Wheelchair accessible rooms at AKL

[sue and co]

Hi,

I was trying to price up a holiday for DH and I through Virgin Holidays (we are in UK) and apparently for a wheelchair accessible room we have to pay extra for a savannah view or pool view as there are no wheelchair accessible standard rooms. Is this right that disabled guests have no choice about paying extra?

Thanks

Sue

PS This hasn't arisen before as we have always travelled with children and stayed in an offsite villa.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

They are not allowed to charge you more for an accessible room than a standard room, under the ADA. I would be very surprised if they didn't have accessible rooms in all the catagories (seeing as it is a recent build and this is a legal requirement), but it may be that they are all full, or that Virgin have sold out of accessible rooms (sometimes travel agents 'buy' a number of rooms for set times, then 'sell' them to their customers). I'm not sure what they would do if they have all sold out. I would think they ought to sell you an accessible room, at the same price as you would be paying if you weren't in need of an accessible room (i.e. the price of the Savannah rooms). Anyone else know?

I'd suggest phoning them up, to talk to a real person. Ask if they have either a Disney specialist, or someone specialising in accessible rooms. If not, just keep talking to different people until someone starts to make sense.

Good luck!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

There ARE accessible rooms with standard view. We've got one booked. As I understood it, there aren't many though. Maybe the TA told you 'none is available' meaning they're all allready taken instead of none actualle being there?

 

[loadsapixiedust]

We also had a wheelchair accessible standard room at AKL, they do exist, however it was not a good room for a wheelchair user as the balcony was closed in with a solid wall and the wheelchair-using guest could not see out. You could not sit and look out, you had to be standing to see over it. This struck me as really strange and did kind of spoil things for us. I'm not sure if all the accessible rooms are like this but it's something you may want to ask about when you book or at check in.

 

[momto2greatgirls]

Similar thing happened to us at WL, we were told no accessible standard rooms were available. It did kind of irk me, since there were regular rooms available with a standard view.......The extra cost of the "courtyard view" put us just a couple hundred dollars over our already stretched budget, and we opted to stay offsite, in a 2 br villa for half the cost per night. I'm not sure how I'll feel about staying offsite, but saving that $1,000 sure feels good!

 

[sue and co]

Thanks everyone - it seems that although accessible rooms are available Virgin aren't willing to sell them ( the notes under AKL say that the rooms aren't available not that they aren't available for a particular date), if we are going to stay there I guess I will have to contact them direct. We visited AKl on our last trip, staying offsite in a villa, and it is somewhere I would like to stay one day.

Thanks

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Hmmm... that doesn't sound very legal to me. I'm afraid, in this area at least, I know more about the ADA than the DDA (yes, I know more about American accessibility laws than those of my own country! ), which is what I guess they would fall under. I would think the DDA would cover things like this, but it's so infuriatingly vague that people can basically make up what they want it to say (reasonable adjustments, my backside!) . Yes, that's a pet peeve of mine, in case you couldn't tell.

I think you ought to try and find someone you can talk to in person, either face to face, or over the phone. Is there a travel agent locally who deals with Virgin? Or could you ring them up and ask to talk to someone high up? If you want to stay there, you have just as much right to do so as someone who doesn't need an accessible room. Unfortunately there are still times when those of us with disabilities have to fight to get equal treatment, but if we don't, no one else will fight for us.

 

[dclfun]

It seems like an issue to take up with Virgin Holidays since there are accessible standard view rooms at AKL. I would book at the price point that you're comfortable with and then it will be up to Virgin to negotiate with AKL to provide you with the legally required accomodations you need. If Virgin is selling standard rooms to other patrons then they have to sell one to you. If they are sold out for your date, then that's another story. I've encountered that issue before with certain resorts where all the roll in shower rooms have been reserved by other guests, in which case I have had to choose a different resort. First come, first served.---Kathy