Wheelchair-bound holidaymaker John Roberts is putting facilities for disabled travellers to the test on a month-long trip – and you can follow his experience exclusively in Travel Weekly.
John and his wife were in Sydney between January 3 and 6.
Our Sydney experience was not great. Getting around has been a real problem, with high kerbs and drop ramps that lead nowhere. We could not find one accessible city tour – even the tourist office could not offer much.
The Sydney Opera House was all steps, with limited disabled access via a back door and basement plant rooms. At the Maritime Museum I was limited to the quay and unable to get vessel access.
Trying to get a photograph or two brought a member of staff over to tell me I had to pay to go on the ship. I explained that steps prevented me from boarding, and that I simply wanted to take a photograph through the gate. I was refused. Nice one, eh?
The Shangri-La hotel had accessible rooms. However these were limited in what they offered: a wider door to room and bathroom and a no-threshold shower, but that was about it.
The sink had a fascia which would not allow the wheelchair close access. Some wheelchair users may be able to cope, but it is not a great situation. Breakfast was a nightmare – high buffet tables prevented me from seeing the food, and everything was out of reach.
One thing the hotel never mentioned was the location. This was in an area full of steep roads, and the only alternative was to go to the lower floor and use the back entrance, then repeat the same process through another two hotels. Three lifts and three hotels in total.
Somehow everywhere was uphill, often ending in lots of steps. The alternative was to return to where we started and try another route!
I have suggested to NSW tourism that they produce a map which shows routes that may be accessible – local knowledge would be a blessing and save a lot of effort indeed. We have had one sent ahead from Auckland.
In all we could have located better hotels (Hyatt on the Quay and even Quay West Suites) so we need to ensure we ask our agents to check the hotel’s surrounding area as well as its facilities.
John Roberts’s identity has been changed to protect his identity during this trip
- Follow John’s reports on our interactive map at travelweekly.co.uk/travelchallenge