Traveling with elderly people with mobility difficulties, wheelchair guide Huang Xinyi: If you have mastered this, you can book an ordinary room.

Huang Xinyi (the first wheelchair tour guide in Taiwan Province) In recent years, most of the wheelchair tour groups I have taken are between 6 and 20 people. At present, most hotels in Taiwan Province Province only have 1 2 accessible rooms, which can only provide 2 to 4 wheelchair users, so I often have to find a room suitable for wheelchair users in the general room. When confirming that the general room is not suitable for wheelchair users, the most important principles are: first, there must be no threshold, or the threshold must be equipped with a sloping plate; Second, the room door width and bathroom door width should be enough for wheelchair access; Third, the aisle of the room should be spacious enough to facilitate wheelchair turning. Based on my experience in recent years, I have sorted out the points that wheelchair users should pay attention to when booking general rooms. These important items can also be used as reference for general design. Key point 1. Elevator If the room is not on the first floor, wheelchair users must use the elevator. Generally speaking, hotels have elevators, but B&Bs must confirm them one by one. The second point. There can be no threshold between the room door and the bathroom door. For wheelchair users, having a threshold is an obstacle. Be sure to ask if there is a threshold in the room and bathroom. If yes, what is the height? If it is more than 2 cm, the electric wheelchair cannot be pushed in, otherwise it depends on whether the manufacturer is willing to add ramps. The third point: Wheelchairs can only enter and exit rooms with a bathroom door width of at least 75 cm and a bathroom door width of at least 75 cm (preferably 80 cm). Generally speaking, the width of the room door is fine, but the "width of the bathroom door" is easily less than 75cm. This part needs to ask the hotel staff to provide the size. In particular, we need to ask the hotel staff to measure the net width of the entrance and exit, not the width of the door frame, to determine whether the wheelchair can enter or leave. If you book multiple rooms, you must also confirm whether the width of each bathroom door is greater than 75cm, because the layout of each room in the hotel may be different. ▼ The bathroom without sliding door design is the first choice. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) Point 4. The width of the corridor in the room is greater than 120 cm. Wheelchair friends move in wheelchairs. Not only should the door of the room be wide enough for the wheelchair to enter, but if the aisle is too narrow after entering, wheelchair friends will lose their mobility, so I usually ask the aisle width of the room together. Generally, the wheelchair is about 70 cm wide. Considering the hand operation and swing space, the aisle should be at least 120 cm, and the clear width between beds should be at least 90 cm, so that the wheelchair will not get stuck. In addition, ask if there is enough room for manoeuvre. Sometimes the room where the door comes in is too narrow to turn into the toilet, so I go into the room first to see if I can get into the toilet from the other side. If it still doesn't work, the room is not suitable. ▼ Choose a room with a spacious walkway. (Photo courtesy/Guerrilla Culture) Huang Xinyi (the first wheelchair tour guide in Taiwan Province) Most of the wheelchair tour groups I have taken in recent years are between 6 and 20. At present, most hotels in Taiwan Province Province only have 1 to two accessible rooms, which can only provide two or four wheelchair users, so I often have to find a room suitable for wheelchair users in the general room. When confirming that the general room is not suitable for wheelchair users, the most important principles are: first, there must be no threshold, or the threshold must be equipped with a sloping plate; Second, the room door width and bathroom door width should be enough for wheelchair access; Third, the aisle of the room should be spacious enough to facilitate wheelchair turning. Based on my experience in recent years, I have sorted out the points that wheelchair users should pay attention to when booking general rooms. These important items can also be used as reference for general design. Key point 1. Elevator If the room is not on the first floor, wheelchair users must use the elevator. Generally speaking, hotels have elevators, but B&Bs must confirm them one by one. The second point. There can be no threshold between the room door and the bathroom door. For wheelchair users, having a threshold is an obstacle. Be sure to ask if there is a threshold in the room and bathroom. If yes, what is the height? If it is more than 2 cm, the electric wheelchair cannot be pushed in, otherwise it depends on whether the manufacturer is willing to add ramps. The third point: Wheelchairs can only enter and exit rooms with a bathroom door width of at least 75 cm and a bathroom door width of at least 75 cm (preferably 80 cm). Generally speaking, the width of the room door is fine, but the "width of the bathroom door" is easily less than 75cm. This part needs to ask the hotel staff to provide the size. In particular, we need to ask the hotel staff to measure the net width of the entrance and exit, not the width of the door frame, to determine whether the wheelchair can enter or leave. If you book multiple rooms, you must also confirm whether the width of each bathroom door is greater than 75cm, because the layout of each room in the hotel may be different. ▼ The bathroom without sliding door design is the first choice. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) Point 4. The width of the corridor in the room is greater than 120 cm. Wheelchair friends move in wheelchairs. Not only should the door of the room be wide enough for the wheelchair to enter, but if the aisle is too narrow after entering, wheelchair friends will lose their mobility, so I usually ask the aisle width of the room together. Generally, the wheelchair is about 70 cm wide. Considering the hand operation and swing space, the aisle should be at least 120 cm, and the clear width between beds should be at least 90 cm, so that the wheelchair will not get stuck. In addition, ask if there is enough room for manoeuvre. Sometimes the room where the door comes in is too narrow to turn into the toilet, so I go into the room first to see if I can get into the toilet from the other side. If it still doesn't work, the room is not suitable. ▼ Choose a room with a spacious walkway. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) The fifth point. Shower facilities are better than bathtub. A shower is safer than a bathtub. Although the bathtub can be used for bathing, not everyone in a wheelchair family can climb into the bathtub without assistance. Climbing in and out also increases the risk of falling. Some operators will put a wooden board on the bathtub, so that people can sit on the wooden board to take a bath, but there are still potential safety hazards, because the toiletries are wet and slippery, and it is usually difficult for people with spinal cord injuries like me to sit still. When shower gel and shampoo flow into the bathtub, they may slip if they are not careful. So it is best to choose a hotel with "shower" facilities. It is also good to have both bathtub and shower facilities, but users of the bathtub must be reminded to pay attention to safety. ▼ The bathtub with wooden board is still safe. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) Point 6. Shower Room Precautions The shower room in each hotel is different. The following details need to be confirmed. Threshold: there can be no threshold. Door width: At present, most hotel bathrooms adopt dry-wet separation, so it is also necessary to confirm the door width of shower room and whether it is convenient to move. Door design: It is best to have an open glass door in the shower room, perpendicular to the ceiling. Sliding doors with sliding rails generally have thresholds, which are not suitable. It is best to choose a "push-pull" door. Shower height: a wheelchair friend takes a shower. If the shower head is too high, friends in wheelchairs can't get it. If the shower head is too high, please ask the hotel staff to take it off in advance, and do not choose the bathroom where the shower head is fixed. Shape: Choose a square shower instead of a long one. There is usually a distance between the entrance of the undressing shower and the shower head. When users move from wheelchair to shower chair, if they need to move the chair, they will have safety concerns. ▼ The shower door should be wide enough for the wheelchair to enter directly. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) The seventh point. There must be a shower chair. Wheelchairs need to take a shower. A shower chair is a must. Ask if the hotel can provide bath chairs, preferably medical ones. If you can only provide ordinary chairs, please also indicate "not too light", "not too soft legs" and "generally high" chairs, so that it will be more stable to sit up and take a shower. If the hotel can't cooperate, the travel planner will bring his own bath chair. Point 8, the bathroom swing space should pay attention to whether the wheelchair can swing out after entering the bathroom, whether it comes out from the front or must it come out backwards? If it comes out upside down, is there enough room to back up? Will it hit the cabinet outside the door? The interior space of the bathroom is based on the principle that the wheelchair can move freely, and the diameter of the interior swing space should not be less than 135 cm. At point 9, the water tank adopts open design. If there is a cupboard under the sink and the wheelchair can't get close to the sink, it will be difficult to wash hands and brush teeth. It is best to choose an open-plan room under the sink. ▼ The washstand adopts an open design, and the movable design of the bathroom railing is better. (Photo courtesy/guerrilla culture) Key points 10. The bed should not be too low. It is best to approach the height of the wheelchair. Preferably close to the height of the wheelchair. Avoid harmonious rooms and low beds. If the height of the bed is lower than that of the wheelchair, it will bring inconvenience to bunk bed, a wheelchair user. Point 1 1. If there is a desk in the desk room, the space under the desk must be open so that the wheelchair can get close. Point 12. It is better for the wardrobe to adopt the design of flat push or no door, because the design of sliding door needs space to push the door, which may block the wheelchair as soon as it opens. This article is excerpted from Barrier-free Tourism: Playing Taiwan Province Province with Wheelchair Tour Guides/Huang Xinyi (the First Wheelchair Tour Guides in Taiwan Province)/Guerrilla Culture.