase the amount of information available to the disabled traveller, this site (in its current form) is pretty poor. Not only in terms of content, which I’ll cut them a little slack for given their ‘under construction’ notice, but also in terms of design. Every page is actually just one big image, which means you’re unable to resize text, screen readers are useless as they can’t ‘read’ images, and you’re unable to highlight, copy, or paste text or individual images.

AccoMobility is a neat concept, but in its current form performs very poorly on the accessible design front, and in my opinion, needs a major re-work before it goes live (currently slated for June 1).

The Rendezvous Hotel was great. It has an underground walkway to the Aotea centre which is why I chose it. I booked a twin disability room as I had a friend staying with me. Best thing was the parking, large disability parking close to the door to the reception, and it cost $10 a day. A very helpful concierge took my bag to my room for me. The room was huge. Plenty of space for the chair though the plug for the charger wasn’t in the best place.

The bathroom was huge and certainly a different design than any I have stayed in. It included a bath with the shower at the end and the toilet was just by the door so it was really good, if I was in the shower my friend could use the loo, didn’t have a seat though I don’t need one yet and I suspect you could sit on the end of the bath.

Once I had arrived I thought I would check out the walkway. The concierge said there were a few steps but not too worry he would show me and he was sure we could work it out. I was very sceptical however. Once I got down there I found six stairs and said no way and then notices to very large garage doors. Can you open them I said, so he check and he could so it was a simple matter of going back a level and going down the car park ramps, piece of cake. He left the door open for me and I said I would let him know when I got back so he could lock them. Any problems he said, lift the reciever and we will come. And come they did, if the doors weren’t open they would come and open them. My timing was bad, the parking area lift was being revamped and one day the lift was not available, however one of them would escort me down the parking building, walking in front in case any traffic came, it was great. Certainly the best treatment I have ever received. It certainly gets four and a half stars out of five from me.

• Official website: The Rendevous Hotel
• Average room rate: $100-$150/night

Aotea Centre wasn’t quite as good, what bozo, decided to build a huge building like that and only have lifts at one end. Five levels with disability ramps in out of the way places, and some of the disability toilets that were really too small. Went to one that was at the top of a flight of stairs so of course the AB’s (“able bodieds”) would use it. So of course I would have to find a lift and go to another floor. I found it really infuriating and was always worried I would run my battery down. And there were odd things, like no signage in the lift, if you forgot what floor you needed you had to guess and get out of the lift and go round the corner to read what was on the floor. Sorry, didn’t like it at all.

But did have a lovely time in the big smoke though struggled to find the disability access to some places, Sky City Cinemas was great once you found your way in whcih wasn’t easy, and I had to ask how to get down to the food court. because there were no signs.

Located right in the heart of Auckland City, the SKYCITY Grand Hotel is about as central as it gets, walking/wheeling distance to heaps of Auckland’s fantastic tourist attractions, nightlife, as well as the waterfront tranquility of the Viaduct Harbour. Funnily enough, though, you can – and I did – have a hugely entertaining weekend by simply indulging in all the comforts offered within the SKYCITY complex which surrounds the Grand Hotel. Everything from restaurants, to bars, to movie theatres, to the landmark SKYCITY casino, are all literally on your doorstep. So in a nutshell – you don’t have to travel far for a great night out!

The Grand Hotel itself is definitely a step up from the previously-reviewed SKYCITY Hotel, both in terms of service and quality. Even the foyer itself is beautifully adorned with leather furniture, a grand piano, and some gorgeous artwork. The concierge staff were really polite and friendly; they took our bags and led us up to our room, just another example of truly getting what you pay for.

I’m used accessible rooms in hotels being rather second rate; poor views, lower quality, the last ones to get refurbished, that sort of thing. Not so with the Grand’s accessible room! The view is stunning, check out the picture on the right – truly city views! It was beautifully furnished with soft white carpet underfoot (which my ‘winter wheels’ got a bit dirty – sorry guys!), and even included a combination-lock safe for housing your valuables.

The SKYCITY Grand’s accessible room came in two configurations – twin share or double, I chose the double option (one bed) but it was massive enough to sleep three of us after a long night out so it more than passed the size test! The television set was wall-mounted but, for a change, was low enough that I could reach it if need be. Similarly, the desk was at a great height, and even the thermostat was at a lower-than-usual height. Sometimes it’s the little touches that make all the difference.

Now, onto the make-or-break part: the bathroom! You’ve seen how even in the nicest of hotels, a simple oversight such as the positioning of the shower faucet can turn a great accessible room into a pretty average one. Well I’m delighted to say that the SKYCITY Grand Hotel ticks every. single. box. As far as I’m concerned, anyway.

Firstly, it’s really spacious. Plenty of room to turn my hulk of a power wheelchair. As you can see from the photo on the right, the sink is perfect for slipping under in your chair, and the toilet is built to standard specs. Nothing fancy here – just does the job perfectly. The push-button flush mechanism is debatable – personally I prefer those big fat levers, as they’re a lot easier to push with my somewhat spastic fingers. But hey, each to their own.

The shower is, of course, an open-style wet area shower, with a delightfully deceiving non-slip flooring. It looks really pretty, but is also really non-slip! A difficult marriage, it must be said. Anyway, the shower is set up with one of those fold-down plinth seats, but unlike other ones I’ve tried this was long and wide, meaning there was plenty of room and not once did I feel like I was going to fall off! As you can see, the handrail is placed at right-angles to the seat, making it easy (and safe!) to control temperature. You can’t see it in the photos, but there’s also a big curtain you can pull around the shower square for added privacy. Given the wall-to-wall mirrors the Grand features in the bathroom it might be advisable! (Unless you’re as vain as I am, haha)

I just waWhat more can I say?! Apart from touting the hotel’s other amenities which include both indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, gym, and on-site day spa. They pretty much thought of everything. So if you’re visiting Auckland, or just feel like an extremely pampered – and accessible! – weekend getaway, I cannot recommend the SKYCITY Grand highly enough.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Luxury, comfort, and service of the highest order
• Great accessible bathroom
• Attention to accessible detail – lots of handrails, lowered thermostat, reachable TV set
• Plenty of stuff to do within the SKYCITY complex
• The only potential barrier here is the price – but you certainly get what you pay for!
• Overall accessibility rating: 5 / 5

One of the great things about paying a bit more for accommodation is that ‘little bit extra’ when it comes to customer service. For example, once we’d checked in, our bags were taken up to our room without even having to ask, making the whole process much easier!

First impression of the Heritage Hotel? The accessible/’disabled’ room is massive. Seriously, I’ve never stayed in a hotel room this big. It’s more on par with what I’d expect from a suite-style room, than your standard hotel bedroom. Which makes it fantastic for manoeuvring a bulky power wheelchair around in! The picture on the right is illustrative of the size of the room, but you really need to experience it for yourself.

I found all the light switches to be at a reasonable height, and could even adjust the thermostat without any problem. The room’s door handle is one of those pull-down lever styles, and whilst it was manageable, the door itself is very heavy, with its pullback lever carrying quite a bit of force. That resulted in a few scrapes along the door, which I apologise to the hotel for, but were somewhat unavoidable when you’re dealing with a door that pulls so much weight!

Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? We all know a good accessible bathroom is the key to an enjoyable stay for someone with limited mobility. In my opinion, Christchurch’s Heritage Hotel passes the test – but only just. Allow me to explain.

As you can see, the sink area is suitable. My legs managed to squeeze under the wooden bench, and could brush my teeth and check myself out in the mirror (it’s important, okay?!) without much hassle. The towel rails/hangers are all at a good height. The Heritage Hotel has a voluntary towel replacement towel problem which is quite cool, so you can save them some washing – and the environment from some unnecessary suds – if you wish to do so.

The toilet was fairly standard, with a solid L-shaped rail on the right-hand side, my only minor gripe being the aesthetically pleasant but somewhat impractical little flush buttons on the top of the loo, I’m a much bigger fan of those flush mechanisms with big, solid buttons or switches. My cerebral palsy generally means that dexterity isn’t really my strong point!

Now – on to the wet area shower. This is the only place where the Heritage Hotel really slips up. Things start off well: the flooring is nice and solid – not at all slippery, even when wet. The shower area itself has a tiny, gradual lip on the edge to prevent the shower from flooding the bathroom. It’s useful, and not prohibitive in the slightest – my wheelchair just rolled over the top of it. The shower chair is in fact a fold-out plinth, which is hinged to the wall, and folds down easily and gradually. I then transferred onto it, pushed my wheelchair away, pulled the shower curtain around, and reached for the faucet controls – oh, what? I couldn’t reach them, they were too far away! That’s right – the faucet controls, rather than being at right-angles to the shower bench, were on the opposite wall of the shower, and too far away for me to reach once seated! Click on the picture to see what I mean.

I should say here that due to the fact I have cerebral palsy, my arm length is shorter than some, but I still maintain that most people would have trouble reaching the faucet controls once seated on the bench, without risking their personal safety.

Moving right along, the room also has a desk at a fantastic height for a wheelchair user, as well as a television, minibar, and big closet, all of which are at suitable heights for travellers to Christchurch with mobility impairments. The Heritage Hotel also features a pool and sauna complex, neither of which are accessible without assistance. It’s also worth pointing out that the wheelchair-accessible portion of the accommodation is located in the Heritage’s new building, and many of the other amenities (e.g. pool, restaurant, bar) are located in the old building, which require a trip outside and across a walkway. Not ideal, but worth keeping in mind if you’re planning on going for a swim when it’s snowing outside!

THE LOWDOWN

The good:

• Great staff and service
• Enormous room in fantastic condition
• Massive bathroom, mostly accessible
• Great location, right in the centre of town, and great views from your room!
• Light switches, television, thermostat all reachable by wheelchair users

The bad:

• Very heavy door to enter the room
• Shower’s faucet controls unable to be reached when sitting on designated shower seat

Overall accessibility rating: 4 / 5

Location: Located directly opposite a local supermarket, it is incredibly central, situated just a few minutes walk from many of Wellington’s fantastic attractions. Te Papa, the waterfront, and the many cafes and op-shops are all within easy walking / wheeling distance. Car parking is not available, as far as I’m aware. We ‘borrowed’ a supermarket carpark hehe

Accessibility: Well for a hostel it’s pretty decent. There’s a little ramp up to the entrance, and all the other areas of the hostel are easily accessible, including the kitchen, games room, and ‘chillout zone’. The rooms themselves are tiny, and I apologise for not having a photo up (but here’s someone else’s), but it’s basically -bed- , -gap- , -bed-. The gap fits my wheelchair, but not a lot of turning space! Having said that, it is definitely liveable. The room has a mirror, temperature control, and all linen is included. Do note that these ‘accessible rooms’ have wider doorways than others, so make sure you request them in advance.

As for the bathroom (see, I did get a picture of this!), it is first and foremost communal. While this might put some of you off, I never once had an issue with other people using it when I needed to. This might be due to the big ‘wheelchair’ sign on it, and there being other able-bodied-only bathrooms on the same floor, but in any case, it was much less gross-hostel-bathroom and much more ensuite-across-the-hall. The shower temperature left a lot to be desired, it must be said, but in terms of access it’s a hell of a lot better than this one! It has a wheel-under sink, a regular L-shaped rail and toilet combo, and a flip-down plinth of a shower chair. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was practical, and hey, you get what you pay for.

Oh one last thing on the bathroom, I found the lock really hard to use on the bathroom door. So difficult, in fact, that I often used the toilet / had showers with the door unlocked, because I simply couldn’t push the switch down. A little disappointing, and worth noting if you have poor hand strength. Let’s hope they do something about it!

Speaking of money, the room we stayed in cost $74/night, so divided by 2 it worked out at around $37/night each, which is very reasonable really! Other things worth mentioning is that the lift access is excellent, and the doors are opened with those swipe cards, so no need to fumble with tricky locks – hurrah!

Like I said, you get what you pay for, but if you’re looking for good wheelchair accessible budget accommodation in Wellington central, you really can’t beat the YHA!

(Official site here)

THE LOWDOWN:

• Right in the heart of the city, everything is within walking distance
• Friendly and helpful staff
• Great amenities for a hostel, the whole place was very clean and had a great atmosphere
• Accessible rooms with wider doorways, but still fairly small
• Bathroom ticks all the access boxes, but is let down by small things like a ‘stuck’ lock and an uncomfortable plinth for a shower chair
• Overall accessibility rating: 3 / 5

The Comfort Hotel in Cuba St was primo! It’s a heritage building that used to be the old Trekkers Backpackers. Newly renovated, its classy.

We paid $89 a night, the room was basic with pretty much a bed and TV but it had a fully accessible ensuite. If I were to grade it I would say it was a 2 out of 3.

• 1 being totally accessible where you wouldn’t require any assistance.
• 2 being relatively accessible where a person in a manual chair could manoeuvre around the room with few hurdles.
• 3 being a room where you need assistance to do most things.

I could just fit down the side of the bed, the bathroom was perfect, they had a lift and we really couldn’t ask for more. It was central to cafes, restaurants, and attractions which meant we didn’t need to hire a car.

Wellington on a sunny day is arguably unbeatable. We had fantastic weather and Wellington really treated us to a great time. The trip was made even better with a comfortable, clean, cheap and easy place to stay.

For more info on the Comfort Hotel in Wellington go to http://www.comfortwellington.com

Thanks Curtis!

However to my pleasant surprise, I got a very encouraging email back from the Sales Director of Prime Hotels, the company which runs both that hotel and another in central Wellington. Amongst other things, she said:

Constructive criticism and reviews are very important to ensure we improve our services and facilities.

Our General Manager and myself are new to Prime Hotels and we need to hear feedback such as this, infact, very timely. We are currently under refurbishment at Central City and the disabled room is now being discussed.

She then invited me to discuss ideas for improvement with their General Manager, which I hope to do in the next few days. I also plan on putting them in touch with a Barrier Free Advisor in the Wellington area, so they are able to consult someone more familiar with the building code than I.

But all in all, I’m delighted with the response from Central City Hotel and I believe it is to their utmost credit that they’re taking a proactive approach to making their accommodation more user-friendly for disabled travelers!

First off, can I please advise all Wellington-visiting wheelchair users to avoid taking a taxi van at all costs! Not only will TM Mobility Card not work (if you’re from Auckland, in other words you’ll have to pay the full fare) but get this, they tack on an extra $10 to the fare because you ordered a van! I’ve never heard of a disability tax before but gosh, that comes pretty damn close…

To top this off, the first key I was given by the lass at the hotel counter was to a room that wasn’t even accessible! It’s like, here I am, in my power chair, struggling with my bags, and she gives me a key to a room with a step up to the shower and no handrails. Thinking this was some sort of joke, I took the key back down and explained to her I needed a wheelchair-friendly room. Without the slightest hint of an apology, she swaps it for one on a different floor. So I have to go back up, and drag all my bags out of one room, into the lift, and into the room I should’ve got in the first place. What a mission! But hey. I’m inside now. Let’s take a look.

Of course, the deal-breaker is the bathroom, so let’s take a look at this first. I would describe it as no more than adequate, for several reasons:

• Check out the handrail on the toilet (pictured right, click on the image to see a larger view). What the hell is that?! I admire their creativity in fitting a rail into that odd setup, but it’s hardly ideal. Because the rail is so jammed in beside the toilet, it was hopeless for transfers, and provided no real help in leveraging myself off it.
• The shower seat, which is attached to the wall and flips down on a hinge, is really small, and at no stage did I feel truly safe or well-balanced. And I’m really skinny! Also, in the photo of the shower a little further down, check out where the soap-holder is. Yeah, I sure can reach that…



• Thirdly, the bathroom sink provides no room for wheelchairs to slip underneath it like the one so brilliantly designed at the SkyCity Hotel. Instead, it has a set of bathroom cupboards/drawers beneath the sink, which means your legs are constantly slammed up against it when you’re brushing your teeth. Unpleasant, to say the least.
• No non-slip flooring!

Mind you having said all that, I should be thankful they have rails at all… Shouldn’t I?

The bedroom is nice and simple enough, but guess what, there’s not enough room for me to fit my wheelchair down the side of the bed! So I had to leave my wheelchair in the doorway at night, and have my girlfriend carry me from the doorway into bed. Humiliating much? As you can see from the picture on the right (as usual, click on it for a bigger version), the bed takes up a large amount of the room itself, and whilst I might’ve been able to transfer onto the foot of the bed and then haul myself up the bed towards the pillows, anyone with cerebral palsy will know that’s easier said than done. That said, the bed itself was nice and comfy

Well after all that, what can there be left to moan about? Not much, thankfully. The living area of the room was nice, we spent a night or two in front of the TV watching Sky, and with a great view of Manners Mall, there was plenty of people-watching to be done! The breakfast each morning was basic continental fare (cereal, fruit, etc), as there was no restaurant on-site bacon and eggs was not an option, sadly! And whilst I may have let out a bit of steam in this review, the room itself was entirely inhabitable, but assistance was definitely required. If you’ve got the money, it may be more advisable to stay somewhere like the Duxton.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Cool: Great location, right in the centre of town
• Friendly staff, on the whole
• Not cool: Room was of a fairly low standard, random tears and scratches on the wall, and the couch had a faint smell of marijuana
• The bathroom was accessible, but not ideally set up
• Bedroom was surprisingly inaccessible
• Overall accessibility rating: (UPDATED) 2 / 5

• Galaxy Motors: Diverse travel company, not only hires wheelchair accessible motor homes, vans, etc., but can also provide ‘driven’ tours, where a tour guide drives you all round NZ, allowing you to take in the sites without the stress of driving! Check out their website for more information.
• Rest NZ Tours: Rest NZ Tours are a touring company which offers a 24-day self-drive tour of NZ, guaranteed to be fully wheelchair accessible. They pre-book all your accommodation, provide a rental car with hand controls, and give you a detailed tour guide and itinerary. Worth a look I reckon! Again, take a look at their website for more info.
• NZ Mobility Motorhome: If you don’t need a tour guide, itinerary, or schedule and would prefer to take in NZ’s beautiful scenery at your own leisure, you may want to consider hiring the ‘NZ Mobility Motorhome’. Certainly the biggest wheelchair accessible vehicle I’ve ever seen, this thing features everything you want in a motorhome: gas oven, shower, queen bed, and all with the added bonus of being fully accessible! From the open-plan shower to the easily-swivelable driver’s seat, the whole motorhome sounds wonderful. Check out their website for rental tariffs, etc.

That’s just a few I found in my Googling adventures, if you know of any other businesses which provide similar products or services, leave a comment and let us know!