The Accessible Stay Standard
Five steps for guests with access needs. Ask what will help, not what the condition is: most guests tell you exactly what they need in one sentence.
- Who
- Guest relations, reception, housekeeping and engineering
- When
- Any guest who mentions a need, at booking, before arrival or in-stay
- You need
- Accessible room measurements, equipment stock, the night list
- Measured by
- Need confirmed with the guest pre-arrival
- Equipment in the room by 14:00
- Guest on the emergency list at check-in
5 steps
01
Ask plainly
When a need is mentioned, ask one plain question about what will help, not about the condition. Write the answer in the guest’s own words in the PMS and send it to each department involved in two hours.
Say this
“Mr Okafor, what would make the room work well for you? Is there anything we should set up before you arrive?”
Common mistake Asking for medical details nobody needs. The guest only wanted a shower seat and a lower clothes rail.
02
Match the room
Check the room against this guest’s need, not the word “accessible”: door width, roll-in shower or bath, bed height, grab rails, a visual fire alarm for a deaf guest, the distance to the lift. Measure it.
Say this
“Room 108: door 90 cm, roll-in shower, seat fitted, bed 52 cm high, visual fire alarm tested 12:40.”
Common mistake Giving the accessible room and assuming it fits. The bed is too high for this guest to move across from the wheelchair.
03
Set it up
Before arrival, have every item in place: shower seat, raised toilet seat, vibrating alarm clock, medicine fridge. Move furniture to leave a clear circle of 150 cm beside the bed and in the bathroom.
Say this
“108 set 13:50: armchair to store, shower seat in, medicine fridge on at 4°C, vibrating alarm by the bed.”
Common mistake Bringing the equipment up after check-in. The guest waits in the room before they can use the bathroom.
04
Plan the exit
At check-in, add the guest to the duty manager’s emergency list with room and need, and agree in private how staff will alert and help them in an emergency. Explain the plan in one or two sentences.
Say this
“Ms Kowalski, if the alarm sounds at night, a named colleague comes straight to your door to help you out.”
Common mistake Leaving the guest off the night list. At 3am the duty manager does not know who needs help on the stairs.
05
Record what worked
At check-out, ask what worked and what did not, and write both in the profile. Send anything the building got wrong, such as a heavy door or a steep ramp, to engineering with a date for the fix.
Say this
“Okafor: shower seat fine, room near lift good. Terrace ramp too steep. Engineering to fix by 30 Nov.”
Common mistake Recording only the room number. On the next stay the team starts again with the same questions.
Before an Accessible Arrival
Run this for every guest who has told you about a need. Each line is a check made for this guest, not an assumption from the room type.
- Need written in the guest’s own words
- Each department told within two hours
- Door width and bed height checked
- Grab rails and shower seat checked
- 150 cm clear by the bed and in the bathroom
- Visual or vibrating alarm tested, if needed
- Medicine fridge on and cold
- Room near the lift
- Guest on the night emergency list
- Exit plan agreed in private
- Staff speak to the guest, not the companion
- Help offered; touch only after a yes
Brief two lines a day for a week to reception, housekeeping and engineering. Guest relations checks the room with engineering before 14:00; the duty manager reads the emergency list every night at 23:00.
The Standards Library.
No. 46 · Guest Relations
The Long Stay Standard
Five steps for guests staying seven nights or more. By day four the welcome has worn off and small irritations add up; that is when the stay needs a plan.
No. 05 · Communication & NLP
The Calibration Standard
Five steps for reading a guest before they have said anything. Warmth is not a volume setting you turn all the way up. It is a frequency you tune.