Legacy Vacation Club Kissimmee/Orlando: One Bedroom

Date of Visit: January 9-11, 2020

We ended up staying here as a way to use Dad's RCI points, which always are a pain to figure out how to use and even this use we weren't so sure was going to end up working. One problem was that the minimum stay for most of the Orlando area places was too long for this trip, but the bigger issue was that you can't book and know you're getting an accessible room. As we weren't really staying at the place long, this wasn't an absolute must except the two options we had to book didn't have elevators and all they allowed was calling two weeks after booking to put in a request for wheelchair accessible that wasn't actually a guarantee.

In the end, it worked out fine as the first floor request was honored and appeared to actually be handled as a guarantee. However, we found out that requesting a wheelchair accessible unit just means they put you on the first floor and not the ADA unit, which they only have one. Turned out that room had been assigned to a reservation that didn't need it and they actually did move reservations around and we did get it (and cleaning fee waived as it took so long to check in because of this), but would have preferred if they could just guarantee it when you book and not just get lucky we asked the right question when checking in and it happening to not actually be assigned by someone who needed it, especially as I could see that easily turning in to having kicked someone wrongly out of it.

The kitchen had an open layout.

The table was a bench style. I think it worked with Mik's chair at the end, but we didn't really have the need to use it with him.

Mik enjoyed the living room area and the hardwood throughout. For us, it worked, but really wonder how it would work if you actually needed to fold out the couch as there really isn't that much extra space for that table to go. Overall the living room area isn't really accessible with the amount of space the furniture takes up.

The bedroom had a good amount of space, though.

The bathroom worked for us, though it wouldn't really be what I'd expect to qualify as ADA. The cabinet could be moved if needed, which may allow enough room for a wheelchair to roll up next to toilet for transferring. The toilet paper roll being a moveable thing on the floor ended up quite annoying.

I liked the size of the roll in shower, though as often happens it does flood the bathroom. There also wasn't any seat, although that isn't an issue for us as Mik prefers to sit on the floor anyways. It is also awkward that the shelf in the shower is up quite high.

Overall it was a good place to stay a few nights while we went to Universal Studios before our week at Walt Disney World. Just not sure it's worth the risk of booking something like this again when it's not that hard or expensive to get a guaranteed accessible room at a hotel instead.

Destination Info:
Legacy Vacation Club Kissimmee/Orlando
2800 N Poinciana Blvd
Kissimmee, FL 34746

Best Western Richmond Hill

Date of Visit: January 8-9, 2020

As we booked the hotel that evening, we weren’t able get an accessible room, but as it was only to sleep before continuing on to Orlando first thing in the morning that didn’t matter to us.

We were actually quite impressed with the room. For one, it had good space to leave the wheelchair out of the way and for Mik to have space to be on the floor as he likes.

The room also had a ton of outlets. Mik especially enjoyed the little corner area near the bathroom. I appreciated there was outlets on the wall between desk and wall as the outlets on the lamp didn’t work with my laptop or iPad bricks.

There were also USB ports between the beds. The lap desk was also a nice in room amenity.

While the bathroom wasn’t accessible, for us the low toilet made it easier to help Mik, although I can see this as something many others disabled or not would dislike. It also was reasonably spacious.

Mik was at first disappointed with breakfast when Dad didn’t come back with a waffle, but he didn’t mind that when he found out they had pancake maker instead.

Destination Info:

Best Western Richmond Hill

4564 US Highway 17

Richmond Hill, GA 31324

Hampton Inn San Diego-Downtown

Date of Visit: November 7-8, 2019

We booked an accessible room with two beds. When we checked in around 1pm, there wasn’t one ready and instead of asking us to wait they offered us two rooms. This worked great as Mik and I stayed in an accessible room with King bed and Mom and Dad got there own room. It all worked out well except it would have been nice to have been on same floor or at least Mom and Dad on the higher floor as we ended up having to evacuate for a fire in the middle of the night.

The room had a nice area of the far side of the bed for Mik to hang out. It would have been perfect if the USB port by the bed there hadn’t been broken, but it did still have enough outlets for him to have his devices plugged in to use.

The bathroom was designed on a way Mik was able to get on toilet himself. One odd thing was there was a tissue box holder on wall that was empty and the tissues for the room were up high on the shelves behind toilet. The bottom shelf behind the toilet was also a slight problem as Mik kept hitting his head on it.

The bathroom appeared to have a good roll-in shower, although we didn't try it out.

Evacuating at 1am was what Mik called fun later that morning and he wasn’t being sarcastic. We went to the stairwell as when we lived in a condo they always told us to do that in the event of a fire because it is more protected and the firemen would find you there first.  There were others entering with us and people coming down. Before I could even consider carrying Mik down separate from his chair, three people helped carrying him down the stairs in his chair. When we got outside, I texted Dad we were outside. Dad had gone to front to tell them about Mik being on the 4th floor and then told them we were out when I texted. The bigger problem was once the fire was taken care of and we were allowed back in there was only one elevator working (it was the way our whole stay except they mostly had two going with one of them acting funny and mostly going to garage when you wanted to go to lobby) and one of the out of order elevators wasn’t locked off so the call button wouldn’t call the working one. Thus, it took about half an hour to figure that out and get back to room.

Overall Hampton Inn San Diego-Downtown ended up being a good choice for us. In particular, it was nice to have an easy walk to the cruise terminal in the morning and also was easy walk back to hotel for Dad and I dropping off rental car at airport after we checked in. There are a few closer options, but we didn't find it worth the extra cost.

Destination Info:
Hampton Inn San Diego-Downtown
1531 Pacific Highway
San Diego, California, 92101

Best Western Hollywood Plaza Inn

Date of Visit: May 15-22, 2018

Pretty much immediately we hated this hotel and not just because we couldn't check-in when we arrived around noon and had to wait even after the normal check-in time of 3 p.m. to get a room key and then still wait 10 to 15 minutes for them to finish cleaning our room. The real thing that made us dislike this hotel immediately was that we learned it doesn't offer free breakfast, which of the nearly 100 Best Westerns I've stayed at all over the country (and China) have always had and the only reason I chose this hotel over the ones next door that were priced at $10 to $30 cheaper per night.

The room quickly added to our dislike of the hotel as the bathroom is not designed for the wheelchair to be rolled next to the toilet and, in fact, is barely large enough to even take in there.

The lack of a roll-in shower wasn't a big deal as I don't recall it specifying what kind of mobility accessible room it was when I booked. However, the location of the grab bars for the toilet was a major problem as Mik couldn't use them. I don't so much mind having to help him, but it meant that when he was worn out for the day I couldn't go do stuff on my own like usual (or at least not for long enough to really to anything).

The layout of the rest of the room was relatively spacious and reasonably easy to maneuver even the wheelchair around it. It was nice that it had a bed and a couch, although the sink's location was rather strange and would probably be awkward to annoying if you actually used the foldout aspect of the couch.

Another reason why I tend to go with Best Western is that you almost always get microwave and fridge. The fridge was rather small, but not that unexpected. The microwave worked adequately, but was rather annoying in that it was the style you turn to how long you want making it difficult to accurately select the desired time. The Keurig was probably the only good feature here, though.

Overall there just really isn't anything that makes it worth staying at this hotel, especially considering it was more expensive than the nearby hotels that are probably just as good if not better and slightly closer to Hollywood Blvd. We were particularly annoyed that most days we had to go without getting our room cleaned because they never got to our room before 2:30 p.m. or even 3 p.m. some days. At least the internet was decent except for the one afternoon it was out, but that was understandable as the cable company was there working on it. As for TV, it's standard def, which would've been fine if it hadn't also kept freezing for 10 to 30 seconds every 5 to 10 minutes.

Destination Info:
Best Western Hollywood Plaza Inn
2011 N Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90068

Canopy by Hilton The Wharf DC

Date of Visit: December 29, 2017 to January 1, 2018

We originally had planned to stay at the Canopy by Hilton The Wharf only for New Year's Eve, but ended up there a few days early due to losing part of our power (the important part that ran the heat just enough to make our boat liveable in the cold). The first few nights we stayed in a one-bedroom suite and then moved to our original reservation of just a room. The one-bedroom suite was definitely better with more space, but the room was still quite adequate for just the two of us.

The one-bedroom was nice in that it did allow us to each have our own space and TV. However, it was a little awkwardly designed in that one switch controlled both the lights above the TVs so Mik couldn't have it on like he wanted in the living room area overnight because then the bedroom one would also be on and it was too much light for me.

The dining table area was also nice to have in the one-bedroom and the bathroom area was a little large with double sinks outside of the shower/toilet area. Other than that the room amenities were pretty much the same.

At first, I thought the showers were too confusing to use as they have a standard shower head and then another handheld one by the fold down seat and I couldn't get it to come out of the handheld in the suite. Turned out that it was stuck because the little button I thought was the way to make it work was how it worked with no problem.

Mik really liked the grab bars in the bathrooms (suite one pictured above) and the extra vertical one turned out to be surprisingly useful. What he didn't like, though, was the toilet paper holder not having something to hold it on both sides and with its location beneath the grab meant he kept knocking it off every time he used the toilet.

Both rooms had drawer style mini-fridges (room pictured above), which initially seemed awkward, but actually turned out easier for storing our stuff than when we had a regular mini fridge at the Hyatt House next door our last night before leaving for vacation.

The room we book was one with a river view, which was somewhat better of a view than the courtyard view from the suite. However, the view is basically entirely blocked by the television. There is barely enough room to stand and look out the window much less roll up to the window. Not that the view really mattered to us since it's hard to compare to our view living on a boat in the marina where we can actually see the Washington Monument.

Our favorite feature of the Canopy by Hilton was the breakfast. It had a nice selection including cheese, smoked salmon, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, doughnuts, and more. The ability to have a little breakfast delivered in a bag hung by your door for free was also nice, but it only actually arrived half of the time when we left it out the night before.

Overall we enjoyed this Canopy by Hilton, but found other than the breakfast that the next door Hyatt House was more functional and enjoyable. In particular, the Hilton lacks microwaves in the rooms, although I later found the website describes at least the suite rooms having microwaves and it's odd that we definitely did not have that feature. Also, the coffee machines are fancy Nespresso, which I found didn't actually work half the time and seems so wasteful with pods being destroyed and getting nothing.

Suite's Living Room Area

2 Queen Beds Room

Room's Bathroom

Room's Sink

Room's Closet/Kitchen Area

Destination Info:
Canopy by Hilton The Wharf
957 7th Street SW
Washington, DC 20024

Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville @ Opryland

Date of Visit: July 15-16, 2017

As we only decided at the last minute to swing through Nashville to see a show at the Opry, our choices for lodging were limited. Hilton is usually the last place I look for a hotel even though Mom has plenty of points to use for free nights because I hate their website (and if I plan to pay for a room it seems more worthwhile to earn at Hyatt or Best Western). In the end, though, this worked out great as we used points to stay free and even managed to book AND get an accessible room.

The room was very spacious. The bathroom was also a good size. There was also a seat for the tub in the closet.

Destination Info:
Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville @ Opryland
230 Rudy Circle
Nashville, TN 37214

Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria

Date of Visit: July 14-15, 2017

When I booked the Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria using Mom’s points, I really thought I had selected a mobility accessible room, but the reservation email didn’t mention it. When checking in we asked if it was an accessible room and it wasn’t, but they checked what they had available. They didn’t have a roll-in shower (of which we learned they only have 1), but had other ones, which was fine with us except when we got up to the room we discovered it just meant it was only with the hearing accessibility features.

While it is slightly inconvenient to not have the larger bathroom, the rest of the suite was plenty spacious that we didn’t bother to try to change it, especially since we were just staying the night. Also, the bathroom was pretty typical hotel size and not small like when you end up at places with the sinks outside the bathroom such as most Best Western and Hyatt Place non-accessible rooms we’ve experienced.

Mik really enjoyed the living room area as even when the sofa bed was out there was still plenty of floor space. Not that he had any need to use it this trip, but he also liked he could reach and use the microwave, which was about the only thing that made it seem like potentially an actual mobility accessible room.

Overall this hotel was a good pick for this trip as it was very convenient to go to the ball game at SunTrust Park. We drove to the ballpark, but they do offer a shuttle as well. I would just be more particular next time about making sure I’m getting a room with accessible bathroom.

Destination Info:

Embassy Suites Atlanta - Galleria
2815 Akers Mill Road SE
Atlanta, Georgia, 30339

Best Western Travelers Rest/Greenville

Date of Visit: July 13-14, 2017

As we were booking on the road, we were not surprised to not be able to find an accessible room. In fact, we had a hard enough time booking anything without getting closer to Atlanta than we really wanted for the day, especially considering Mik ended up wanting to go to the Zentrum and we backtracked to it in the morning before continuing on to Atlanta.

We ended up with a room with 2 double beds. Overall it wasn’t bad, but the beds were extremely high and the double size seems even smaller so high up. Also, the bathroom was quite small, but not too different than we get stuck with the non-accessible rooms at Hyatt Places. The only real problem with the room was that the shower was confusing/broken. It was hard to figure out how to get hot water and then when you did it got stuck too hot.

The breakfast area was also problematic. There is not really enough room to roll into it much less through it. Partly it was due to all the tables being occupied, but even if it was empty with all the chairs pushed in it seems like it would of been hard. Another problem is half the seating is a high table. Luckily, one group noticed those were the only available seats when we were trying to find a place to sit and offered to move so we could sit at a regular table. The food was as expected, though, and Mik enjoyed having a waffle.

Destination Info:
Best Western Travelers Rest/Greenville
110 Hawkins Road
Travelers Rest, SC 29690

Hyatt House Herndon/Reston

Date of Visit: May 20-21, 2017

Location wise this ended up being farther out from D.C. than I thought, but it didn't really matter in that we were just trying to stay somewhere sort of close for a reasonable rate while Dad had a party on our boat. It ended up being a good option in that it was cheaper than most of the Hyatt Place locations that I could've chosen and you get a kitchenette at the Hyatt House. However, I more chose the Hyatt House because they supposedly have a hot breakfast included rather than just the Hyatt Place more continental breakfast, but that didn't seem to be true in this case.

We stayed in an accessible studio room. Overall we liked the layout, but it seemed a little tight to move the chair through, which I know partially has to do with Mik now has a wider wheelchair (we just switched out our home ramp to a standard ADA 36-inch, though, and it is not a tight fit at all). The only real problem was that the living room chair made the path too narrow to get to the rest of the room, but that was easily fixed just by moving it closer to the couch a little.

Mik liked the bathroom layout as he found it easy to get on the toilet himself since the wall and bars were to the left of the toilet. I was disappointed in that it was a tub, but I couldn't find our reservation saying I booked a roll-in shower specifically even though I really think I did. Not that we really needed it for one night, but the tub really was useless as even if they have seats you can request the shower head is not removable and I had to stand on the edge of the tub to move it just to be able to even take a shower myself since it was set up at a very awkward angle.

The breakfast was really disappointing to us, especially since we have stayed at the Hyatt House in San Diego several times and they offered a real full breakfast buffet similar to the ones at Hyatt Regency restaurants. This breakfast at the Hyatt House Herndon, though, is basically the same as the typical ones we have had at a Hyatt Place.

The only difference was they had little omelets instead of the breakfast sandwiches, which was better in my opinion because they didn't have any meat in them. They have signs everywhere saying you can create your own omelet, which I thought was like the other Hyatt full buffets were they are made to order right in front of you, but it is actually just a little topping bar of things to put on top of the mini omelets.

We were also disappointed the room didn't have a DVD player, which I specifically remember being in the room amenities/features when I was booking. They do have it setup so you can easily plug in such devices to the TV, so I guess it may just be that feature is badly worded on the website.

Destination Info:
Hyatt House Herndon/Reston
467 Herndon Parkway
Herndon, Virginia 20170