A Guide for Wheelchair Travelers Shopping for Rome Hotels

In the past, much of Rome was inaccessible to the wheelchair traveler. Disabled locals often couldn’t even leave their home for years at a time, and tourism was out of the question for travelers with special needs. An increasing number of Rome hotels are available that accommodate wheelchair tourists and with a little planning and foresight, travelers of all mobility levels can enjoy this ancient city.

Explain your needs

Rome hotels can’t cater to your needs if they don’t know what they are. It’s not enough to find a hotel with wheelchair ramps and an elevator. Get the dimensions of doorways and elevators. It does you no good to book a room only to discover that the door to your room is an inch, or even just two and a half centimeters narrower than your wheelchair.

When asking about the accessibility of the bathroom, don’t forget about the shower. For travelers that require it, a roll-in shower is a necessity but not always standard in “accessible” bathrooms.

Some Rome hotels offer limousine service with wheelchair accessible vehicles. Although hotels with limo service might cost more, the relief of a waiting vehicle after a 12-hour flight often makes this service a necessity rather than a luxury.

Limit your choices

When looking at Rome hotels, it is tempting to go for the older accommodations with more charm than newer cookie-cutter hotels. However many older hotels can’t accommodate guests with mobility limits. Some of these buildings are centuries old and simply can’t install amenities such as ramps, elevators, and wide corridors.

A more mobile traveler might want to jump from hotel to hotel as they tour the country, sometimes staying in a different hotel every night. Tourists with restricted mobility would be advised to limit their hotel-hopping and instead choose longer stays in a smaller number of hotels. This gives fewer facilities that need to be checked, and more time to rest. Although you will visit fewer places, you will have time to explore the attractions you do visit in more depth.

The best Rome hotels for wheelchair travelers are going to be in Centro Storico (central Rome). Hotels in this part of the city will be more expensive, but will make travel throughout the city much more convenient and less exhausting.

Work now so you can relax later

Research is the key to an enjoyable vacation for wheelchair travelers. Searching the Internet and other sources for hotel reviews and explore hotels bookings sites that offer maps of the hotel’s proximately to the attractions you’re planning to visit.

Make sure that if you’ve booked your Rome hotels that your rooms will actually be waiting for you when you arrive. Scrambling to find another hotel at the last minute is frustrating, but not as frustrating as trying to find another hotel after you’ve arrived. Some Rome hotels booking companies such as EuroBookings.com allow you to book hotels, but pay now reservation fees until you arrive. This gives you the security of a sure place to stay, but the flexibility to cancel if the need arises.

If you take the time to do you research and anticipate as many glitches as possible, you will have more time to relax and enjoy the many sights Rome has to offer.

Edo Jansen is the Marketing Manager for EuroBookings.com, a Holland-based travel and tourism company that offers deep discount rates on Rome hotels and other popular European hotels. EuroBookings.com offers translation in 13 languages, and charges no reservation fees, no cancellation fees, and no advance payments for trip planners.