Mobility Impaired - First Time London
 

DH uses a travel wheelchair (which I push) or at times a mobility scooter. I'm overwhelmed with looking at all the neighborhoods in London for potential stays. Ideally we would like to stay somewhere that if he did have a scooter we could travel to a few sites on our own that are within a reasonable distance without using a bus or the tube. He is definitely not big on public transportation. We may do a private black cab for a day or two.

Any suggestions would be appreciated to try to narrow down the focus.

The main thing is to find a hotel with easy accessibility -- what is your budget?

Buses 'kneel' so the chair and/or scooter can board w/o a problem.

One of my trips to London it had mobility issues -- wasn't using a wheelchair or scooter but had to significantly modify how I got around. Here is a link to that Trip Report: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...a-gtg-1598467/

Oh -- meant to add . . . that TR is from 2017 so the transport would be the same (well except the Elizabeth Line didn't exist back then -- the EL is totally step free and accessible so a hotel along it would be good - Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road Farringdon, etc) - But that hotel is no more and neither is Outlaw's

I don't have personal knowledge of these hotels but hope this link is helpful: https://www.visitlondon.com/where-to...essible-hotels.

I do have knowledge of most of the hotels listed -- have stayed in a couple and know the locations of almost all of the rest. IMO it seems an odd mish mash - Most are either out east or waaaay out east and not practical for a one day 'tourist' visit. One is so far NW that it is actually closer to Watford than to Big Ben. A couple (One Aldwych and the Londoner for example) are great locations but pretty expensive.

Most hotels will have clear information on their websites re accessibility. But knowing your budget is important . . .

Last January we visited London and has an accessible room at the Montague on the Gardens which is literally around the corner from the British Museum and close to Russell Square. There is, I believe.only one or two accessible rooms at the property. DH uses a walker and had no problem in the space. There are a couple steps at the entrance to the historic terraced building but they have a portable ramp that they put in place as needed. Staff are absolutely delightful throughout, and the onsite restaurant is just great.

On the streets we were pleased to see that there has been much attention paid to accessibility, with cutouts at virtually every corner so DH had no problems negotiating the sidewalks. Museums and other public facilities also have extensive accessibility accommodations. Even at Stonehenge they provided a wheelchair for use and the gift shop/cafe was quite accessible. The only glitch we encountered was with the small group tour we took on which the lovely Mercedes van had a couple steps and no ramp.

We used black cabs or uber/lyft without problems, did not venture onto the tube this trip.

We loved our stay at the Montague on the Gardens. It was a bit of a splurge for us and I would happily return.

If I remember correctly, the London transit system has a nice map showing the tube stops where there are no steps between the train and the street.

Here is the TFL step-free Underground guide Attachment 9132
That is a useful map -- but traveling on the tube is difficult even if one knows which stations are accessible. A big problem is many journeys will require transfers with long walks and/or steps between lines. Plus the Tube can be extremely crowded - and not just during the 2+ hour morning and evening commutes.

The TfL phone app can be set to search in step-free mode and will give walking distances and directions between an address or point of interest to/from the tube station or bus stop. The app also gives service disruption notifications in real time. We don't have mobility problems and are fairly familiar with London, but we found the app very helpful.

In theory, if you arrive at a station where lifts are out of order, staff will help you find an alternative step-free journey to your destination, and if a reasonable alternative isn't available they will put you in an accessible taxi at their expense.

Here's another web page you might find helpful:

https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessi...voiding-stairs

Maybe choose a hotel near an Elizabeth Line station, because that gives you access to a great number of locations along it: it' s efficient, and fully accessible. In other tube stations, step level access to the platform is only the beginning: you need to get to and from the platform first. There are elevators, but those can be out of service.
Buses are better, but be prepared to fight for your wheelchair accessible spot if buses are busy. Up to and including urging drivers to operate the kneeling/ramp for you.

So black cabs might be a good option, combined with the ELizabeth line.
Call ahead to the hotel of your choice to find out about their accessibility because being listed as "accessible" on booking.com can mean a lot of things.

Thanks everyone. You’ve given some ideas so I’ll do some more reading.

To re-emphasise Janisj's post earlier all London buses can easily accommodate a wheelchair and can be a great, if somewhat slower, alternative to the tube.