Rome- Wheelchair accessible hotel
 

Posting for a friend! She is traveling to Rome in November with her husband and is seeking hotel recommendations. The husband is a wheelchair user and needs a hotel that is very accessible.
She’s of course doing her own research, but I offered to solicit recommendations here. If anyone has personal experience with a good accessible hotel in central Rome, we sure would appreciate your suggestions. Thanks in advance!

I don't have personal experience but this is where I wanted to stay (and got outvoted) -
The Hilton Rome Cavalari -
Here's a link to their accessible amenities - and also a list of what is not accessible.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/rom...valieri/rooms/

It's up on a hill. Gorgeous views. Gorgeous rooms. Some with balconies. It's a Waldorf. It will be pricey. I'm going to stay there on my next trip.

They offer a free shuttle to city center that runs throughout the day. That won't be handicapped accessible. I'd call a cab or order a car.

I'm concerned about navigating Rome with a wheelchair. When we were there in October it was so hot and crowded. If it were me, I'd probably hire a private driver for the day to see as much as possible.

Here's a blog that lists 8 accessible tourist locations and offers advice.
https://blog.wheeltheworld.com/acces...e%20aware%20of.

Also on that blog -

Rome Tours for Limited Mobility

One of the best ways to see Rome in a wheelchair is to do an accessible guided-tour. In this section, we will provide four tour options that are perfect for individuals with limited mobility. These include some of the top attractions and sites in The Eternal City.

A friend flew up to NYC for a consult at a cancer hospital. She called me for advice. We talked about Broadway shows first. Then she asked about getting around I offered the usual advice but suggested she hire a private driver. They had a blast! She got to see so much that she would not have had the energy to see, going on her own (with a friend).

If it were me, I'd check out those suggested tour options and/or a private driver.

Thanks for the reply. They can’t have pricey hotels or private tours.
I should have included the budget is $250/night,

Oh. Well, good luck to them. That blog may be helpful. It mentions bus travel for wheelchairs. It probably lists some hotels too. They need to make sure they go in cooler months.

No experience but this website suggests Mercure Roma Centro Colosseo hotel. it's a bit of an old report but it does sound like might meet your friends needs.

https://www.carrieannlightley.com/po...s-travel-guide

These have more about accessibility of sites as well as some hotels.

https://wheelchairtravel.org/rome-italy/

https://twoemptypassports.com/wheelc...cessible-rome/

https://exploringtheworldonwheels.co...elchair-users/

I hope your friends are able to find somewhere to stay and have a wonderful trip.

In case your friends don't know, one can search for accessible rooms on booking.com.

Hoping they enjoy their trip!

Thank you, hetismij2.

Kja, booking.com’s filter is not helpful. It comes up with a bunch of hotels that are supposedly accessible but then when you look further, no accessible rooms are listed in the choices of available rooms.

I’m sorry to hear that! I’m also surprised: When I set my filters and my dates on booking.com, I’ve almost never encountered a situation in which a hotel shows up as an option, but a room that meets my specifications isn’t available. When that does happen, my impression is that it’s because the filters aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. So, for example, it might identify hotels with rooms that meet my price range, but not other filters.

FWIW, I often search for hotels with elevator access and sometimes that turns up rooms that are wheelchair accessible. Might be worth a try?

If hotels are showing up on booking.com as having wheelchair accessible rooms that aren’t then listed, it might be worth contacting the hotel directly to see if they have one not available through booking.com. Or contacting booking.com to complain about the failure of the filter and to see if they can help.

Just trying to throw some ideas out there!

They secured a hotel!

That's great! Thanks for letting us know.

Perhaps you can tell us how they found it?

Sorry for delayed response. Friend looked at Booking.com. Clicked on “entire unit wheelchair accessible” and looked at the photos of each hotel.

The hotels that LOOKED accessible were then emailed. Not all hotels that came up in the search results were accessible. About 7 were emailed.

The booking people would respond with availability and additional details.



Here’s her standard email:



Dear Hotel Booking



We are interested in staying at your hotel, however my husband cannot walk and uses a wheelchair, and I didn't see that there is any room that is specific to "wheelchair access."



Is there a room available that is accessible to a wheelchair user? We would check in DATE and check out DATE, for X nights.



Here is what my husband needs:

- Access to the room without stairs, like an elevator if the room is not on the first floor

- 32 inches (81 cm) doorways to the unit and to the bathroom

- A shower seat, like a bench or chair, for use while showering

- A path that is 32 inches from the entrance to the bed and to the bathroom

- We prefer a roll-in shower, but we are flexible



I would appreciate it if you could provide pictures of the available accessible rooms and bathrooms including the shower area and any available shower seats.



Could you please confirm the availability and price of accessible rooms for my dates and let me know the process for booking?



Thank you for your time and assistance. You can reach me at XXX@XXX

Thanks for reporting back! Again, I'm glad your friends found a workable solution.

It sounds like they have it worked out and the hotel knew what was needed. But just an FYI/for future reference . . . The 'First floor" would be what Americans call the Second floor. That sentence should had read "- Access to the room without stairs, like an elevator if the room is not on the ground floor."

That’s a good point about “first floor”. She shared this with me today, well after the fact, otherwise I’d have said something.