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Babbles, one of the problems of the "disabled friendly" concept is that it is always aimed at wheelchair users (fair enough) and isn't specific enough.  I, for example, can manage a few steps, plus I always travel with a little shower stool so can use most ordinary showers as long as they have decent grab handles and  I don't have to step into a bath to get into them.  I can't be alone.  I have found a website in the UK for disabled travellers where owners of properties describe the access to their places (number of steps, types of shower, dining room access etc etc).  Pity such a thing doesn't seem to exist here in France.

I've just come back from Belgium where every place with 10 rooms or more has to have adapted accommodation.  The problem is it means you can never stay at the nice, romantic little places that others can.  Sorry to hijack and go on about this, Babbles, but I'm in the middle of planning a trip and you cannot imagine how restrictive (not to say bloomin' expensive) being unable to use a normal room can be.

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The thing is you don't get many bookings for the rooms that are modified. We have a room that is suitable so for one year we lied and said it was adapted for handicapped people. In reality the shower already has large doors and a seat inside, there is a 10cm step into the house which is OK for most people. The plan was if we got a reservation for the room I would simply add grab handles which I had already bought which would be about an hours work and knock up a mini ramp for the one step. Not only did we not get any bookings from people who were handicapped but the number of bookings for that room in general went down. My guess as to why they went down is because there are people out there, sad as it may seem, who are ably fit and don't want to stay in a room that is modified for handicapped people. I should add that the room was properly advertised and even in the regional guide which was for two years for some reason.
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Well, fine, but they have a choice, we don't.

The lovely little place in the Vendee has a large bathroom with nice wide sliding door and a wet room.  When disabled guests turn up, the owner puts grab handles with great big suckers onto the tiled walls and brings in the shower stool.  Job done.  Not at all offputting to lucky, sick minded guests who think that the rest of us are less than human for being unable to use a normal shower. 

But I think that's my point Q.  Most people with access problems aren't actually in wheelchairs, they just have more trouble than some with the everyday things in life.  Thus a bit of thought in planning new rooms, and a good description of the access to your properties would go a long way to help appease those people who are less fortunate than you are!  Believe me, until it happens to you, you have no idea how insulting it is to be treated like a second class citizen every day of your life, and to be prevented from enjoying such basic things as a nice hot bath!

But I digress.  Sorry, Babbles.

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In 2015 hotels will have to be handicap compliant so in a few years things might be looking up...

Saying that, I quite agree that being compliant will have a negative impact for the hotellier.  I stayed in a hotel in Birmingham and I was put in a handicap room which was okay but did not do them any favours.

We are with the hotels charme group.. they are actually quite good as a person came over to check the place out and the couple who run it stayed for the night in our best room incognito.  So, all accommodations should have been tested before they were allowed in.

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 I so much agree with what Cooperola is saying about access for those with mobility problems...

I have on more than one occasion banged on a bit on this forum about Gite owners missing out on not providing  facilities that can be also be used by those who are not mobile .

There are in the UK many sites with holidays locations  with facilities specifically designed for people with  disabilities . The people who run the sites are always looking for more..... especially in France where they are a bit thin on the ground .

 A lot of these people do not have financial problems. They have vehicles big enough for their family  and their wheelchair and many would love to be able to drive down to the Vendee or wherever and take a holiday and struggle to find places that will be able to cater for them.

Cooperola is so right  regarding showers .  If you have space and fitting out a bathroom . Why put in a small shower tray when a big one will permit a plastic garden seat to be placed in it so a person with mobility problems can sit and  be showered if need be  .  Its things like that which can make such a difference .   No shower tray at all  a "wetroom " is even better .

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I actually do sympathise with you Coops especially as I know your own history (or as much as you have mentioned on the forum). It would not matter to me if I stayed in a room that was modified to accept disabled, or partly disabled, people but some people for some bizarre reason do have a problem if they are able bodied.

From a business point of view having tried to attract disabled people it did not work. I looked at it from the point that nobody else within about 20km offered such amenities so I thought I could be on to a good thing. When I compared the number of bookings the year before I advertised, the year I advertised and the year after when again I didn't advertise that the room was modified I was very surprised to see a slump in bookings during the time it was advertised as being suitable for disabled people. The lack of disabled people may of course be due to our location and the things people come to see. For example I doubt that most disabled people would want to visit the Cathar Castles due to the long walk, up hill, from the car park to the actual castle. On the other hand places along the Canal du Midi may be better suited being flat etc. All I can say is that in my case it didn't work and I lost money so it is purely a business decision not to accept disabled people anymore (unless they can 'make do' with what we have).

On the other hand from a personal point of view I do think its pretty bad in general that there is so little choice for handicapped people in France.

By the way Hotels are a different matter in France compared to Chambres d'hotes, the latter are under no obligation to have handicapped access as you are technically staying in a private home.

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I guess I really wanted to make the point to Babbles that if her website had an "access" section that might help her get a few people who wouldn't otherwise come.  Just "three steps to the front door,  step into large shower, shower stool and grab handles available on request" - that type of thing, would be really great and we should see more of it, imho.  Of course I get that it has to be an economic decision for a small business but I've seen it done tastefully and well (an able bodied person wouldn't have known it was an adapted room in its normal guise) so I know it's possible to do without putting off/offending the able bodied amongst us.  What's more, many places would be quite acceptable to the majority of so-called disabled guests with little or no modification, if only they were described properly.
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I get your point. When I get a moment I will add some text to my own website to mention the step, the fact you can sit in the shower in one of our rooms and the fact that three out of four bedrooms are on the ground floor with only the one step.
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[quote user="Frederick"]http://www.disabledholidaydirectory.co.uk/search/europe-l27/france-l102/

I have no connection with the above . Posted as an example of the web site  I mentioned earlier ...if the Mods permit of course 
[/quote]

Interesting. I notice that there is only one "Bed and Breakfast" advertsing in your link, in Paris and it is actually Nova Hotel so it is in the wrong section and being so would show that there are no B&B's in France with access. [:(] I also noticed the were a hundred odd hotels but only two Gites and 20 cottages advertised.

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Cooperola, I'm not quite sure what your disagreeing with me about?

We have a suite suitable for limited mobility, but with 3 steps up from the street level ( to narrow to put a ramp and its the village street not on our property ) I'm not sure what else we can do apart from provide a ground floor suite with no internal steps in public areas, wide doors walk in showers ( I do note with interest that you can get grab rails with suction pads, do you have more details?)

With old building its incredibly difficult to comply with all modern standards and its why we opted for a Chambre D'hote status not hotel so people realise that they're staying in our home not a hotel with all the facilities that are on offer.
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I was disagreeing with Q,not you, and then only in a perfectly friendly way, I hope!  Sorry I hijacked your thread somewhat.  All I was suggesting was an accessibility section in b&b's websites.  Yes, I absolutely get your point and thus I think if you say just that, that you have 3 steps to your front door then a shower with one step in, you might get a few guests with mobility problems who can happily cope with that (as I can, for instance) who would otherwise totally ignore a place they could stay in perfectly well, with a bit of supervision when climbing said steps and somebody to carry their bags.
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We had a gîte when we first moved to France and had a phonecall asking if it was suitable for a disabled person. I replied that it wasn't. There was a step into the house, steep stairs to the bedrooms, a gravel drive which would be hard work in a wheelchair and no pavements on the twisty lane to town. On hearing all that, they booked it!
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[quote user="cooperlola"]I was disagreeing with Q,not you, and then only in a perfectly friendly way, I hope! [/quote]

If we were disagreeing I never noticed. [;-)] I try to see both sides but sometimes things you might like to do can't be done.

I looked at the link you gave with these 'suck on' handles. One thought came to mind at the time, why don't people that need them bring them with them? Cheap, don't look like they weigh much and can easily fit in the bag with all the other stuff. You could, providing there were no access problems go anywhere.

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[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="cooperlola"]I was disagreeing with Q,not you, and then only in a perfectly friendly way, I hope! [/quote]

If we were disagreeing I never noticed. [;-)] I try to see both sides but sometimes things you might like to do can't be done.

I looked at the link you gave with these 'suck on' handles. One thought came to mind at the time, why don't people that need them bring them with them? Cheap, don't look like they weigh much and can easily fit in the bag with all the other stuff. You could, providing there were no access problems go anywhere.

[/quote]I had exactly the same thought.  It's dependent upon the surface being smoothe and clean but I could assess that as  I go so am quite tempted to invest in one.  I have to travel with a manual chair, a scooter (the second for long trips, the first in case the 2nd breaks down or runs out of battery or the access is too steep/too many steps, high curbs etc for the scooter) two crutches and a shower stool so I guess one more bit of kit won''t make a lot of difference!![:D]

I still reckon that if an owner could say that such things were "available on request" then that would be great. 

Thanks so much Quillan & Babbles for thinking of us and taking the description thing on board.  5 gold stars![:D][:P]

I realise that this place has adapted rooms but I link to THIS just to give you an idea of the kind of information which can be so helpful in making a good choice.

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I bet these handle thinks cost three or four times the UK price in France, you knoq how it is.

As a legacy from the time we tried to attract handicaped people we actually put a charging point by the step leading up on to our terrace as basically that is where you might have to park one of these buggy things, we thought it a neat idea at the time. It now gets used to power the leaf blower. [:(]

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"Those buggy things" cost a bomb in France (as Norman well knows!) and in fact aren't very common.  I bought mine in the UK.  What's more, its battery is vecroed on and lifts off very easily for recharging so it may be that people didn't need to ask, even if they did have to put them on charge.  I just take mine into my room and charge it at a conventional socket.

Bet you're right about the handles too.  Far cheaper to import, I suspect.  But I'll check.  Sometimes and for some things, they surprise me.

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A point about the stick on handles, as Cooperlola has wisely mentioned is that they dont hold fast on all surfaces and even when they do the suction power gradually reduces, I think some of them have a temoign.

I definitely would not fit them for fear of a guest being injured and of course in our current society being sued by one that wasnt but sees a pot of gold. Perhaps having them available for use and then having to give a safety lecture would suffice but I somehow doubt it.

I believe that there are fixed mobility devices available that can fold back to the wall and look less encumbrant, I dont have a problem with disabled toilets etc, certainly not with the mobility aids but i do find the huge open space not conducive to the ambience needed for the act, I keep thinking that a mexican band is going to burst in and start playing!

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Spare a thought for those of us who are deaf or hard of hearing (1 in 7 of the population).

Door entry systems are out for me,cant hear if someone replies or buzzes to show the door is open,these are so common now to prevent unwanted visitors,but so hard when you cant hear.

You have to tell everyone if you are alone, aircraft staff,ferry staff,rail staff, if you cannot hear announcements properly - been left on trains, because didnt hear announcements - not funny

Need a vibrating alert under my pillow, in sync with the fire & smoke alarm,should there be a fire/emergency. Have to always advise hotel/accomodation staff, that I will not hear them knocking on my door in case of emergency,they need to use their keys and hope that the staff are made aware, not always the case- hence I dont travel alone
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  • 6 months later...

We are on booking.com but they do charge 15% which is massive.  Take on board that you dont pay to advertise but at the end of the year we have paid out far mroe to them than any other advertiser - could argue though that you do get bookings!

Our rates are low and I am having to look now at increasing them to ensure we do make some money after the 15% has been taken out.

Not used Late Rooms but considering looking at it.

Does anyone have a system on their website that allows guests to make bookings (rather than go through booking.com etc) and if so, how did you set it up including the payments.   Just wondering whether accepting credit cards and having our own system would be cheaper?

 

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Beds24.com they connect to bookings.com and a few others meaning their calenders get updated at the same time. Saves going round updating everything when somebody makes a reservation. You can put their page as a iframe within your own website and automatically take deposits via paypal is you want. We currently use it and it is very good.
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