Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Serving Customers with Disabilities: Implications for the Hospitality Industry conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions on how to participate will be given at that time. If anyone requires operator assistance during the call, please press star, then zero on your telephone. As a reminder, todays conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Miss Marian Vessels, Director of the DBTAC Mid-Atlantic ADA Center. Please go ahead.
Good morning or good afternoon, wherever you are, we are pleased to have you join us today for the hospitality version of the DBTAC audio conference series. These series are brought to you by the DBTAC National ADA programs, a division of the U.S. Department of Education National Institutes of Disability Rehabilitation and Research. Today''s topic is one that I think hits close to home for many of us as travelers. I have just returned from a vacation and know how important it is that the hospitality industry understands and appreciates the value of people with disabilities as customers and as employees in the industry. I am very thrilled today to have two wonderful speakers that will be able to give us different perspectives of the hospitality industry both from their own perspective as industry and as an architect. We have Roy Flora who is with Microtel Inns and Suites, Hawthorne Hotel brand systems worldwide, and we have John Salmen who is an architect and with universal design who has been instrumental in working with lots of properties all over the country assuring that they begin to understand and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. So you will be getting two unique perspectives today as we move forward. This afternoon''s call is designed to assist those of you to better understand the value of customers with disabilities and the design and regulations that have been promulgated by the Access Board and enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice. Without further ado I would like to introduce Roy E. Flora. Roy is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc., and its various wholly-owned subsidiaries, relative to Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorne Suites Hotel brand worldwide. He led Microtel Inns & Suites brand to be the dominant all new construction brand in the economy, limited service segment, with over 50% of the supply. Recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as highest in over all guest satisfaction for the Economy Limited Services segment for an unprecedented seven, currently, consecutive years, he led the initiative to redesign the Microtel guest room concept with minimal increase in costs and launched a new design to the overwhelming approval of their franchisees and the consumer, raising the bar significantly for product industry and delivery and the Economy Limited Service segment. They received the 2008 Hotel World Global Hospitality Design Award for best guest room design for limited service and they also orchestrated and received the American Association of Franchise Dealers Fair Franchising Seal for both Microtel and Hawthorn Suites brands. They are well known for championing total product and attitude accessibility for persons with disabilities, little people, and seniors. They have received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Eagle Award from Disability Rights Advocates and the Access to Freedom Award from the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality. They have redesigned the Hawthorne brand chain from a chain of hybrid hotels to a true all suites prototypical extended stay brand, they have launched a revised prototype new bedding initiative and new contemporary design concept for the Hawthorn Suites brand. They introduced and launched the cultural posture that we are first and foremost in the people business. I think Roy will be able to give us wonderful insight into how his brand of hotels are able to reach and accommodate people with disabilities. Roy, thank you for joining us today and I look forward to hearing your presentation.
Thank you, Marian, it is an honor for us to be invited to share with you today and I really thank DBTAC and Marian and Shelley and all of the work that they do and especially for hosting this very important audio conference. Marian pretty much gave it away a minute ago in those very kind opening remarks but as a precursor to my comments today about Microtel Inns and Suites Hotel, I want to share with you about what I believe is at the core of what makes Microtel tick. Normally I know we are only in a presentation mode here, but normally I would ask you if it was an open audience a very poignant question and that would be, what business are you in? And when I share that with a number of audiences I get a variety of responses. Some people would say, well, I am in the education business or the architectural design business and some would say I am in the disability rights advocacy business or maybe I am in the legal defense business or the quality of life enhancement business or the assisted technology business. Some people say, well, I am in the public service business and other responses just like that. All of which will not be inaccurate responses. And if you were to ask me this afternoon what business I am in and you would naturally expect me to say that I am either in the hotel business or the hospitality business. But that is not what you would hear. What you would hear is that I am in the people business. I have served in the hospitality industry now for a little over 38 years, going on 39 years now and I can remember something that the founder of Holiday Inns told me just a few days after I joined them back in 1969. Kenneth Wilson was the founder and he said, son, we are in the people business and if you don''t like people you are in the wrong business. That simple yet very profound truth has stayed with me all these years, and I have shared that same truth with many, many others because it really strikes at the core of how you behave relative to what you say you believe. Let me repeat that, it strikes at the core of how you behave relative to what you say you believe. I am in the people business, and you know what? So are you. But all too often we just lose sight of that, dont we? Every one of our guests are important but I am especially reminded of this whenever I think about serving the needs of one group of guests in particular, that being travelers with disabilities. And this has always been a difficult task for our industry. Even since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, hotels have grappled with how to meet the expectations of travelers with disabilities, not only because the law was not clearly defined and was constantly evolving, but due to the cost of compliance as well. By the same token many travelers with disabilities still wrestle with their lodging decisions, due to brand inconsistency and the uncertainty of what they are going to find when they get there. But from the hotelier standpoint, it is not only about doing the right thing and following the law, it is also about building our business. The fact is, the travelers with disabilities and the mature are a huge and bourgeoning market for the hotel industry, especially as the baby boom generation increases. In fact, and you have seen the comments that were handed out previously, there was, what does it say here, $13.6 billion spent annually by persons with disabilities including $3.3 billion on air travel and $4.2 billion on lodging. So catering to this particular market niche is not only the right thing to do, it makes good economic sense as well. In recent years we have seen very strong gains in this particular segment. For example, just three years ago our year over year bookings for accessible room nights across all distribution channels rose by nearly 275%. Net revenues for accessible room nights increased by more than 260% and internet bookings for accessible rooms during this same period grew some 400% and bookings on the global distribution systems increased by more than 360%. Two years ago our net revenues and internet bookings for accessible room nights increased by almost 50% over the prior year. And we have seen the same levels of consistent increase last year and we are seeing again this year as well. So this growth is obviously significant and it further underscores our commitment to provide quality accommodations and services for that growing market. But it did not happen by chance. Microtel Inns and Suites from its inception has positioned itself to be the preferred hotel chain in the Economy Limited Service segment for travelers with disabilities and to capitalize on these excellent economic opportunities. All of our hotels are newly constructed and prototypical both domestically and internationally. While satisfying ADA standards is obviously significantly easier than retrofitting and it gives us the capability to adequately and consistently serve travelers with disabilities. Our prototypical design not only satisfies ADA requirements but in a number of instances exceeds those requirements. One example is that all of our guest rooms have 3-foot entrance doors and 3-foot bathroom doors. This enables us to provide accessibility and greater maneuverability in every guest room, not just accessible rooms, for persons with wheelchairs, canes, scooters, or walkers. We also have our prototype to provide automatic doors as you enter the hotel through the lobby. Our construction and operating standards not only require U.S. accessibility compliance domestically but internationally as well, and they include as an exhibit for the benefit of our owners and operators the Justice Department checklist for ADA compliance. That said, true accessibility is a philosophy and behavior that involves every part of our business, and physical accessibility is not enough. The biggest challenges have been attitude accessibility, training employees to be courteous, sensitive and comfortable in dealing with guests with disabilities so that the guests are comfortable as well. That is why from the outset we engaged Cheryl Duke of Woodfield, Virginia to implement her Opening Doors sensitivity training throughout our system. And we are the only hotel chain to require and implement this sensitivity training system wide. Cheryl said, You could have the Taj Mahal of accessibility but if the staff does not know how to treat guests, all that goes to waste. So very true. When you really stop and think about it, most people have an inherent fear and uncertainty of how to behave when dealing with people with disabilities and I think you would agree with that. That uncomfortableness, that fear of the unknown if you will, causes them to act poorly or, worse, to not act at all, for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. And, when that occurs, they do no thing. You see, the majority have a want to but not a how to. So how do you cure that? By training our corporate employees and the hotel level employees in disability etiquette skills and attitude accessibility. That is the human side of ADA. After they participate in interactive activities, roles playing, and using wheelchairs, blindfolds, earplugs, and taped hands, employees have a better understanding of how to serve the needs of these very important travelers, and feeling comfortable and confident in doing so. And it has more than paid off. From a marketing perspective we have initiated a variety of ways to build this portion of our business and welcome customers with disabilities. Five years ago we became a sponsor of SATH, Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality and the mature, and when I first visited their website I saw that virtually every airline and every cruise line participated in promoting their accessibility features but when I clicked on hotels, there were none listed. And I asked why? I was told that none of them felt comfortable from a brand perspective in being listed. I told them we did, and even today Microtel is one of only two hotel chains listed on the website, the other chain is our Hawthorn Suites All Suites extended stay brand, which also became a sponsor and has now joined Microtel as the only hotel chains listed on the SATH website after five years. We also became a sponsor and a partner with United Spinal, and we participated in the World Congress and Exposition on Disabilities, Miss Wheelchair pageants, and other initiatives that target the needs of the disabled traveler and the mature. We have been approached by the American Alliance of People with Disabilities, as well as United Cerebral Palsy, and we are exploring opportunities with them as well. In our marketing initiatives we include travelers with disabilities, including our internet marketing. According to a study by Eric Lipp of the Open Doors Organization, who we also value as a strong partner, the internet is a key resource for travelers with disabilities, with over half saying they consult the internet for accessibility information, and a third saying they book their trips most frequently online. Microtels website features a special section dedicated to travelers with disabilities, including a direct link to SATH, to Opening Doors and to other disability friendly websites. It includes frequently asked questions and travel tips, our accessibility features, and a virtual tool where visitors can actually navigate a 360-degree view of typical Microtel ADA-accessible guest rooms. We also promote Microtel in the Virginia and Minnesota guides for people with disabilities, Quest magazine, Abilities Expo, and we recently supported the Ohio Wheelchair Softball League. All of our hotels are evaluated at least twice a year by mystery shoppers, which include hotel inspections and reviews by travelers with disabilities and we post those reviews on our website. Finally about four years ago we got creative. I was at a SATH convention and a fellow that was confined to a wheelchair without any legs asked me a direct question, he said what equipment do we provide in our fitness rooms? And I rattle off the usual things like treadmills, recumbent bikes, StairMasters, and he said, great, but what do you have for me? And I paused and I leaned forward and I looked at him and I said, we really don''t have anything for you but we are going to. And so I talked to him and I did some research and I learned that an upper body ergometer could provide him and guests with similar situations with good upper body cardiovascular conditioning to complement their daily workouts. And now, all our hotels with fitness rooms must include an upper body ergometer as one of the required pieces of equipment. It also educated me and encouraged me to consider accessible fitness bags for travelers with disabilities and seniors who may not be able to utilize traditional fitness equipment or who might feel uncomfortable visiting a fitness room. So we did, fitness bags with two 3-pound hand weights, one stretch band, one stretch cord, and two hand grips, and we sent them to the hotels. All Microtel hotels also provide accessibility features pamphlets not just in standard print like you find in most hotels, we also provide them in both large print and Braille. All Microtel hotels offer free local and long-distance calls and free wireless internet access and the wireless internet access usage policy is provided in large print. As Marian mentioned a little while ago, two years ago, having been strongly recommended by a number of different representatives from the disabled community, Microtel was honored with the prestigious Eagle Award from Disability Rights Advocates, a national disability law firm headquartered in Berkeley, California, and in this past January we received the prestigious Access to Freedom Award from SATH. Through our association with SATH, and I might add input from my grandchildren, we learned about another neglected group. Think how frustrating and dangerous it would be if you could not reach a sink or faucet to brush your teeth and you had to resort to standing on a turned over garbage can, or you could not reach the remote on the dresser to change the TV channel and you had to crawl up on the furniture and retrieve it or sit on the hotel room in silence, or you could not reach the mattress and had to make a do-it-yourself bed on the floor. Two years ago we entered into an agreement to launch our partnership with Matt Roloff and Direct Access Solutions and the TLC TV series Little People, Big World, including the purchase of one short-stature accessibility kit for every one of our Microtel and Hawthorn hotels worldwide. And now Microtel and Hawthorn are the only brands in their respective segments to offer the simple tools and basic training needed to meet the needs of over 1.2 million Americans of short stature. Little people, people who are affected by the roughly 200 types of dwarfism. But again, as I said earlier, it is not enough just to provide the accessibility kit, you must train the hotel staff to help them better understand the needs of little people to provide them with quality accessible hotel accommodations and enable them to experience a safe and enjoyable stay and that is what we have done. One of our dear friends, Bonnie Lewkowicz, Executive Director for Access Northern California, shared with me how pleased she was about our new bedding initiative that we announced earlier two years ago. But she went on to correctly point out to me that the addition of pillow top mattresses add height to the bed that creates a serious challenge for a person in a wheelchair transitioning to the bed. So I told her I had an idea and I would get back to her, and what we have done is to get our bedding vendors to downsize the height of the box spring so that the height of the bed in our accessible rooms will not change from its current accessible height even with the addition of pillow top mattresses. We also provide each hotel with the self-evaluation checklist for customers who are blind, deaf/blind or visually impaired. One of the things we are looking into now are stickers for packaging that describes soap types, coffee types, and delineate shampoo from conditioner or body lotion for those guests who may be visually impaired. I can''t tell you how many people have shared with me who are visually impaired the times that they have mistakenly washed their hair in body lotion or hand lotion. So to be able to provide packaging that describes this in a way that is easily delineated by someone who is visually impaired, even if not in Braille but in some type of descriptive way, is what we are looking into doing. Lastly, by no means not as important as an area that can present an even more challenging aspect of accommodating our guests, and that is hidden disabilities. When most people think of disabilities they naturally migrate to those disabilities that are open and obvious. But what about diabetics? What about those with autism or brain injuries, heart and lung implants, multiple chemical sensitivities, epilepsy, heart disease, severe allergies, and on and on. I had an example when I was out at the Disability Rights presentation for the Eagle Award and I shared this about hidden disabilities and the Vice-Mayor of Berkeley was there and he came up afterwards and we had a nice conversation and he gave me his card and I turned his card over and on the back he had written, I am a diabetic. If he had not said that I would not have known because that was not an open and obvious situation with him, it was a hidden disability. We have got a long way to go in this area, but we have trained the hotel staffs to look for medical alert bracelets, necklaces and in those instances simply ask a guest if they have any special room requirements because that can open up a very meaningful dialogue. And then if it is determined that the guest is a diabetic or has adrenal insufficiency, then we try to offer a suite or some other room type that has a refrigerator to store their medication or their serum. All of which can help us in providing the right room for them or making alternative arrangements. The key is just reaching out to the customer and asking them if they have any special needs, anything that we can do to make their experience with us more enjoyable, we try to do that. One of our franchisees suggestion that a diabetic guest place a tent card in every guest room that alerted any diabetic guest who required a container to dispose of the syringe needles to dial 0 and a front desk associate will bring one to them. Again, we have got a long way to go in this area, but we are trying to address it in every way we can. So what I have shared with you this afternoon is really just a sampling of what we have learned and implemented at Microtel, but we continue to learn every single day. I like what Warren Buffett is noted for saying; he said in the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield. And that is truly the case as it relates to serving the needs of your guests. There is so many things that can be done, but the most important thing I believe is that we continue to lead not only with our head but with our heart and that we have service personnel who care about people who have a want-to attitude and who are trained to properly and comfortably meet the needs of their customers. I look forward to the questions that you might have later on today. Again, I want to thank Marian for inviting us to participate, and please remember that all of us are in the people business. Thank you.
Roy, that was wonderful to hear about all the different ways you are looking at accommodating the variety of people with disabilities that show up at your doorstep, and I think it was a good caution to remind us that we are all in the people business. Many of us would say we do this and we do that, but we are in the people business. Those of us at the DBTACs certainly are in the people business in trying to assist industries like yourself and better able to comply with the ADA and to make it more universally acceptable for people with disabilities in a number of settings to be comfortable and well treated. So I am very anxious to hear the type of questions we will have. We ask that you hold your questions, you will be able to ask them at the top of the hour. Next I would like to introduce John P.S. Salmen. John is a good friend, and he is the President and founder and publisher of the Universal Design Newsletter. John is a licensed architect who specializes in barrier-free and universal design for more than 30 years. He is President of the Universal Design Consultants Inc., an architectural firm he founded in 1991 that specializes in the field of designing products and environments to be usable by people with all ages and disabilities and abilities to the greatest extent possible without the need for adaptation or specialized design. John is one of the leading experts in the technical aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act and an international leader in the field of universal design. He is the publisher of the Universal Design Newsletter and he has authored several books including Accessible Architecture, The Do-Able Renewable Home, Accommodating All Guests, and Everyone Is Welcome. He has presented hundreds of universal design and accessibility seminars and keynote addresses throughout North America and the Pacific Rim. He is a voting member of the ICC - the International Code Council, and the American National Standards Institute, ANSI, A117 Committee, the organization that administers and coordinates U. S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment systems, including standards for facilities for people with physical disabilities. He was the representative for the AIA, the American Institute of Architects, on ADAAG review federal advisory committee, and a voting delegate for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. He currently serves as an appointed member of the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities, of Montgomery County, Maryland. John has served in many roles, and he has also been involved with folks like the American Hotel and Motel Association, the American Restaurant Association, and his two documents that he has authored have been somewhat of a bible for people complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the hospitality industry: Accommodating All Guests and Everybody Is Welcome for the hospitality industry in hotels and in restaurants. It is really my pleasure to introduce John Salmen and have him present his information on universal design and the hospitality industry. Go ahead, John.
Thank you so much, Marian, it is really nice to be on line with everyone today, and especially following Roy in terms of setting the stage about expectations on the part of the public. So I am really pleased to do that. And to talk a little bit about what I perceive as being some of the problems. You mentioned about our newsletter, Universal Design, that people can see at universaldesign.com which is our website and get more information about what I am really only going to be able to touch the high points on today. But what we see, what I have seen in terms of working with the lodging industry, and we do all kinds of evaluation of facilities, both existing facilities as well as newly constructed things and alterations, we are reviewing plans all the time for properties and trying to figure out what to do. The issue really at stake here is the fact that because hotels have so many different possible interfaces with the guests, much more so than any other business, there is many opportunities for either having great interaction or having a real problem, especially when we realize how unique everybody is. And the people-centered kind of approach that Roy talked about is really the key to having the kind of attitude that cuts through all of the confusion that people have about compliance. Because there is a great deal out there. We see this all the times in terms of the hotel operators and the owners and contractors. People are saying different things and dont really understand all of their obligations that so few people have the clear vision that Microtel and Hawthorn Suites have. They have not really been able to adopt the philosophy and attitude that lets them see what these kind of fantastic marketing opportunities really are that you described earlier. So you know the fact that now only two hotel chains still are listed with SATH is a real testament to the fact that there still is a great deal of confusion out there. They need help knowing what to do is what I find, and that they simply don''t understand what their responsibilities are. The book that I authored for the Department of Justice, Accommodating All Guests back in 1993 that you can get off our website is an example of a simple method that was used to try to help hoteliers in a non-threatening way understand their responsibilities under the ADA. It has been a huge seller for the industry, but, I mean, you know it is a free book you know so it is not so surprising that it was such a big seller. But the fact is that it was really used a great deal to help people to try and understand what is going on but it has essentially been out of print now for about five years and we just brought it back on our website because people need to see it. What I have found is that they don''t understand the basic issues at stake and that is what I would like to go through this presentation, the power point that I put up, to talk about the two main aspects that I see in dealing with hotels that makes it, makes them kind of miss the point. And if they can understand from the users viewpoint, from guests with disabilities what it is that is really important to them, then they are able to kind of start to compartmentalize this and to make it work even in those settings where they have not been able to really adopt the entire philosophy. So I am going to be paging through the presentation that I put up. And the first page is really the status of the ADA, how guest satisfaction, and this is a diagram that was done by the American Hotel and Motel Association a couple years ago trying to help them to understand where they were meeting and where they were not meeting guest satisfaction. Because as Roy said, it is meeting expectations on the part of the public, and as you can see here the blue area is where the, excuse me, the checkered area is where satisfaction level is and the blue area is what expectation is. And so, only in a couple of areas was the lodging industry providing adequate services in terms of the design of guestrooms for the kinds of expectations of the public. And basically it was having space under the sink and having left and right toilet access and at that time having roll-in showers. And in many areas where satisfaction was really low on the part of the public. And if you go to the next page you will see that what we have found, is really, there is two kinds of issues, one is the path of travel and the second is the features that are in within the accessible guestrooms that hoteliers usually dont always understand the purpose or the function of. What we found in many cases, and I have got a case example here of a property down in Florida, where the elements were there but they were missing the connections. They did not really understand how you have to have an accessible path that connects all these parts that they had spent a lot of money and effort to provide, but then they didnt have a way for people to get to it because they hadnt been looking at the hotel as a whole. And so these are the kinds of elements that we found, elements were there as in what is on page 6, but the connections were missing. They had accessible toilets with grab bars, and everything was really quite compliant, but there was really poor entry ramps to get into the property at the beginning. They thought that they had put in compliant ramps long you know several years ago, but as you can see, on the photograph on the left on page number 7, there is hardly any landing at the top for someone to turn and the side flares are very steep. So really this became an almost impossible ramp for somebody to be able to use, whereas the one on the right because there was space, especially once they moved the planter at the top, it allows people to really at least get up and maneuver around within that space. In slide number 8, we see some of the things about the restrooms, and in some instances they had doors that were compliant getting into the toilet stalls, but then on the far right hand side of page number 8, you see that they needed to provide an automatic door operator in order to make the pull-side clearance on this door that we see on the far left hand side really be compliant, and they hadnt realized you know the two sides of the issue and had simply provided the accessible stall years earlier but never had really resolved the interior door pull-side clearance issue. Telephones; they had accessible telephones, they had all been lowered and had the necessary signage for them and they also had an accessible pool but they did not have a ramp way that was compliant in terms of getting to the pool. It was a little bit too steep for too long a distance. On the left hand side of page number 10, you can see two women walking up the long walkway that was just a little bit too steep for these standards. So what they ended up doing was to provide a serpentine walkway that provided access to that pool. They also provided access down to the beach itself by using both an alligator is what they called it which was a cart that could take a wheelchair on it. And it was over a sand dune beach or else they were able to provide a beach wheelchair that somebody could push, but it was almost a quarter mile. So they provided a choice for people which is really one of the key things in almost any property, being able to provide those choices. The examples of additional kinds of services, that Roy discussed and Microtel provides, are good examples of these kinds of additional services so that people with different abilities will have choices. If you go on to page number 11, you can see the guest rooms section, where I am starting with that, and getting access to the guest rooms themselves to the various elements, to the toilet, tubs, having to lower closets that have a high and a low sections. So people again have choice. In the restaurant they have multiple levels but they didnt have access up to all of those levels and they ended up needing to provide a lift so that people had access to where the buffet was located. So the path of travel is really the key to all of these kinds of things that connects all of these various elements together from the public right-of-way to the entry and from bus drops to the entry and parking to the entry, and then from the entry and the lobby you need to get to all these different areas. So it is all sort of focus through the main entry. And this is an example now starting on page 14 of the accessible routes that they provided. It started out at the property line and they created a path which was clearly visible across their parking lot where there had not been previously an accessible route. They provided signage to show where the accessible route actually went, this is from the bus drop-off and the main entry. You can see this on page number 15.
John, excuse me just for a second. I have just been notified that somehow the powerpoint is not available to the viewers. So they are not able to see what you are talking about. So if you could just describe it, I am very sorry.
Okay. Alright, well, I am presently at the bus drop-off and it shows stairs that lead to an existing hotel entry but then the signage showing where the bus drop off goes to the, where the accessible entrance is leading to the entrance. Next page, number 16, for those of you who do have it, show where they relocated the curb ramp to provide a large landing at the top and gradually beveled side flares, so that there is easy access up either side and a relocated planter, as well as a path underneath the porte cochere that leads directly to the entrance. Also the next slide shows an accessible path that was created from the parking. Parking had previously been in the middle of the parking lot and it was closest to the entrance but there was no direct accessible route and people were concerned about whether or not there was a safe route with cars whizzing through. Also in Florida you are required to provide an accessible route from the accessible parking space in front of parked cars, which is different from the federal standard. And so they provided a sidewalk that ran around the front of the park putting all of the accessible parking in line with the entrance but on the perimeter of the parking lot. Once they got into the lobby area itself the restaurant upper level is served now by a lift that is shown in the photograph on page 18. And they also provided hand rail extensions on all the hand rails, the two stairs where, even if, well, there was a lift on this section. The lobby to the pool, the circuitous route is shown in photo 19 and this is basically an S shaped pathway, a sidewalk that runs through the lawn of the hotel leading to the pool and they did a similar one to the tennis court so that they didn''t have to provide handrails on the steeper pathway which would have created problems for maintenance of the grass areas on either side and also potential hazards for people if they wanted to run on the lawn. So the more gradual path does not require having any handrails. The pool to the beach they added a ramp that went from the pool area and the lawn surrounding it down to the sand level. It is about three feet and it is shown in the photograph on number 21 and also the beach wheelchair is shown there, which people were able to have access to the beach if they wished to have someone roll them out. But as I said, it is about a quarter mile from the edge of the pool property to the beach. Over the years there has been deposition of sand right in front of the hotel, so now they have a fantastic beach and as I said they offer another option which is a trailer pulled behind a little alligator, it is called, a gasoline powered device that is able to take people that quarter-mile distance which pushing through the sand can be difficult for anybody. So all of those path and travel things are really held together by the, or they hold together the important elements of the hotel. And it is that connection which hoteliers often forget and they lose sight of these little pieces. The next thing which I want to show you is case examples and this starts on number 23 of my presentation and this is of accessible guest rooms. What are the kinds of things that people are looking for and at the times of alteration especially is when hotels can try to get it right. There is about 11 different elements that we talk about: entry doors, maneuvering space within the sleeping room, access to desks and writing surfaces, access to closets, hardware, bathroom entry door and threshold, turning space, maneuvering clearances, accessible showers, side access to toilets and accessible lavatories; and I will be showing you slides and pictures of all of these. The first is entry doors, and what we often find is that the selection of the hardware is out of reach or it may not have the necessary kind of hardware that makes it easier for people to operate. You will notice in these pictures that there is a slide bar, not a slide bar but a security bar that is simply hinged, it is very easy to operate with a closed fist. Of course it is lever hardware and also you can see it, there is two peep holes provided in this door. One is about 40 to 42 inches which is at the low end of what is required of eye heights for people who are in wheelchairs or for standing short statured people. So you want to put it down kind of low, and we find in a lot of cases that people put it up about 48 inches thinking that will suffice but it really doesnt work for many short statured people. Maneuvering spaces within the sleeping room. You really need to have enough space for T-turns that are comfortable and that is free of any bed linens or things like that. So, having turnaround space that is ample, we really recommend that hotels try to have, select very large rooms for their accessible rooms so that they can still keep same compliment of furniture but have the necessary maneuvering space around it. On slide number 26, you will see the issue of desks and writing surfaces, and this is a proper that has a built in desk system where the keyboard pulls out and flips down to provide knees and toes clearance for accessing the internet access or for using of the desk itself. So they provided knees and toes clearance for wheelchairs and for a keyboard at the same time, in a clever design that is a built-in unit that is very fashionable. The closets, I talked about this a little earlier, this is a dual height closet, that shows giving people choice, allowing one rod which is up about 60 inches which is a little high and out of reach for most people in wheelchairs, but it can hang a long gown that somebody would be able to have with them without it touching the ground. And then there is also a bar at about 48 inches height, with the safe directly above it below the 54 inch maximum reach height that allows the closets rod and the safe to be able to be accessed. Now, we recommend that people start to comply with the new ADAAG and ANSI standards which will put everything at 48 inches, so that safe really ought to be lowered to a 48 inch height maximum to be able to be reachable by people of short stature, etc. In the next slide, you see an example of the hardware 48 inches maximum as I have mentioned. And that really applies not only to the guest room door but also to the restroom, and have maneuvering space and clearances at those doors as well so that people can easily maneuver around, have privacy when they are in the bathroom if they wish to from other occupants of the room. And basically use a facility guest room like any other guest would. Slide number 29 shows threshold, bathroom entry door and threshold of shower, are very delicate things that have to be carefully handled otherwise we get water out on the floor and causing damage to the property creating slippery conditions and not satisfactorily draining the roll-in showers and other types of features that we want to have in accessible guest rooms. So this is an area that we tell people to really take a great deal of caution as they are detailing and installing these so that there is minimal if any threshold allowing very easy movement over, no tripping hazard and eliminate the wash board effect that many people who uses rolling mobility devices experiences when trying to get in to and use these facilities. Photograph number 30, slide 30 shows the T-turn and the 5 foot diameter as the wedding cake, that the new standards now allows us to be able to take advantage. These are the 2004 ADAAG, allows us to take advantage of some of the clear floor space underneath objects to be able to have a, to put turning space within bathrooms if they are carefully and effectively laid out. So that we are able to have maneuvering space, have turning distances provided within even very small bathroom if they are carefully done. But many people do not understand this and they throw up their hands, in the past not really providing very good access. Slide number 31, shows other maneuvering clearances. At the toilet, clearly you need to have room for side access. The existing standards of 1991 ADAAG allows a lavatory in that space and it has been a real problem that we see in many guest rooms. And now for years we have been recommending our clients always put in a 5 foot space so there is adequate room for being able to make maneuver, maneuver side access, side transfers to the toilet as shown on the right-hand slide of number 31. And of course, we have to have the space between beds or on both sides of a bed as in the slide on the left-hand side of number 31. It is a double, double room and there is at least 3 feet between the two beds and that is exclusive of all their bed linens and things like that. The accessible showers. Some of the best ones that we have seen now are the roll-in showers that, or people are really making these being upscale kind of feature that has both accessible features at one end for wheelchair users for those who may want hand-held shower and the other end for standing person. There is no reason why you can''t have two sets of faucets and showerheads in some of these showers. So slide number 32 shows that kind of a detail. Side access to toilets as I had mentioned earlier, the photo on number 33 shows a really kind of innovative design where the lavatory is recessed slightly, allowing that 5 foot space next to the toilet. And we are finding that many hotels are gravitating to this kind of a design. This unfortunately did not have, we took this photograph before they had install the grab bars. And grab bars need to be placed on the side and the rear wall beside this toilet number 33. But this shows a good example of where the 5 foot space is provided side of the toilet. Slide number 34 shows accessible lavatories and here we show the pipes have an insulating surface around them. It is a form fitting plastic cover that keeps anyone from getting in contact with the pipes which could be carrying scalding water. One of the things which we will going to be seeing much more of now is the vanity sizes of the accessible lavatories in guest rooms will have to be comparable to those in a standard guest rooms. So these slides which you see are on properties that were renovated about five years ago and they have vanity counters which are slightly narrower than you might find in a standard guest room of this type in this property, you can see this is a beautiful upscale property. It is an individual, unique, independent property that was undergoing a renovation, and we were called in to help them so that they would assure that they had good accessible now in moving forward. And so slide number 35 shows these elements again, just list the kind of features that we expect to see in accessible guest rooms but oftentimes have some problems with in terms of the designs or the implementation of them. And this is where we find the, if hotels can understand some of these features a little better how they are used and then they end up having much better designed in the ultimate guest rooms. So that is pretty much my presentation, Marian, and I am happy to take any questions. It is a great opportunity to talk to folks about these kinds of things.
Thank you John. Again, I apologize that the participants weren''t able to see the slides we thought they had been posted. They will be posted within the next two weeks and you will be able to go online and look at them and to be able to reference them in addition to listening to this audiotape again. But John did a great description of what all the different pictures were of what an accessible property should look like and what some of the pitfalls are. Very often we find that hotels concentrate on certain areas but forget about how people transition to those areas. Or as I find out on my vacation, they said it was an accessible property and I got there and there were two stairs to get inside. Once inside the bathroom was beautiful but the two stairs didnt help me get in too well. To let people know as well that the reason we are doing a session on hospitality today is that it is one of the focus areas of the National DBTAC ADA Centers projects for this 5 year cycle of funding that we have. The Region 3, the Mid-Atlantic region has taken a lead on providing resources for the hospitality industry and for people with disabilities to assist properties in becoming more accessible. You can visit the Region 3 website, at www.adainfo.org and look at our hospitality initiative. You will find there are many of the documents that John was referring to and that Roy was referring to, the Department of Justice''s documents on checklists, resources for folks who are blind or deaf. Other industry resources, training packages will be uploaded up there soon that people can download and use as you go around and visit different properties to use them for your conferences or conventions or resources within your own communities. More and more resources will be posted there in the coming days and weeks. We have handouts, we have tri-fold information brochures, we have posters. Many of them are available in both English and Spanish. They can be used as you as consumers and if those interested in accessibility with the hospitality industry to use in your own communities as you go forward advocating for more accessible facilities. At this time I would ask the Operator to come on line to tell us more about how we can ask questions, Operator?
Absolutely. Ladies and gentlemen if you would like to queue up to ask a question please press the 1 button on your touchtone keypad. If your question has been answered or you wish to remove yourself from the queue you may do so by pressing the pound button. Again if you would like to ask a question, please press the 1 button at this time. Our first question is from, go ahead please.
Hi, yes, my question is for John, I am sorry for Roy. The question is, what is the hotel''s obligations, or what is your policy to provide an accessible room to a person who has reserved an accessible room and then find once they have arrived that it is not truly accessible or does not meet their particular needs.
Well, unfortunately that is a common occurrence in the hotel industry, it is getting somewhat better but it is not what it should be. Our policy is, if that you call in, you make a reservation for an accessible room and that accessible room is held for you until you arrive.
I think that the question also regarded the issue of what happens if it does not meet your expectations. And then there are a couple of issues at stake. One is, are your expectations consistent with what the ADA would require that hotel to have provided or is, are your expectations you know different from what the ADA actually would require of that hotel. So, but the bottom line is, are you, you know how does the hotel fix the situation. And you know a good property, a good chain will try to satisfy you one way or another by walking you to another hotel even if necessary, giving you an upgrade rooms, etc. The question about what their obligation is though, kind of comes down to what the law you know really would say and it varies. So and that is one of the problems. I was saying that hotels have a lot of confusion because an existing hotel may have a very low responsibility really if they have not done anything to their rooms since you know since the ADA was passed, where the new hotels have a really high obligation and really should have you know totally compliant criteria, totally compliant rooms.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question. Go ahead please.
Yes, my question deals with the furnishings and within an accessible accommodation. One of the frustrations is that there are no ADA standards that address the actual furnishings and something earlier which you mentioned for example the height of beds. There is one situation I know a major chain that recently renovated most of their properties and wind up putting beds on platforms in all of their accessible rooms which precluded use of patient lifts. My question is, what, one, is there going to be any addressing over the next several years of including those kind of standards but more important, what is the obligation of the hotel and what should a traveler do when confronted with a situation like that?
I can give a shot at that if that is okay with you, Roy.
Sure.
One of the changes in what the Department of Justice has proposed for the 2004 ADAAG adoption, is that there is kind of a basic change in, between the 1991 and the 2004 standard. And the 2004 really talks about everything and makes it clear that it is more of a civil rights document rather than a building code you know which has been one of the real confusion in the whole construction industry. Because the 1991 ADAAG, walks, talks and you know looks like a building code when in reality it is a civil rights law and you got to interpret the stuff with the civil rights interpretation. Well the 2004 ADAAG really kind of clarifies that and takes away the differentiation that they have between fixed and non-fixed elements that was in the 1991 ADAAG. So now really everything is covered. So one of the steps in terms of trying to address this has been taken in terms of broadening the context of what the ADA standards really are going to talk about, but also there is an understanding in the recognition of the problems faced with people who are using personal lifts and the problems faced with the pillow top beds. Because you really want to have this luxurious bed and yet you need to have it at a height where you can either transfer to it or you can get on it with a lift. And what I have seen is that really the best solution is one of service where the hotel will have somebody come in, remove the frame, first of all, you need to have open frames, those hotels that are putting in closed frames are really making a mistake at least in their accessible guest rooms because it does preclude the use of a personal lift and we you know constantly recommend that all of these accessible guest rooms at a minimum have open frames. But if you have a frame, and then a box spring, and then a mattress, you are getting the top of the bed to be well above the 17 to 19-inch seat height for a wheelchair for an independent transfer. So the real solution that we found is to have the bed configured like that, but so that a lift would be used underneath it but then also have it be easily de-mountable from that frame. Let the housemen come in take the frame out, put the bed right down on the box spring on the floor and then it ends up being at the height that a wheelchair user can easily transfer to and from. So they can have the best of both worlds, you can have all the choices of different kinds of guest rooms, views, amenities, you know, kings, queens, spas, or whatever you want to have in your guest rooms, the suites or whatever they are call and still you can have the flexibility of being able to get into bed in the preferred method. But instead of trying to you know say a certain percentage need to have open frames or certain percentage need to be at a 17 to 19 inches, I think having that flexibility where the hotel is encouraged to really serve the guests with disabilities seems to me to be a win-win situation. But at present there is not a requirement in the rules for anything other than the fact that fix has been taken out of these newly proposed rules.
Let me add to that John if I might. What we require in all of our Microtel hotels is that there will be one of every type of guest room in the hotel will be an accessible room as well. So for every suite we have, for every, that if we have a jacuzzi suite, if we have a single or a double, whatever is it, there will be one type of every kind at least that is accessible. And in all of our accessible rooms we require open frames situations, so that a Hoyer lift or any other type of situation could be utilized. And as I mentioned earlier one of the things we did when we went to the new bedding presentation was, when it was pointed out to us that we increase the height by doing that, while it was a nice bedding presentation and everyone enjoyed it, the transition was very difficult. So we got with our bedding manufacturers and we reduced the box spring height to 5 inches which gave us an adequate height like we had before for a proper and appropriate transition. And still allow us to have the open frame. But John is right, in situations where customers need additional help and the staff has been trained to provide that help as a customer expected.
Roy, you bring up a really interesting piece also about dispersion and my understanding of Microtel has basically put its properties in place since the ADA and has in some respect a real advantage over other chains that have older properties but the dispersion issue is growing as a very important one of providing people with choice. And the Department of Justice is now making many interpretations and these new rules make it much clearer about the kind of dispersions what Microtel has been doing now for many years is what is being required in all new construction, one of each type of room basically be accessible at a minimum.
Right.
Thank you. Our next question.
Hi, how are you? I have two questions, and one kind of a tag on. I went to Las Vegas, I went and talk to somebody because I needed an accessible room, the night I got there they did not have the room available so they put me on a 20th floor in a regular room. Next day they moved me to the accessible room, that room happened to be down the maintenance hallway, outside of the window was the trash dumpster. So I think it was just a kind of an afterthought to kind of meet the need of having an accessible room they put it whatever space they have left over, which is very disappointing. Number two, in your showers or in showers, when it comes to the shower head itself, even if your shower head is on a flexible hose, if the holder for that flexible hose is up higher than standard height, a wheelchair person cannot get to that flexible hose to get down, so that a holder needs to be lower or needs to be on one of the vertical bars that the shower head slides up and down on. Those are I guess two points I wanted to bring up and wanted to hear your thoughts on that. Thank you.
You are right on. I mean that is exactly what the some of the problems have been. The first being a sort of insensitivity and not thinking that the accessible rooms need to really you know be high quality rooms that people are not going to be in them most of the time and so that they can put them in the less desirable locations you know which is really a front in my book. And the other is really an issue of operations and everybody within the hotel understanding how you need to place the furnishings and equipment in the accessible room. You set it for a guest with a disability because they have the least ability to be able to adapt. A standing adult can move the handheld shower back up the rod but housekeeping when they set the room should set it for its anticipated use as being a wheelchair accessible guest room that is what it is. So this kind of stuff doesn''t filter down into the training programs for the staff. What I found in dealing with corporations you know all over for the last 20 years on this is that different messages need to get to different folks. The housekeeper doesn''t need to know about 32 inch clear doorways that are necessary but the designer sure does. The housekeeper needs to know about putting the remote control for the television on the night stand, not on top of the television. So this is kind of different messages that if we get them appropriately distributed to people if they do a good job of it. I was pleased to hear Roy talk about the W.C. Dukes Opening Doors program with Cheryl Duke who has done because it really is a wonderful thing for changing attitudes and giving the right kind of information for different people within the organization. These are fairly large operations, so you got front desk folks who need to know certain kinds of information, you need to have security people and the valet services know a different kind of information. You need to have engineering know where the kits are or any special equipment. You need to have housekeeping know how to set things up. There need to be different kinds of things for different people, the landscape people need to know about keeping the pathways clear so that you dont have protruding objects from branches those sticking people''s faces who has low vision or no vision. So different kinds of messages need to be appropriately given to different people and that is one of the problems about why this is so confusion, there is so much of confusion. People thought originally this is you know one type fits all that that we can just give them a simple guidance and that everyone would know. But because there are so many interfaces with the guests in hotels, you really need to have specialized training for different classes of employees.
And one of the things that I think is key is in our design specs for all Microtels you will find that the removable shower heads are installed at a lower height than would normally come in a standard installation for that very reason. And that is to be sensitive to those who have to use them. And so we have addressed this in our construction guidelines and they are at a level that are totally accessible for someone who needs them at that level. But I think John said really what is it key and that is all too often we focus on the product accessibility and we forget about one of the most key elements, if not the key element, and that is accessibility sensitivity and training of employees to understand the needs and expectations of travelers with disabilities. And with that training then to become comfortable and confident in delivering that type of service to them.
One other thing also I have noticed in your properties Roy is that, in those accessible guest rooms that they often put a pin up high so that the standing adult you know, an able bodied guest who to whom the room was rented sometimes when you have sell out situation, would still be very comfortable. And that, but that is not the normal place where the hand-held shower is left, it is down at the low range on the sliding bar, where you know really set it up for the intended guest.
Correct.
Thank you. Peter, do we have any e-mail questions?
We have one question. It is a general question but just points out that we have participants all over the place including Canada joining us today. It just say simply: Friends, do you have any special advice for or comments for the hospitality industry in Canada?
I am trying to think of some smart response to that.
Let me just, I will say from our perspective, we, from the Microtel perspective, we are aggressively developing in all throughout Canada. We have only just begun as the song goes. But as I mentioned earlier our requirements for Microtel are absolutely consistent prototypical whether developed domestically or internationally and recognizing that most countries outside the U.S. do not have accessibility standards and requirements such as the ADA. We require every one of our hotels to meet the U.S. ADA standards and undergo the same type of disability etiquette training. Obviously if an international country has standards that exceed the Americans with Disabilities Act, then we would conform to that as well but in most cases that is not the case and but you will find with Microtel that the ADA accessibility standards are implemented and installed worldwide.
I would like to add to that, that most of the chains, the large multinational chains have started to adopt ADA-like if not ADA standards for all of their properties everywhere. And I watched the you know the international code development situation you know through our newsletter and in my role on some of these standards committees. And there is a very interesting efforts that are under way. One is a thing called the Global Universal Design Consortium which is right now trying to develop some standards for their LEEDs type, voluntary standards that different properties could use to market themselves to the growing market place to people who appreciate and want to have universally designed features. And they are anticipating coming out later this year with some standards that would start to address hotels as one of their first building types because they see tourism as being so important. In Canada there is, there are good standards. And in some ways they are more restrictive and other ways they are less restrictive. The latest 2004 ADAAG really is kind of the state of the art that I have seen around the world for accessibility but things continue to develop. And there is quite a bit of talk about the need for further research to be able to define these standards even better especially as we start to have larger and more mobility devices being used scooters and Segways and stuff like this for people throughout our society. So I would say that yes, Canada can you know learn some things from seeing these advances. But Canada also does a pretty good job as it is with this accessibility standards and they are not terribly different from those that are currently in place for the Americans with Disabilities Act in the U.S.
Thank you. Operator, do we have another question?
Yes, our nest question in line is from our Captioner, go ahead please.
Yes, this is the Captioner on behalf of, she has a comment to make. She said: I stayed at a hotel that was a suite. There was an true emergency at 3:00 AM that set of the alarms in the hotel - I am hearing impaired and do not hear alarms. This was an all suite hotel where the flashing alarm was in the outer suite. I did not know this at the time. So, when the alarm went off and began flashing, it did not wake me, I was asleep in the inner suite with the door shut. Should the flashing alarms be in both rooms? She had no idea of this emergency until someone called my Sidekick and it began flashing to wake me up. Thank you, that is the end of her question.
This is John Salmen, I also have a hearing impairment and I always require a guest room with a visual fire alarm and I make sure that is in the space where I am going to be sleeping because of that very same thing. I had a situation several years ago where I had flown into New York City to a conference, I had just come across country and I was just dead tired. I fell asleep and the next morning I got up and everyone said, hey, did not see you out down the street last night, John, where were you? You have been out you know partying? And then I said, what are you talking about? And there had been a fire alarm and the entire hotel had been evacuated and I never knew it because I did not hear the fire alarm. These are terrible situations and they really required that the hotel be provided or provide the visual fire alarms in the guest rooms. Now, the standards were not very clear in the past as to whether where these visual fire alarms needed to be in terms of the guest rooms where you have multiple rooms. Now it has been clarified that they need to be in each living space and also in the bathroom. So in case you are taking a shower and you got the door closed and the alarm goes off you would know about it at that point also. But the new ADA standards do clarify this, the old ones are kind of uncertain and because of the silence majority kind of aspect of hearing impairment, a lot of people did not understand the importance of this. Now, I always demand to having a visual fire alarm in my sleeping area and in those few occasions where the hotels doesnt have it, I demand that they put a note on my folio that somebody will come up there and wake me in case of fire alarm so that there is a clear record that the hotel has of my hearing impairment.
And add to that John, one of the things that we require in our emergency procedures manual is the identification for all registered guests. And if, as we do have guests with visual and hearing impairments and other disability that in the event of a evacuation, those guests are immediately, we send someone to those rooms immediately to make sure that they are able to exit the building as well.
Yes, that kind of redundancy is really I think the key in these life, safety situations. Because you never know when maybe the batteries are going dead in the middle of the night on the piece of equipment or something like this. So the redundancy of having that staff follow up is really the mark of high-quality.
Thank you. Our next question in queue.
Yes, I have a question that perhaps the architectural planning expert there might help or whoever. I was recently traveling in the eastern part of the country and I stayed at a pretty well-known hotel chain near a resort area. And I found as I entered the room, I set myself up for the night that there was only one wall and the entire room that had an outlet plug or outlet plug at all. I happen to use a CPAC machine and need this machine to be fairly close to the head of the bed. What we did have the standard night stand, etc, there was no plugs, for some reason everything was powered differently. So I went down to the desk and talked to the fellow at the desk and he said yeah, you are about the forth one this week and basically he said it had to do with some modality of construction where they dont put enough or they put as few electrical outlets as they can get away with for I assume costs reasons or whatever and that they did not think about people. He then gave me the extension cord that I guess they give out three or four times a week for people who need it for whatever reason. And I was wondering if in the assessment of the ADA regs there might be anything that addresses you might call a reduction of support such as abundance in this case of electrical outlets plugs which have now been taken away. I noticed on the same trip, the older the hotel, the more plugs I had on every wall, I have no idea why that was happening except that some new construction cost saving device. So could you speak to that if there is regulation not being followed here? This was a regular room by the way, this was a not any specialized room.
Well, certainly construction costs you know are, go up as you add more electrical outlets and many developers are trying to get low front end costs and then they sell the property and moves on to somebody else. And so the name of their game, of the developer, the one who is building the hotel especially when it is not a corporately owned facility, is how do you do it as cheaply as possible to be able to get these rooms up and then they passed it off to somebody else. And building codes are generally the things which require how many outlets are how far apart. However, also their energy concerns with hotels that they try to reduce actually the number of outlets because they don''t want people using a lot of energy because the hotels are trying to be energy efficient. So sort of you know many different sides to this. We have recently probably in the last two years been recommending to all of our new design clients that or alterations when they are modifying rooms that they have an outlet within the accessible reach range near the head of the bed, near the bed on some side. And one of the solutions that a lot of the chains have been doing is to put lamps with an outlet in the base, that you have probably seen you know at desks. These also can be used as bedside lamps. And suddenly you got a you know power outlet right there that gives you that kind of a choice and it is in a great accessible location. So that is an easy solution that people can retrofit in most cases when they dont put in a outlet within reach there that is on an available wall. But at the time of alteration, is really the time when that can be done. And sometimes there is disincentives. We find that when we are working for the owner who is the ultimate operator of the property and doing these designs things, that kind of a detail goes in. When we are working for a developer who is selling or doing it for the owner the outlet does not go in.
This is Roy. What we have too in the last five years, we have been, our hotels have been developing with outlets at the desk level and beside the beds as well. Prior to that, that was not the case. The real case was not so much the number of outlets as where they were located at, I can''t tell you how many times I have gone to hotels and crawled all over the floor to try to find a place to plug in something. And so, recognizing that the last five years anyways, we have been making outlets, if not totally adequate number, for certain accessible imposition where you didnt have to crawl on the floor to get to them. And that has been very successful as well.
Thank you, our next question.
Hi, this is actually a follow up to my earlier question which dealt with the furnishing. You were speaking about like problems with the, not having open frames and issues like that, but part of the question I had asked, I just want to revisit is, what is the obligation of the property when it is called to their attention? I have been in situations where the properties dont have or claimed they don''t have for example a frame that the platform can be removed, given the new perspective on the way the ADA list things, is there an actual obligation? What is the recourse when you are in that situation to get that kind of situation resolved?
Well, this is John. There is not a clear obligation at present. So it is kind of a long road to try to make the case that there would be an obligation for that. It might be possible in terms of a liberal interpretation of the rules but technically there is no clear requirement in the standard that would force them to say you know to have to do it. That you can point to it and say, look, it says right here, you got to do this. It is an interpretation kind of thing and I think it would take a legal case where somebody had you know built up all of the argument around the spirit of the law to get, to enforce requiring somebody to do that at this point. There are certain states where an open frame is required, California, Florida, and I think New York City require it. But those are states or local regulations only and the federal ones doesnt go there yet.
Hey Peter, are there any e-mail questions?
We got one more we can get in before the bottom of the hour. And this is for Roy, wanting to know how his company deals with online reservations for accessible rooms.
If you book a reservation for an accessible room online, you have the ability to go to our accessibility page, you will see what the features are and then to be able to see the different room types at that particular hotel in terms of accessible rooms, and book your reservation. If that room is available and you reserved that room, that room will be held for you, just like any other room that has been booked. So if you book an accessible room, that room should be available for you and not be given away to anyone else.
Roy, now is that just on your website? What happens on some of the third party reservation systems?
On the third parties, they have got links back to our website. And they should be booking nothing less than what is available. They have access to what is available at every hotel. And again, if someone books that reservation even through a travel agent or some other type of source, then when the hotel gets that reservation, that room is held for them.
Okay, so the third parties are able to see real-time availability?
That is correct.
That is an amazing feat that I understand a lot of properties do not have.
That is correct.
A lot of chains don''t have that capability. So another advantage to Microtel. I think I want to sleep there tonight.
We got a room for you.
I would like to thank both of you as we are coming to the end of our teleconference for some really insightful and valuable information. Learning what Microtel has done and continues to do as it strives to accommodate guests with disabilities and as a standard hopefully for other hotels to learn about how to treat guests with disabilities as truly valued customers. And John, your insight as to how to make a facility both existing and new much more accessible and thinking about towards the problems that may currently exist and how they can be resolved I think will be very helpful for those looking for future and fuller accessibilities in the days and months and years to come for guests with disabilities. I really appreciate both of your experience and your background. We ask that those who are listening to the session today, please fill out the evaluation that was sent to you so that you can comment on this and future training that you would like to see. I wish that all of you would visit the Hospitality website developed by the DBTACs as further information or resources available to you to be able to become more knowledgeable about the current and existing regulations and learn possibly when the Department of Justice adopts the new 2004 ADAAG, the future existing, greater enhanced accessibility for hotels rooms.
Can I give a plug for universaldesign.com also?
Absolutely.
People can get a free subscriptions there to Universal Design newsletters. And it is tracking a lot of things from the business side in terms of accessibility as well as from the disability side. So you can have a different perspective.
It is a great resource and it gives you a much fuller perspective of the industry as a whole. So, you can go to Johns website as well and see that www.universaldesign.com.
That is right.
Okay, if you have any questions about accessibility, or the ADA, ADAAG in general, please visit your local DBTAC, you can find them at www.adata.org. We thank you for joining us today and wish you a pleasant afternoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today''s conference. This does conclude the program and you may now disconnect. Everyone have a great day.