Disabled Rooms

[whistonian]

Disabled Rooms
For wheelchair users who have to book a disabled room when booking a package holiday.Wouldn't it be great if we could book on line,but thats not possible as they don't cater for a disabled room with wheelchair access.
OK my question is how do other people book and what problems have you encounted,if any.
I'm trying to book a holiday with Thomson and my travel agent says that special needs cannot get guaranteed rooms,so they have e-mailed their Rep in Torromolinos asking him to check and reserve direct with hotel,this is the 3rd day awaiting a reply.
The same problem happened in feb.for my holiday in Tenerife,reply and confirmation took 5 days.They tell me that its only Spanish hotels that wont give a confirmed booking
It seems to me that the only alternative is to book a flight then book direct with the hotel,however this can be a lot more expensive.
So people what has been your experiences.
Ah, I've just had a phone call from thomson,they could not confirm the room because they have no Disabled Rooms under contract,so now he has e-mailed the hotel direct for assistance and will ring me tomorrow.

I know that Enable Holidays are a good company,however they are very expensive.

[andypandy]

Thats disgusting whistonian.

I don't have this problem as I can't afford holidays :-( but that doesn't make this right.

I find it annoying that when booking tickets for theatre, cinema etc. etc. wheelchair users have to ring and its normally an expensive number too

I hope you get it sorted and have a lovely holiday.

Have you been with Enable before, what are they like ? other than expensive :-)

[whistonian]

Hi andypandy I used Enable Holidays last September they were very good.I would certainly recommend them however the 2 week holiday cost around £700 more than Thomson's rate.

Still waiting for Thomson to ring back.

[andypandy]

Hi andypandy I used Enable Holidays last September they were very good.I would certainly recommend them however the 2 week holiday cost around £700 more than Thomson's rate.

Still waiting for Thomson to ring back.

£700 more - OMG thats outrageous, how can they justify that ?

[treborc]

travel agent says that special needs cannot get guaranteed rooms

Then under the DDA he should not take on your booking it's as simple as that, if he knows your disabled and he takes the booking then he is open to a dam compensation case under the DDA.

The whole of the EU is covered under the EU laws on disability, and saying he cannot guarantee is wrong.

[Lighttouch]

Well I might pop away for a few days here but I haven't been abroad for 5 years as I was saving up!

However when I was going out with a woman wheelchair user it made more sense to book through a specialist travel agent as they had already identified which hotels and resorts were accessible.

We used this hotel
http://www.disabledaccessholidays.co..._Mar_Y_Sol.asp

But they lay on a wheelchair friendly bus yo pick you up and drop you off. While we stayed there we pretended to be representing our own disabled holiday company and just waltzed into 5 star hotels (which are highly accessible) and asked if we could do a report on the facilities like bedrooms, pool area etc.

You'd find the managers were very accommodating and invite you to see the evening entertainment laid on at night and test the pool out. All very naughty but good fun. You just had to pretend you were entitled to be there.

[whistonian]

Treborg,no money has changed hands yet,Thomson are holding the booking untill they get confirmation of the room.I think they are doing there best but if I don't get confirmation today I will check out Enable and Disabled Access holidays,I have their brochures but they don't quote prices.

Lightfoot.....Wow thats cheeky,not sure i could carry it out without giving the game away.

[andypandy]

Well I might pop away for a few days here but I haven't been abroad for 5 years as I was saving up!

However when I was going out with a woman wheelchair user it made more sense to book through a specialist travel agent as they had already identified which hotels and resorts were accessible.

We used this hotel
http://www.disabledaccessholidays.co..._Mar_Y_Sol.asp

But they lay on a wheelchair friendly bus yo pick you up and drop you off. While we stayed there we pretended to be representing our own disabled holiday company and just waltzed into 5 star hotels (which are highly accessible) and asked if we could do a report on the facilities like bedrooms, pool area etc.

You'd find the managers were very accommodating and invite you to see the evening entertainment laid on at night and test the pool out. All very naughty but good fun. You just had to pretend you were entitled to be there.

Thats very naughty LT - but very very funny ;-)

[whistonian]

travel agent says that special needs cannot get guaranteed rooms

Then under the DDA he should not take on your booking it's as simple as that, if he knows your disabled and he takes the booking then he is open to a dam compensation case under the DDA.

The whole of the EU is covered under the EU laws on disability, and saying he cannot guarantee is wrong.

Interesting quote Treborc,out of interest I have been searching DDA websites but failed to find anything.Do you have a link to this information.

Many thanks.

[whistonian]

Exactly Andy,but what about this.I have just booked a holiday in spain (Santa Ponsa) I had 3 quotes all for 5thAug from Doncaster airport and all on same flight.
RESULTS......Enable Holidays £5000 for 4 people in 2 rooms (1 room disabled) for 7 nights.

Disabled Access £3680 As above

Thomson Travel shop phone number from brochure £3549 as above but for 11 nights,yes 11 nights so I have booked with them.
Shopping around has paid off,but the first quote is a joke.