Jill Douglass, assistant vice president at Santa Fe Community College, planned a recent weekend family vacation at a Phoenix resort near a water park. Her party reserved accommodation for six people two months in advance and requested a wheelchair-accessible room. No problem, the hotel reservationist said.

``We got there, and the room was completely inaccessible,'' Douglass said. The living room was so crowded with furniture, she couldn't move around in her wheelchair. Using the bathroom also was difficult.

When she complained to management that the hotel had misrepresented itself, ``they were belligerent,'' she said. ``They gave us half off for one night.'' They refused to offer the second night at half price despite having on record the Douglass request for a wheelchair-accessible room for six.
``They were actually pretty mean about it,'' she said. ``Their attitude was that we should be grateful for the half off for one night.''

We can't know whether disabled visitors to Santa Fe have similar experiences. However, The New Mexican's random survey of 25 of the 50 hotels in downtown and greater Santa Fe that are listed in the 2006 Official Santa Fe Visitors Guide uncovered myriad problems with accessibility. We omitted The Stagecoach Inn from our sample after three unsuccessful visits. The front office was closed each time.

Accessible rooms

The Americans with Disabilities Act: The law applies to all places of lodging with more than five rooms. The number of accessible rooms a hotel must offer is based on its total number of rooms. For example, a hotel with 51 to 75 rooms must offer three accessible rooms. One of these must have a roll-in shower. The path to the accessible rooms must be clear of obstruction.

Hotels also must accommodate people with impaired hearing by offering visual alarms, notification devices and telephones so that they can be alerted to a door knock or bell, fire or other emergency.

What we found: Four hotels had no accessible rooms. Another nine hotels did not have the required number of accessible rooms. Six had the required number of accessible rooms, and five had seven ``excess'' accessible rooms among them. If each of the 25 hotels in the survey had the required number of accessible rooms, Santa Fe would have another 32 of these rooms.

These rooms would be a welcome addition to Santa Fe's hotel offerings. Hope Reed of the Governor's Commission on Disability said the commission gets calls from people who are planning programs and need more than one or two wheelchair-accessible guest rooms. ``It's a problem in Santa Fe,'' she said, ``and in other places in the state.''

Neither the Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau nor the New Mexico Lodging Association keeps track of the number of accessible hotel rooms in the city. ``I've never come across that figure,'' said Steve Lewis, spokesman for the visitors bureau.

The hotels in its visitors guide, which The New Mexican used for this report, note whether they have full or limited accessibility. This designation is meaningless. For example, Pecos Trail Inn, which claims it is fully accessible in the guide, offers no accessible parking near the hotel entrance, an obstructed entryway to the accessible room, no accessible public restroom and no accommodation for the hearing impaired.

Five hotels told us they did not offer accommodations for hearing-impaired guests. At another two hotels, staff said they didn't know whether they offered such accommodation.

The fix: Adding accessible hotel rooms can be costly. Although New Mexico does not offer tax incentives to businesses to make their facilities more accessible, the federal government does. Businesses can deduct $15,000 in any tax year for the cost of removing barriers to the disabled and the elderly. Find Internal Revenue Service publications 535 and 334 and form 8826 at www.irs.gov. These deductions also may be taken for the other ``fixes'' suggested in this report.

The ADA addresses historic preservation and does not automatically exempt such buildings from the act's requirements. Alterations should not threaten or destroy the building's historic significance. These facilities need to comply with the act to the maximum extent possible.

Accessible parking

The ADA: The law specifies that accessible parking must be near the accessible entrance, on a flat surface with the accessibility symbol clearly painted on the pavement at the rear of each 8-foot-wide space. An accessibility sign should be centered at the front of each space. A 5-foot-wide access aisle for each space may be shared. At least one space must be van accessible, with an 8-foot-wide access aisle on the passenger side. The access aisles need to be striped and free of obstruction.

What we found: One hotel offered valet parking for everyone. Of the others, 14 did not have properly marked accessible-parking spaces. Fifteen hotels did not have proper van-accessible spaces. ADA requires at least one van-accessible space per parking lot. Only The Courtyard by Marriott and The Hampton Inn met this requirement. House of the Moon at 10,000 Waves and Las Palomas had gravel parking lots near the accessible hotel rooms.

The fix: Ensure that the regular and van spaces are the proper width, then repaint the spaces. Make sure the access aisles are the correct width and repaint them with stripes. Paint the accessibility symbol on the pavement at the back of each space. Add proper signage at the front center of each space. Consider moving spaces on inclines to a flatter area. If the spaces are on gravel, pave the spaces so they can be navigated more easily.

Accessible entrances and registration

The ADA: The entrance path should be smooth and free of obstruction. If it is steep, railings are needed. The door should be light enough so someone could open it with one hand. The path to the registration desk must be free of obstruction. To be accessible, the registration desk should be no more than 36 inches high.

What we found: The entrances of 16 hotels were free of obstruction. Newspaper boxes blocked the pathway at the Super 8. Three hotels had paths to the registration desk that were difficult to navigate. Only two registration desks, those at the Courtyard by Marriott and Holiday Inn Express, were lower for wheelchair access. Entrance doors were too heavy to be opened with one hand in six of the hotels. We could not check the door weights of eight hotels.

The fix: Clear obstructions from the pathways. Move planters from parking-access aisles. Add railings to steep entry pathways. Adjust door closers or install lighter doors or power-assisted door openers.

Accessible public restrooms

The ADA: The law specifies that accessible public restrooms meet a variety of standards for stall space, toilet and sink height, grab bars, and height of soap and towels. Signage should be outside the door at shoulder height, at the side rather than on the door itself.

What we found: Four hotels did not offer an accessible public restroom when they had public restrooms. Seven had sinks that were too high. Seven had paper towels and soap dispensers that were too high. Seven had improperly marked doors. Only eight had lever faucets, which are easier to use than knobs.

The fix: Where there is no accessible stall, consider combining stalls to make one that is accessible. Move soap and towels so that they are within reach of someone seated. Move the signage to the side of the door, at shoulder height, so that people with visual impairments can read the signs and not be in the way of the door when it opens. Change faucet knobs to levers.

Service animals

The ADA: Service animals are any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to perform tasks for a disabled person. A service animal is not a pet. Hotels must modify their ``no-pets'' policy to make an exception for these animals. They may not charge a deposit or surcharge for the service animal, although if the service animal causes damage, the hotel may charge the disabled guest, if it does this for nondisabled guests.

What we found: Hotel desk staff often confused service animals with pets. At La Fonda and America's Best Inn, staff told us pets were not allowed, not even service animals. Front desk staff at 20 hotels said their hotel allowed service animals. Of these, Quality Inn, Super 8 and Santa Fe Plaza Travelodge said they charged a pet fee for the service animal.

The fix: Review the ADA requirements and make sure all staff know what they are.

Disability awareness

The ADA: There isn't a specific requirement that staff have disability-awareness training. However, since the ADA went into effect in 1990, people with disabilities have been a growing consumer group. Businesses need to be aware of their needs.

What we found: Desk clerks in six hotels said they had such training during new-employee orientation or during the hotel's regularly scheduled training sessions. Fifteen said they'd not had any training. Three did not answer the question. One person said in two-and-a-half years on the job, she had not had any disability-awareness training. An employee at another hotel said in 10 years, he'd not had such training.

The fix: The New Mexico Governor's Commission staff offers free disability-awareness sessions upon request. Staff members also will consult on accessibility issues. Contact Dee Martinez at 476-0419. The commission is housed in the Lamy Building, 491 Old Santa Fe Trail.

New Mexican reporter Ana Maria Trujillo helped research this report.


THE SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The New Mexican designed a hotel-accessibility survey based on Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for parking, entrances, registration, rooms, public restrooms, phones and water fountains. We asked staff of the Governor’s Commission on Disability to review and comment on the survey, and we revised it accordingly.

Two commission staff members accompanied us to two hotels to tutor us in what to look for and how to accurately measure parking spaces and public facilities. We interviewed registration-desk staff to determine the number of accessible rooms, the availability of roll-in showers, the hotel’s policy on service animals and the availability of disability-awareness sessions for staff.

We drew at random the names of half the downtown hotels and half of the hotels in greater Santa Fe that are listed in the 2006 Official Santa Fe Visitors Guide for this survey. We surveyed 25 hotels July 6-11.

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