The accessible hotels leading the way in all-inclusive design

Adventurers with physical limitations may crave a holiday as much as the next person, but many will find their needs unmet unless they do a forensic amount of research. Left paralysed by a car accident as a teen, TV presenter Sophie Morgan campaigns for better representation. ‘Globally, one in five of us has some form of impairment,’ she says. ‘Although many don’t want to be labelled disabled, almost all of us at one time or another will need to have specific needs met, whether that’s due to deteriorating eyesight, hearing or memory, or as a result of experiencing intellectual, sensory or physical challenges.’ As Morgan points out, anyone can be an agent for change: ‘Call out those who are failing to be inclusive and celebrate those who have earned it.’

Signposting us to the UK’s most welcoming venues are the Blue Badge Access Awards. Via bluebadgestyle.com, its founder Fiona Jarvis encourages the sharing of ramp, wheelchair and other accessibility information through the creation of an online Access Gallery, linked to each venue’s website. A specially modified bathroom or extra help allowing the less able to join in with activities can make all the difference – not to mention equity when it comes to how rooms look.

Robin Sheppard, chairman of Bespoke Hotels, is one of those ‘sexing up’ accessibility by pushing aesthetics higher up the agenda. At the hotel group’s brand-new boutique Hotel Brooklyn in Manchester, special features can be hidden or detached, which means spaces are pleasing to the eye, whatever your needs. This is surprisingly rare. Roomy marble showers are free of steps, doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs and some suites have hoists for people with paraplegia. ‘We call these our liberty rooms,’ says Sheppard. ‘Those who are fortunate won’t see as much of a difference in these spaces as those who are compromised – we hope that for some, it feels like an upgrade.’

Opening in 2021, The Londoner from Edwardian Hotels, a new 350-room and cinema complex in Leicester Square, benchmarks a new egalitarian normal. It doesn’t just tick the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act 1995) boxes – it exceeds the statutory number of accessibility-compliant rooms and many of them have the best views, rather than being the duds in the room inventory.