HOW TO MAKE AN ACCESSIBLE BATHROOM LOOK BEAUTIFUL

Upmarket hotels aim to enhance the traveller's experience.  While many successfully convey a pampered atmosphere in the living decor, they fail when it comes to the accessibility bathrooms, offering instead visually unattractive and hospital-like spaces.  

This is a potential major missed opportunity, when high quality fixtures with both aesthetic appeal and certified disability compliance are available, and would result in bathrooms indistinguishable from able-bodied ones.

In fact, there is a distinct advantage in fitting all a hotel's bathrooms with accessible (Universal Design) fixtures.  It provides ultimate flexibility in booking maximum room numbers, offers clients the luxury appeal of support in the wet areas should they unexpectedly need it, and ensures overall positive customer response.  

The additional cost providing fine accessible design is more than outweighed by the financial and practical advantages it provides hotel management and the greatly enhanced guest experience that can be offered in every bathroom.  

Life is about experiences and the goal should be equally positive for able bodied people and disabled people.

For All Rooms

• Retain aesthetic integrity (ie: not importing institutional look)
• Enhances guest safety in all bathrooms
• Enhances guest experience – the reality is having something to hold onto in the shower is re-assuring for the guest.
• Eliminates rooms being removed from service due to shower rail failure when grabbed
• Saving in replacement fixtures
• Proven performer in the Hotel Sector

For Accessible Rooms

Eliminates the need to discount accessible rooms when able bodied guest complains of hospital like fit out

• Proven performer in Hotel sector
• 4* & 5* Hotels need product commensurate with the rating not hospital or public bathroom fit out.
• Guests expect commensurate product fit out for their money.

At Some stage in our life we have stayed in a hotel....

In New Zealand Hotels are required to meet the NZ Building Code 4121 which is quite prescriptive in the layout of the bathroom space. But hardware must only fit within a set of parameters. 

However it does not say the bathroom should be fitted out with hospital  fittings. Unfortunately 99% currently are. We have see 5* Hotels that have stunning & expensive wall treatments – i.e. marble sheet, Italian tiles etc – yet the accessible bathroom has a $50.00 support rail straight out of a hospital or public bathroom.

There are a few problems with this approach.

• People with mobility needs should have the same experience as able bodied people otherwise the hotel is discriminating against the person with a disability
• Often able bodied people are offended when checking into a Accessible Room – this is unnecessary with the right choice of product. The outcome of good design and specification is the guest not realising they are in an Accessible Room 
• A customer paying hundreds, if not thousand of dollars, does not expect or want to see a product that could be bought at the local hardware store.  
• Hotels are generally good at providing a positive experience for the able bodied but often fail when it comes to accessibility. The additional cost providing quality design and fixtures will, in the long run, outweigh discounting an Accessible room to an able bodied guest who complains.

By using elegantly designed fixtures and a splash of colour Universal & Accessible Bathrooms are available for all.

WHAT DO THESE LEADING HOTELS HAVE IN COMMON?

• Hilton Hotel & Resorts
• Radisson
• Shangri-La Hotel & resorts
• The Ritz London
•  Park Plaza & Resorts
• Oxford Hotel London
• Accor Group
• Marriot
• Holiday Inn
• Crowne PlazaIntercontinental
• Carlson Group Hotels
• Grange City

THEY ALL SPECIFIED HEWI!

Please note the images are of European bathrooms. We supply NZS4121 compilant products