Alt Hotel is a cozy, modern hotel overlooking the St. John’s Harbour. The views are spectacular, the decor is quirky and colourful, the service is friendly, but the main reason I keep going back there is for the wheelchair accessibility. Below are some of my favourite wheelchair accessible features of Alt Hotel that allow me to have an independent, comfortable, and safe stay.
Downtown St. John’s can be tricky to maneuver in a wheelchair, especially in the winter, so I love that you can park beneath Alt Hotel and just take an elevator up to the lobby or your room. There are plenty of accessible parking spaces.
In the lobby of the hotel, you’ll find Terre Cafe, where you can get delicious breakfast and lunch options, as well as Terre restaurant which is always a great choice for an enjoyable supper. I love to grab a coffee from Terre Cafe and sip it in the back courtyard overlooking the harbour. With both of these dining options located within the hotel walls, Alt is a one-stop-shop and more accessible to my needs as a wheelchair user.
To enter your wheelchair accessible Alt hotel room, simply swipe your key card and the door will automatically open for you. To leave, push the automatic door button to activate the door. This is a great option for mobility aid users who may struggle with opening and holding open doors, and it allows for me to be more independent during my stay.
The bathrooms in the wheelchair-accessible hotel rooms are some of the best I’ve encountered as a wheelchair user. Lots of space to move around, a vanity that you can roll under in your wheelchair to have better access to the sink, a mirror you can actually see yourself in while sitting down (with a closer secondary mirror at the edge of the counter), grab bars around the toilets, and a gorgeous roll-in shower with a bench and height-adjustable shower head.
Behind the full-length mirror in the room is a closet that has coat hangers at a great height for wheelchair users, along with a shelf above it that can be accessed easily while seated.
Some hotel beds can be raised too high, making it tricky to easily transfer from a wheelchair onto the bed. The beds in the accessible rooms at Alt hotel are not raised and make a transfer easy for me.
Along with one in the hallway just after you enter the hotel room, there is also a control panel next to the bed where, with the touch of a button, you can turn on or off lights, control the room temperature, open or close the blinds, or even add a “do not disturb” alert on your room for housekeeping. This feature is probably my favourite accessibility feature in the room, as it can get tiring when you have to have to get out of bed every time you want to make an adjustment to the room.
Another reason I love choosing Alt Hotel as a wheelchair user is that I’m never disappointed in the guest service. If I need help with something, I know I’ll gladly receive it. That was proven to me during my most recent stay, when the power assist device that attaches to the back of my wheelchair broke and was promptly fixed by a hotel employee, saving me from being stuck in my room for the entirety of my stay.
