Disabled Access

in

Hotel Anastasia

Protarus Cyprus

The security at the airport in Cyprus was more than it had been on my previous visits, which under the circumstances was to be expected, although we weren't held up for too long. The hour-long journey to our hotel was uneventful, but the scenery was virtually similar to that of my previous visits to Paphos.

As we eventually arrived at the hotel, we did expect a porter to come out and help us with our luggage, but they didn't employ porters, which I found surprising considering that "Anastasia" was a very large four-star hotel. The receptionist stated that we could use the luggage trolley and we were on the second floor, and if we wanted an evening meal, we had "five minutes" before the dining room closed or we could have a credit each for a lunch meal the following day. We decided to take the credit.

I had emphasised and double checked and was totally assured through the travel agents "Apollo Travel," that this hotel was completely suitable for disabled wheelchair users, and I had been assured by "Apollo Travel" that the bathroom doors were 80 cm wide minimum. This is one of the reasons that I chose the hotel in the first place. So can you imagine my dismay after I went into my room and found that I couldn't get into the bathroom, as the doorways were not wide enough? I immediately went to reception and informed them of the situation, to which the girl shrugged her shoulders and stated that they had no rooms for wheelchair users and that all the bathrooms were of the same size. She stated that there was a disabled public toilet that was available for all the guests to use, further up the hallway in reception. I went to check it out, and after a tight squeeze past the entrance door, I found the disabled toilet, and it was a very large room, but there were no disabled facilities, no grab rails, no safety bars, no emergency buttons or pull cords, in fact it was just a large toilet.

I went back to the receptionist and explained that the toilet wasn't really suitable and there was a piece of wood screwed to the floor that stopped the door from opening too wide, and on top of this there was no shower. At this the receptionist smiled as she stated that if I wanted a shower, then there was not a problem, as down in the basement, there was a gymnasium and if I went through there, past the sauna, I would come across the public showers that were available for all the guests to use. But after checking this, I found that there were four showers and each had a step into the shower, and after I returned to the smiling receptionist and explained that the showers were not suitable for a wheelchair user, she again shrugged her shoulders and suggested that I waited to see the "tour operators rep" in the morning. So basically, as it stood, if I wanted to use the toilet, I had to take a lift from my room on the second floor down to reception, along the hallway past the guests sitting around in the lounge, squeeze past the entranceway of the toilet and if the toilet was vacant, okay, but if it was occupied then I would have to squeeze my wheelchair back out and wait.

To use the shower, I would have to take the lift from the second floor to the basement, and after getting out of the lift I would have to go up a long cold corridor, past the sleeping cats on the guest settee, past the hair dressing salon on the right, turn left at the end of the corridor, down another longer corridor, past the large conference room on the left. At the end of the corridor I would have to push open the double doors into the steamy indoor swimming pool area, halfway in the room I would have to turn right into the gymnasium, through the large room past all the guests with their sweating bodies, exit the room through a door on the far side, turn right, go down another long passageway, past the sauna, and eventually arrive at the showers at the far end of the hall that I would not be able to use properly because of the step. I guess that after doing this three times a day in the hot weather; I guess I would be ready for another shower?

It was late at night and I decided to leave it as I was definitely not going to get anywhere with the receptionist.

The following morning, the "1st Choice rep, (name removed)" arrived around 9.15 am, and I explained everything to her. She immediately had the hotel staff remove the piece of wood from behind the reception toilet door, thus making it more accessible to a wheelchair user. I told her that I was not happy as I explained had been informed by the tour operator that I would be placed in a room adapted for a wheelchair user, where the bathroom doors in the guest hotel rooms were a minimum of 80 cm.
*name removed* immediately explained that it was the "public wheelchair toilet" that was 80 cm, not the bathroom doorways in the guest hotel rooms, but she went to the reception desk to check if there was a more suitable room available? After a few minutes returned with a smile and told me that there were no special rooms in the hotel and that they were all the same, and to show me what a caring person she was, she informed me that the "ground floor rooms" were up at least "six steps," which would be impossible for me to get to. She stated that in all fairness, I was situated in a room most practicable for my needs? At first I wasn't sure if this "1st choice rep" standing in front of me was being totally facetious or if she was just plainly an unintelligent woman who would clearly be better off directing traffic in the Sahara Desert?

When I asked her if she had paid the money that I had, how would she feel if she had to put up with these circumstances? She stated that the situation, although not ideal, was better than nothing!

I asked if there was another hotel nearby that had disabled facilities, and she told me that because of the lack of bookings, and it being winter, this was the only hotel open.

So I told her that I would be writing to the "tour operator, 1st choice," on my return to England, to which she replied, 'are you coming to the welcome meeting?' Now I knew that she was being facetious!

I decided that I was not going to let this spoil my holiday on the romantic isle where on previous visits with "other tour operators" I had been provided with at least basic needs. So with help from my family, I only just managed to put up with the inconvenience of the hotel for the following two weeks.

In all fairness I believe that I was totally mislead when I booked my holiday through "Apollo travel." There is "no way at all" that I would have accepted a holiday or hotel that didn't cater for full independent wheelchair users. "1st Choice tour operators" who were in full contact with their "tour rep" should have informed myself as lead member of the party or "Apollo travel," who should then have informed me that the hotel was not suitable for full wheelchair users.

As I stated, we worked around the problems and decided to get on and enjoy our holiday.

Time for a cuppa!

Mike Coatesworth

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name of rep removed
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