Hi everyone,
I am not sure if this will benefit anyone on this forum but I just wanted to share this with everyone who intends to travel to New York or who is looking for information on accessible hotels etc.
My friend who is a C5/6 quadriplegic and myself spent a week there and it took me a lot of planning and a while to find a decent place to stay. Hopefully this can help someone else.
Overall accessibility:
Times Square was packed with people, we have never seen so many people in our life on a single street, 99% tourists I'd say. It is hard to go through the crowd when you are in a wheelchair as people tend to ignore you. So this was a bit of a stressful adventure for us. However once we stepped away from Times Square, it was a lot better. Curb cuts were hits and misses, we encountered a few streets where my friend had to go all the way around to cross. Also there were a few streets where there were roadworks and they blocked off the curb cuts.
When we asked the hotel staff where were the best places to eat, they recommended us to go on 46th Street known as Restaurant Row. However once we got there, we realized all the nice restaurants (99% of them) are located in the basement with stairs, they were completely inaccessible. We also found the same problem with some shops. However on our way to Chinatown, we strolled across Greenwhich village and Little Italy and they had some nice restaurants there and most seemed to be accessible.
Hotel: Hilton Times Square
It costed us $300/night but it was well worth it (if you can afford it) as this hotel is in the perfect location if you want to experience New York City. It is right in the middle of Times Square and within walking distance to most attractions and reasonably priced, most others I looked up in the area were on average $400/night.
We were given a king size, wheelchair accessible room on the 32nd Floor with excellent view of the Empire State Building. It had a roll-in shower as we requested and the room was very spacious by New York standard. Being in the middle of Times Square, we didn't have any noise problem at night, couldn't hear anything going on the streets below at all, the room was very private, quiet and comfortable.
The king bed was very comfortable, flat screen tv, mini-bar, desk and also an armchair/coffee table. We had no problem using a bed lift as well, however we had to find a way to prop-up the bed a bit as the lift wouldn't fit all the way under the bed.
The roll-in shower was a bit on the small side but it met all required standards and we didn't encounter any particular issue with it, with the exception of the toilet seat that seemed to be slightly higher than usual.
Housekeeping was fine, room was always nice and clean. Towels and sheets were changed as often as we requested. We receive nice service from all the staff, everyone was very courteous and helpful. They also helped us with some personal issues we had and the concierge also managed to get us last minute Yankee tickets which was a nice experience.
They had quite an extensive room service menu which was provided by the hotel restaurant, food was always nice however we found you can save money if you eat at other places, so on some nights we went to 46th Street (Restaurant Row) and found a couple of accessible places to have dinner. There is an Applebees and MCDonalds right outside of the hotel as well if you are into fast food.
Internet access costs $15/night via wired or wireless. We also received complimentary bottles of water every night and daily newspaper which was a nice touch. The mini-bar items are quite costly $4.50 for a can of coke, we found it cheaper to buy the drinks from the Hotel Sundry or outside.
Overall it was a nice experience staying at the hotel. The room was larger and more spacious than expected and met our needs. The view was amazing. Location very convenient. This hotel has 2 entrances, one on 42nd St, which takes you right in the middle of Times Square, and the other is the back entrance in a quieter street where you get dropped off if you take a taxi or if you need to catch one.
Transport:
The biggest challenge we encountered was transport. DO NOT depend on the Wheelchair Accessible taxis to get around...I think they only have about 30 of them in the whole city! We waited over 2hrs for one and it still didn't come.
We also had a hard time finding an accessible Subway stations to go to the Yankees stadium, please check in advance which ones are accessible. Best source of information is on the NY Transport website - do not rely on the locals as we found that most people there are not aware of accessibility options for wheelchair users. Even the hotel staff sent us to a subway station that had no wheelchair access at all!
All buses are wheelchair accessible and costs $2.25 for a trip but be prepared to have exact change or buy a prepaid metro card.
Airport transfers:
A wheelchair accessible taxi from La Guardia to Manhattan will cost you around $40 and be prepared to wait, it's also a rough ride. We took a taxi when we got there and the driver had no clue how to work the ramp! On our way back, we booked a ride with Supershuttle online and we received great service from them. They picked us up at the hotel at the advised booking time, their van was fully accessible (you have to advise them upon booking), the driver was polite and courteous. We decided to share the ride with other passengers, so we only paid $15/each. And it was a smooth ride which got us to the airport on time.
Medical Equipment Rental:
We rented a hoyer lift from a place called "Chelsea Mobility" (you can google them). They supplied us with a manual hydraulic lift which was fine however it came with the wrong sling and as we got there on a Sunday, surprisingly all the places were shut...so we couldn't get this problem fixed until the next day which was a real inconvenience.
So if you need to rent a bed lift or any other medical equipments, please ensure you specify exactly the type of sling you need and make sure they understand exactly your needs.
Broadway shows:
Make sure you pre-book WELL in advance if you want to see a specific show, even the wheelchair seats are sold out fast. We couldn't get seats at any of the new shows, we ended up seeing Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre which was nice nonetheless. I believe most of the theatres are wheelchair accessible but the seats are located on the Orchestra level. Their websites would have all the information.
Anyway, this was a summary of our experience. If anyone has any question, I will answer if I can
I am not sure if this will benefit anyone on this forum but I just wanted to share this with everyone who intends to travel to New York or who is looking for information on accessible hotels etc.
My friend who is a C5/6 quadriplegic and myself spent a week there and it took me a lot of planning and a while to find a decent place to stay. Hopefully this can help someone else.
Overall accessibility:
Times Square was packed with people, we have never seen so many people in our life on a single street, 99% tourists I'd say. It is hard to go through the crowd when you are in a wheelchair as people tend to ignore you. So this was a bit of a stressful adventure for us. However once we stepped away from Times Square, it was a lot better. Curb cuts were hits and misses, we encountered a few streets where my friend had to go all the way around to cross. Also there were a few streets where there were roadworks and they blocked off the curb cuts.
When we asked the hotel staff where were the best places to eat, they recommended us to go on 46th Street known as Restaurant Row. However once we got there, we realized all the nice restaurants (99% of them) are located in the basement with stairs, they were completely inaccessible. We also found the same problem with some shops. However on our way to Chinatown, we strolled across Greenwhich village and Little Italy and they had some nice restaurants there and most seemed to be accessible.
Hotel: Hilton Times Square
It costed us $300/night but it was well worth it (if you can afford it) as this hotel is in the perfect location if you want to experience New York City. It is right in the middle of Times Square and within walking distance to most attractions and reasonably priced, most others I looked up in the area were on average $400/night.
We were given a king size, wheelchair accessible room on the 32nd Floor with excellent view of the Empire State Building. It had a roll-in shower as we requested and the room was very spacious by New York standard. Being in the middle of Times Square, we didn't have any noise problem at night, couldn't hear anything going on the streets below at all, the room was very private, quiet and comfortable.
The king bed was very comfortable, flat screen tv, mini-bar, desk and also an armchair/coffee table. We had no problem using a bed lift as well, however we had to find a way to prop-up the bed a bit as the lift wouldn't fit all the way under the bed.
The roll-in shower was a bit on the small side but it met all required standards and we didn't encounter any particular issue with it, with the exception of the toilet seat that seemed to be slightly higher than usual.
Housekeeping was fine, room was always nice and clean. Towels and sheets were changed as often as we requested. We receive nice service from all the staff, everyone was very courteous and helpful. They also helped us with some personal issues we had and the concierge also managed to get us last minute Yankee tickets which was a nice experience.
They had quite an extensive room service menu which was provided by the hotel restaurant, food was always nice however we found you can save money if you eat at other places, so on some nights we went to 46th Street (Restaurant Row) and found a couple of accessible places to have dinner. There is an Applebees and MCDonalds right outside of the hotel as well if you are into fast food.
Internet access costs $15/night via wired or wireless. We also received complimentary bottles of water every night and daily newspaper which was a nice touch. The mini-bar items are quite costly $4.50 for a can of coke, we found it cheaper to buy the drinks from the Hotel Sundry or outside.
Overall it was a nice experience staying at the hotel. The room was larger and more spacious than expected and met our needs. The view was amazing. Location very convenient. This hotel has 2 entrances, one on 42nd St, which takes you right in the middle of Times Square, and the other is the back entrance in a quieter street where you get dropped off if you take a taxi or if you need to catch one.
Transport:
The biggest challenge we encountered was transport. DO NOT depend on the Wheelchair Accessible taxis to get around...I think they only have about 30 of them in the whole city! We waited over 2hrs for one and it still didn't come.
We also had a hard time finding an accessible Subway stations to go to the Yankees stadium, please check in advance which ones are accessible. Best source of information is on the NY Transport website - do not rely on the locals as we found that most people there are not aware of accessibility options for wheelchair users. Even the hotel staff sent us to a subway station that had no wheelchair access at all!
All buses are wheelchair accessible and costs $2.25 for a trip but be prepared to have exact change or buy a prepaid metro card.
Airport transfers:
A wheelchair accessible taxi from La Guardia to Manhattan will cost you around $40 and be prepared to wait, it's also a rough ride. We took a taxi when we got there and the driver had no clue how to work the ramp! On our way back, we booked a ride with Supershuttle online and we received great service from them. They picked us up at the hotel at the advised booking time, their van was fully accessible (you have to advise them upon booking), the driver was polite and courteous. We decided to share the ride with other passengers, so we only paid $15/each. And it was a smooth ride which got us to the airport on time.
Medical Equipment Rental:
We rented a hoyer lift from a place called "Chelsea Mobility" (you can google them). They supplied us with a manual hydraulic lift which was fine however it came with the wrong sling and as we got there on a Sunday, surprisingly all the places were shut...so we couldn't get this problem fixed until the next day which was a real inconvenience.
So if you need to rent a bed lift or any other medical equipments, please ensure you specify exactly the type of sling you need and make sure they understand exactly your needs.
Broadway shows:
Make sure you pre-book WELL in advance if you want to see a specific show, even the wheelchair seats are sold out fast. We couldn't get seats at any of the new shows, we ended up seeing Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre which was nice nonetheless. I believe most of the theatres are wheelchair accessible but the seats are located on the Orchestra level. Their websites would have all the information.
Anyway, this was a summary of our experience. If anyone has any question, I will answer if I can
