'I had to sleep in my wheelchair for three nights'

Rohan Tarry said he could not turn his wheelchair around in the bathroom

A man said he had to sleep in his wheelchair in a hotel for three nights despite the room he booked being advertised as accessible.

Wheelchair user Rohan Tarry, from Fishponds in Bristol, has secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

He and his wife booked a room at The Bristol Hotel from 27 to 29 August, but Mr Terry ended up having to sleep in his wheelchair and unable to use the toilet, something he said had "destroyed" the holiday.

The Bristol Hotel said it "cares deeply about how we look after all of our guests" and it followed the required disability rules.

Mr Tarry said: "It's hard to talk about. The break that we had was destroyed by not getting any sleep and not having easy accessibility to a toilet."

He added he and his wife had booked the break a year in advance having seen the Bristol Hotel, which sits next to the city's harbourside, was advertising accessible rooms, and the couple thought it looked "perfect".

But when they arrived, Mr Tarry said he found there was not enough room in both the bedroom and in the toilets to turn his wheelchair around and the bed was also too high for him to access.

"When we got there, the room they gave us wasn't accessible in any way," Mr Tarry said.

"Because I couldn't get into the bed, I had to sleep in my wheelchair for three nights.

"The only toilet I could get to was on the ground floor by reception, and it was so small I couldn't turn my wheelchair around so we needed to get help from the receptionist."

Rohan Tarry and his wife said they wanted to spend a weekend by the harbour

Mr Tarry said when they got home, he had emailed the hotel's manager but was told "nobody else complained".

"They offered us £150 to make up for the disastrous time we had and the over £400 we paid," he said.

"It's just the lack of care is what really upsets me. Being so ill, when I was there I didn't have the energy to make the complaints I should have done.

"I wanted the break to be restful and it was very far from that."

Megan Belcher, director of Bristol Disability Equality Forum, said there was "no one size fits all" for disabilities.

She said "accessible" hotel and conference rooms which did not work for everyone were a known issue.

"While it's really disappointing, it's not all that surprising.

"It's something that a lot of our community members talk about quite a lot – about there being a lack of understanding about what accessibility truly means.

"Accessibility is such a widely used term."

Ms Belcher said businesses should detail how their building is accessible.

"I'd recommend personally going further than that and taking the time to make sure that what you're doing is accessible to disabled people and getting proper advice," she added.

A Bristol Hotel spokesperson said: "We care deeply about how we look after all of our guests, and all feedback received is taken very seriously.

"Our accessibility statement is provided to all guests booking accessible rooms so that they can make an informed decision prior to arrival.

"The Bristol operates in full compliance with all relevant building and accessibility regulations, and many returning guests with different access requirements make use of these rooms each year."