Rolling with Sarah

So the hotel we stayed at in Calgary was the Marriot Downtown. It was nice because it was connected to the conference centre (The Telus Conference Centre) where the conference was being held. You didn’t even have to go outside, which was nice because we didn’t have to worry about our coats all day. Instead of having to check them or carrying them around we could just leave them in the room.

We also chose this hotel because they had an “accessible” room available with two beds. Often, when you go to book an accessible room they only have one bed, which is annoying because a disabled person is the most likely person to be traveling with a caregiver whom they would not share a bed with. They always say you can get an adjoining room to it, but that is double the price and doesn’t suit everyone’s needs.

The door to this room did have an actuator, which was nice, but I couldn’t get over the threshold on my own. I needed help just to get in the door. I don’t know what someone would do if they were in a chair and traveling alone. Once in the room, I had enough space to get around, but it was tight. There wasn’t ample turning radius if you know what I mean, but with some interesting driving maneuvers we made it work.

The bathroom was really nice. Plenty of space to get around and transfer to the toilet on my own. The counter was also at a height where I could wash my hands and brush my teeth without too much challenge. There was a roll-in shower, but when we first arrived there was no bench to transfer to. We did have to call down and request one but they brought it up as soon as we asked for it.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful. They helped us figure out how to get to the conference centre inside without getting lost. The night before we left we asked them to call us a cab for the morning and they even made sure to arrange for an accessible taxi. I can be lifted into a regular one and my chair folds up in the trunk, so although a regular one is ok an accessible one was a major plus.

I was happy with the hotel experience overall. It was much more accessible than I am used to with the two beds, but nothing is perfect. A few things to work on would definitely be the threshold entering the room and the overall layout of the room. Also a permanent fold-up shower bench would be helpful too so that it is always there when needed, but could be tucked away when not required. Would stay there again!