Hi everyone.

I am a wheelchair user, and my wife and I own an accessible villa in Spain.

LaGuardia31 is a well-equipped wheelchair friendly self-catering villa near to Javea on the Costa Blanca of Spain, catering for up to 6 discerning guests. We aim to offer carefree villa rental for disabled people and their friends, families and carers.

The luxury accommodation has good disabled access, and is set within it's own grounds with a private pool complete with a hoist. The open plan layout inside has no steps or sills. One of the three spacious bedrooms has an en-suite bathroom with a wheel-in shower, double sinks with wheelchair access, and a raised toilet with fold down grab rails.

LaGuardia31 is available for rent all times of the year. For more details and photographs, please visit our web site at www.accessible-villa-spain.co.uk

Best wishes,

Mike and Jan

Hi all,
I have a luxury spacious 2 bedroom 2 bathrooms (extra large bathrooms 1 walk-in shower) in Los Cristianos Tenerife. It is on a popular complex with heated pool, ground floor overlooking the gardens.The apartment and the complex is accessed by ramps to all areas ( no steps) and is ideal for wheelchairs.There is a bar /restaurant on the complex.
Ideally located 5 mins from the wheelchair-friendly front tiled promenade which runs flat for miles along the sea with bars and restaurants galore!! 10 mins from the town centre. All year round climate. pm me for further details. Hazel

my wife is crippled with r arthritus and we manage quite well at the regente she can walk a little but this hotel is no good whatso ever for anyone that is totally wheelchair bound as the toilets are not disabled friendly the only hotel we could recommend in benidorm is the melia this has been very nicely set out for people in chairs they have rooms that are well equipped for whelchairs i hope this helps

We recently bought a 'Casa de Campo' (little house in the country !) in central Andalucia, and it is currently being reformed so it can be used as either one house or two apartments (depending on requirements). Following my experiences in a wheelchair last year (having broken my ankle in Spain), we are trying to make the ground floor 'apartment' as wheelchair friendly as we reasonably can by doing the following:

All one level, with no patio door tracks (there may be a very small drop into the bathroom to prevent water escaping)
All doors wide enough for a 'standard' wheelchair to pass through, hopefully without skinned knuckles !
A bathroom in the 'wet room' style - ie no shower tray to negotiate
A low level section of worktop in the kitchen
Externally, ramp access into the house at the front, and out to the pool at the back (though due to the topography this last may need a 'pusher')
The pool has a 'Roman' (ie curved outwards section at the shallow end) end, with wide steps to allow 'bumping down' or just sitting in the shallow water on the steps.

If anyone thinks we've missed something obvious, please let me know ! We weren't planning on installing grab bars etc - or is this a major need ?

Also, we would of course be delighted to hear from anyone who would be interested in renting it (should be ready next year !) - please send a PM and I can give more info on location etc.

Cheers,
Chris

Hi Chris, In my opinion grab rails are a must. There are a lot of people who rent adapted accomodation who are not full time wheelchair users. In my case I can`t climb stairs or even negotiate one step without help but I can walk (in my own way). I am unsteady on my feet so I need grab rails in the shower and near the loo. Also a raised toilet seat (the type you can lift on and off) makes life a lot easier. I wish you lots of luck in your new venture.

HI Jax,

Thanks for your input - I did wonder if this might be the case, hence my query !

I will look into suppliers & costs etc

Cheers,
Chris

I have been going on holiday with my friend Fiona who is a wheelchair user for 14 years, everywhere we have been has been great maybe not always ideal with steep ramps etc but we have managed, the most disabled friendly holiday we have ever been on was to the blue aegean aparthotel in Gouves Crete. Its is a 4star apartment complex and has 2 adapted apartments with walk in shower raised toilet seat and seat in shower grab rails and emergancy call button the ramp is a little steep but quite easy, the restaurent etc is accessible and they cater well to fussy eaters my son is autistic and they made him up a picnic to have in his room, its a bit of a walk into Gouves but taxi hire is cheap and you can go into either Gouves itself or Hersonnisos for a few euros, The walk into town is flat and you are next to the sea its a beautiful place pretty and peaceful. The complex does entertainment 3 nights a week and its great fun

I have been having so many problems in finding good hotels with the right facilities for me, it is nice to know you guys are here for all the great info!

thanks!
3 hotel prague star

Just back from Riu Tequila hotel, Mexico which I can definately recommend for disabled guests. I was given an adapted room with level entry shower and grab rails all round shower and toilet area. the hotel is spread out over a a large area, but they have wheelchairs you can borrow if you are not taking your own (mine developed a problem so I borrowed one). Everything is on one level and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. The area outside the hotel is flat and you can use the facilities of the Riu Playacar (10 mins walk) and the Riu Yucatan (about 6 mins) both these hotels are well ramped and have disabled toilets. Altogether a very enjoyable holiday with no problems.

Hi all,

we have a lovely ancient ferme here in the heart of the Loire Valley. We have 2 gites and a campsite all disabled/wheelchair friendly with wide access doors, no steps, low-level mirrors etc. We've had quite a few disabled guests this year already (one in 'Heron' our family gite atthe 'mo) but we'd love to see more of you.

Please PM me if you'd like more info as I'm unsure as to whether I'm allowed to put up our website address on here.

Thanks again.

Stu & Syb.

The Blue Aegean Aparthotel near Gouves Crete is very wheelchair friendly it has 2 adapted flats the ramp leading into the flats is short but a wee bit steep but not a problem but the flats are roomy and have a walki in shower, with seat, and toilet with raised seat and emergancy pull cord, the staff are all very helpful and the entertainment is good it has its own website http://www.blueaegeanaparthotel.gr I think? its a bit far from the town 20 minutes flat walk through the countryside or coastal road which is beautiful its right beside a couple of snackbars restaurents and shops and the food in the apartments restaurent is excellent. You can get a taxi into Hersonnisos for a busier night life about 8 euros and its only 20 minutes from the airport

We have recently completed building six accessible apartments in Brittany, France. The old Cotton Mill has spent the last 12 months being converted and we have had guests staying since July 2006.

All the apartments are wheelchair accessible, although we can also cater for deaf people as we have a loop system too and I also can use BSL (albeit a bit rusty!)

We have several photos and info on our website - http://www.ineedaholidaytoo.com which goes into things like door widths, grab rail heights, etc.

We also have several pieces of equipment available for guests use, and can hire in the more specialist equipment if required.

We have five beaches within thirty minute drive that have beach wheelchairs - the nearest beach is only ten mins away. The local Auberge Restaurant offers great food and is "do-able" NOT accessible! 500m push along the river.

Several market towns around that offer quaint French traditional markets - although beware of the Cobbles - French love Cobbles - admittedly a wheelchair users nightmare!!

Several chateau, gardens, churches around that offer stunning architcture and history. Cathedral in Treguier is a must visit - ramped and accessible.
Several seaside towns that offer stunning scenery and the all important "cafe culture" - great eating all around especially Paimpol - famous for its fresh seafood restaurants that line the harbour.

Several boat trips dotted along the coast for trips around the islands

Water sports galore - sailing, etc

Coastal walkways run along the complete coast - some more accessible than others - great if you use a power trike.....most are "do-able"

Accessible Carp Fishing - huge Carp can be caught

Cookery Courses available, street entertainment, second hand antique sales, etc throughout the year.

I welcome feedback on our website and if you see any glaring mistakes, or things that we have forgotten, please don't hesitate to comment!

Thanks for your help, and also, thanks for looking.

Jacqui

the Kefalos Village Pafos Cyprus has a number of purpose built apartments with wide doorways and the usual grab fittings in the bathrooms not had need of one myself [yet] but had a peek in when last there the dinig room is on the lower level but there is a lift accessible to disabled visitors for further info click here

wizard

My son is also disabled,he is 42 .We stayed in Fuerteventura in a small complex called Casa Spice,one apartmant has been adapted for disability.
We went there for 4 years,then decided to move to fuerteventura
The apartment has every thing you need.

Might not suit everyone but will suit some down to the ground......just spotted this while searching the net. It's in Turkey and appears to be a holiday complex designed specifically for all types of disabilities. No more info than that but the website is accesscentres.com

Crown Lodge in Torquay fantastic for disabled travellers including wheelchair users

** Edit - Glowing recommendation for a company in Tenerife deleted as posting from Spain. luci HT Mod **

I have just returned from the Barcelo Fuerteventura hotel in Caleta De Fuste ,Fuerteventura and can only praise the hotel for the attention I got in the restaurant. As soon as my Husband pushed me in my wheelchair through the doors, someone always came to lead us to an available table that was easily accessible for the wheelchair.The hotel is accessible in all areas for wheelchairs and they have adapted rooms on the ground floor with wheelin showers with a seat if you were not totally wheelchair bound.The toilet was raised with a grab rail at the left side and at the right side there was a grab rail for the shower.
The only problems we encountered were outside in the resort, there wasn't enough dropped curbs and ramps were very steep, but because I can walk a little we managed.

Just returned from Benidorm. We stayed at the the Melia hotel. On the whole this is a wheelchair friendly hotel BUT the adapted rooms are quite small and it was a bit of a struggle to get past the end of the beds and out onto the balcony in a wheelchair. Also, we kept moving the beds to allow easier transfer from wheelchair to bed but every day the maids moved them back! Quite heavy work on a daily basis. Again, due to size and layout, it was quite awkward to manoeuvre wheelchair in bathroom and there is only one rail alongside the toilet, which is a drop down rail that won't stay in an upright position! There is a wheel-in shower with adequate rails and the sink is accessible, although there are no shelves in the bathroom to store your toiletries. The pool area is the hotels best asset, and the hotel entrance and foyer are very stunning. Everything else is average. This hotel is NOT on a hill, and it takes about 15 minutes to stroll to the beach. There are bars nearby, most of which are accessible. The Bottle and Jug, and Rachels have an accessible toilet as do Rockerfellers, Mad Dogs, The Terrace bar, Talk of the Coast, Benidorm Palladium and several other bars in the Levante area. On the same St as the Melia, just 5 mins from the beach, we dicovered the Nereo hotel and this has just undergone a refurbishment which includes adapted rooms. We had a quick look for future reference. These new rooms are HUGE, 4 single rooms knocked into one, and unfortunately the large balcony is inaccessible due to having a very narrow door, but apart from that they were very wheelchair friendly although the hotel is quite pricey. Overall we found the Levante area of Benidorm very wheelchair friendly although care needs to be taken crossing the roads, due to some dodgy dropped kerbs and dodgy pavements.