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How do I define an accessible bathroom?
Doors and Toilets
A bathroom door should be wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through. A bathroom doesn’t have to be the size of a bedroom but the bathroom door should not be in the way of the toilet. The toilet may or may not have handrails for assistance. I say may or may not because a lot of people like myself do not need handrails around the toilet but something to help brace yourself or keep your balance is helpful (ie, a counter, etc.).
Bathtubs with Handrails vs Roll-in Showers
People in wheelchairs have varying levels of mobility. I’m a paraplegic and I prefer a bathtub with or without handrails over a shower, especially a roll-in shower.
I recently met a gentleman in a wheelchair named Sean Stephenson at the KLCC airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I did not know he was a speaker, etc. I just saw a guy in a wheelchair and chatted him up about traveling. Anyway, Sean prefers a bathtub over a shower.
A shower is fine too, as I am able to get out and sit on the shower floor or transfer to a plastic chair in a shower. A roll-in shower, where you can roll your wheelchair in, is necessary for some people who can not get out of their chairs at all. Roll-in showers may or may not have shower chairs onto which a person transfers. I personally find roll-in showers messy as water gets on the bathroom floor.
I consider a wheelchair accessible hotel is one that has a bathroom with either a bathtub with handrails for aid or a roll-in shower.
Lastly, a hotel’s entrance should be ground level or have a ramp (and not a 60 degree ramp). An inch or two does not matter much because most wheelchairs, especially motorized wheelchairs, can climb over a couple/few inches no problem.