Hotels to be disabled-friendly

Come September 2010, a disabled person will be able to check into any hotel classified between One and Five Stars with relative ease.

Come September 2010, a disabled person will be able to check into any hotel classified between One and Five Stars with relative ease.

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The Tourism Ministry has revised guidelines for hotel classification making it mandatory for all classes of hotels to facilitate basic access and stay for disabled people. In addition, some more facilities have been made mandatory for Three, Four and Five Star hotels.

All hotels higher than ground plus two floors will have to have a 24x7 lift and where local laws do not permit this, establishments will have to provide “easy access for differently abled guests,” say the new guidelines.

Each hotel classified between One and Five Stars will have to have at least one room for disabled guests. These rooms will have to have a minimum door width of one metre for wheelchair access, low height furniture, low peephole, cupboards with sliding doors and low clothes hanging rods. The guidelines require that such rooms have audible and visible (blinking lights) alarm systems. Compliance is mandatory by September 1 next year.

A most basic facility, which India’s disabled community has been fighting for — ramps with anti-slip floors — are also mandatory now.

All hotels have been told to provide wheelchair-friendly bathrooms with “suitable fixtures like low wash basin, low height toilet and grab bars”. Public restrooms will have to have low height urinals in all hotels.

All hotels will need to have wheelchairs available to disabled guests free of charge and provide “exclusively earmarked parking facilities nearest to the entrance for disabled guests”.