HOTEL VISIT

Hi

I must confess that I am nervous about today. This afternoon, I am, (along with my Keyworker from Danybryn), venturing down to The Holiday Inn Hotel on Castle Street in Cardiff. My reason for doing this is because from a week on Saturday (November 21), I will be staying at The Hotel, along with my Partner, Stacey, who I met on Facebook, in March of this year.

The reason for my nervousness is in connection with people & their different perceptions of Disabled Accessibility. I myself, would look for such things as wide doors, decent sized rooms, in order to negotiate successfully, (such as Bathrooms & Toilets), & flat surfaces with no steps. I say this, because I know of a website called, I think, http://www.cardiffpubs.co.uk/

The purpose of this website is to list EVERY Pub in Cardiff, with details on every conceivable issue, such as what the facilities are like for children, Whether the Pub has a Beer Garden, What the Toilet facilities ar like, & also, the Disabled Access facilities.

It lists two Pubs in Cardiff as Disabled Accessible, which I KNOW are not. One is a Pub called The Mochyn Du (Which I THINK, translates, as 'The Black Pig). This is in the Pontcanna area of Cardiff. I can point out two reasons why this Pub would not match the criteria of a wheelchair user in this sense. Firstly, on the way into the Pub, there is a gravel path, (wheelchairs DETEST gravel, & well as grass). Secondly, there is a 90 degree right hand turn to get into the bar, & then a similar left hand turn to get out. NOT Disabled Accessible in my eyes.

Even worse, there is a second pub in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, called The Heathcock. This pub is situated just past the BBC Wales Studios. I have travelled past it NUMEROUS times in either a van or a taxi. It is LAUGHINGLY described as Disabled Accessible, I say 'LAUGHINGLY, because there are two entrances/exits with no fewer than SEVEN steps for a wheelchair user to ATTEMPT to negotiate. I would LOVE the answers to the following three questions:

1. Who on Earth, labelled these Pubs as Disabled Accessible?. In the case, ESPECIALLY of The Heathcock, were they labelled like this by somebody who was out on a 'Pub Crawl'?. Its absolutely CRAZY.

2. More simply, & directly, why arent there more Disabled Auditors?. They would be in a perfect situation to check out the facilities. They would have first - hand experience of what to look for.

3. Similarly, now that I think of it, Architects need to liaise with Wheelchair Users at the earliest opportunity, in order to gauge what is needed. All of this has me wondering if there is any such thing as an Architect who is a Wheelchair User?. At the risk of being seen as a cynic, I VERY MUCH doubt it somehow.

Now you may have a better idea of why I am as nervous as I am.

I will be back again later on to Post  in connection with how the Trip went. I would welcome any responses that anybody may wish to air.

I will be 'Bark' again later on ('Bark', Get it?)

Brian, The Bull Terrier