Toronto Accessibility IS THE BEST!!

The Wheelchair Nomad Toronto Review

Hotel: Marriott Downtown CF Toronto Eaton Centre

TORONTO is by far the most accessible city I have been to so far! Wheelchair accessible Taxis, Accessible train ride from Niagara Falls to Toronto, 100% accessible hotel with automatic door and blinds, every Establishment from Burger King to 5 ️Star restaurants to movie theaters had an accessible button and ramp!! This is how every city should be! #TheWheelchairNomad #Accessibility #toronto

I took a train to Niagara Falls from Toronto! Very Accessible, I was able to transfer onto the seat but if you want to stay in your chair, they will lock you in.

Got an opportunity to attend a Raptors game and the court had a ramp for me to get onto.

Nice and comfortable. Ready to depart.

Downtown Toronto!!!

I’ve been to countless hotels, and I think I’ve only seen this twice. This is absolutely amazing! An accessible button that automatically opens the room door to the ADA room! I was able to get in and out of my room as I pleased, without any assistance.

This room also had automatic blinds. I love a natural light room! And for me to be able to open my blinds by myself was a huge plus for me.

New York, New York! ♿️ Accessibility Matters!

New York, New York

Hotel: AC Hotel by Marriot. Manhattan, New York

Another Wheelchair Nomad Hotel Review

When I tell you New York City Tourism + Conventions don’t miss… THEY DON’T MISS!! Thank you for choosing this great hotel! Fantastic Rooftop! Fantastic restaurant!! This hotel was beyond Amazing!!! Check out this exclusive accessibility room review by yours truly, The Wheelchair Nomad!! #TheWheelchairNomad #TheSkyIsNOTtheLimit

Here are the actual factuals! First let me say this, from now on if you do not have automatic blinds at your hotel in ADA accessible rooms, you are automatically losing lol! I get that it’s a luxury, but it’s nice to be independent and open your own blinds and let natural light in without waiting for someone else to do it for you.

The staff was extremely helpful, and very courteous! Anything I requested in regards to my disability, they made it happen no problem! The room was extremely accessible! Automatic blinds, room on both sides of the bed, lowered refrigerator, spacious bathroom, etc!! The only thing that could’ve made this room better was if they had an automatic button on the room door, where I didn’t have to wait on assistance because the door was a little too heavy! Overall this hotel receives an A on the Wheelchair Nomad grading scale #nyctourism @nyctourism @achotels @achotel_timessquare #nyc

Wheelchair Nomad in Times Square

Wheelchair Nomad in Times Square

Hotel accessibility review!! Check it out!!

New York overview!!

The Wheelchair Nomad goes SKYDIVING!!

I refused to be reduced by my disability!!! Life is meant for the LIVING!!

Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. Do something different. I have always wanted to go skydiving and I refuse to let my disability stop me from achieving my goals!!!

The Wheelchair Nomad Skydiving

SUPER EXCITED

Feet and legs tied together

15,000 feet up

FREE FALLING

This is when fear and prayer began LOL

Comfort Inn Trolly Square - Vermont

The Wheelchair Nomad Hotel Review

Comfort Inn Trolley Square you should be ashamed of yourself 😡😡😡 I had an opportunity to stay at this property for some speeches and you know I had to do a hotel review and give the actual factuals. ♿️♿️♿️ 1.  😡 Upon check in I was instructed that there was only ONE wheelchair accessible room that had only one queen bed in there. I advocate that hotels have a minimum of two ♿️ accessible rooms. One with one king bed option and one double bed option just in case a disabled person is traveling with someone as I was. I didn’t want my brother to have to sleep on the floor so I asked do they offer any regular rooms with couches in there. I was instructed that they do not but after looking on their FB page, I clearly see there are some rooms with couches. 🤦🏿‍♂️ So because I was told they only had one room with one queen bed and no room with couches, We had to purchase a second room for my brother, which was unnecessary money. 😫😫 2. The hotel was not very ♿️ accessible. There was a separate door to get into the hallway where the rooms were located once you got off the elevator which I could not open. So if I needed to go to the room I had to wait on someone to open the door just so I could get to my hotel room door, which I still could not open.  3. Once in the room, it was kind of spacious, but unfortunately I could not access one side of the bed because the table was so close to the bed. So if I were to drop something over there, I would have to wait on someone to come get it because it wasn’t enough space for my wheelchair to access that side of the room. In a ♿️ accessible room, a person in wheelchair should be able to access EVERY PART of the room with no problem!!!! This hotel gets a D - 😡 on The Wheelchair Nomad Hotel review scale! Would not recommend anyone in a wheelchair to stay at this property!! #TheWheelchairNomad #HotelReview #theskyisnotthelimit

Hotels across the country and the world better get it together because The Wheelchair Nomad is coming for you! If you would like for me and my team to travel to a location/hotel and grade its accessibility, please reach out at www.Fletchercleaves.com

Room was spaces but as you could see, I could not fit on the other side of the bed by the window because of the table. A person in a wheelchair should be able to access every part of a wheelchair accessible room.

Handle too hard to use

I was told at the front desk that they didn’t have any suites or rooms with couches for my brother, but clearly they do.

Door leading into the hallway where the hotel rooms were, that I could not open due to the space and the force of the door

Courtyard by Marriott - Downtown Oakland, CA

The Wheelchair Nomad Hotel Review

Hotel: Courtyard by Marriott - Downtown Oakland, CA

This hotel is in the middle of downtown Oakland and is a great location for walking, or rolling, to a few restaurants and bars. But let’s talk about the actual factuals…

Positives: The entrance was accessible, and I had no problem coming and going as I pleased.

- The Wheelchair accessible rooms had a roll-in shower that was very spacious and equipped with a nice shower head. The bathroom also had cut out from underneath the sink that allowed me to handle my morning hygiene without any issues!

- The room had a refrigerator that was low enough for me! There were also 2 chairs in the room that were the appropriate height. One chair could have been enough for me because the 2nd chair was kind of blocking the lamp but hey, to each is own. I loved the fact the room had a space/desk for me to roll under and eat or work from my laptop or whatever!! A lot of hotels miss this key feature and I have to eat on the bed because there is not an accessible table I can roll under.

Negatives: I don’t know why hotels can’t get this bed situation right … The bed was extremely too high, and I could not get in and out of it on my own. My friends literally had to pick me up and throw me in the bed …. I don’t see how majority of permanent wheelchair user could get in and out on their own… I understand that the higher bed may be beneficial for people that have a hard time standing to get out of bed, but this is why we must understand and make a distinction between HANDICAP accessible and WHEELCHAIR accessible… these are not the same thing

- (pictures below) This does not have to do with the hotel’s accessibility, but car break-ins seem to be a big problem. Our vehicle was broken into along with another family. I think the hotel could have done a better job with helping us in the process and overall security. ESPECIALLY FOR $30 a NIGHT for parking!!!

——-

Overall, this hotel gets a B- grade on the Wheelchair Nomads grading scale!! I could stay here by myself but hopefully there is someone around to help me get in and out of that extremely high bed. But other than that, it was great!

Hotels across the country and the world better get it together because The Wheelchair Nomad is coming for you! If you would like for me and my team to travel to a location/hotel and grade its accessibility, please reach out at www.Fletchercleaves.com

Our car was broken into in the Hotel’s secured parking. The hotel staff was not very helpful and did not seem to care.

Bed was extremely high. I could not get in it without my friends physically lifting me up.

The desk was a fantastic feature. I was able to work and eat comfortably.

Right under the camera

Almost shoulder height

Shower was pretty open and accessible ].

Sink was very accessible. Great height and cutout

The Wheelchair Nomad: Rome, Italy

The Wheelchair Nomad: Rome, Italy ♿

Go to Rome they said… It’ll be fun they said… My first “real” international trip. I don’t count the cruise 2 years prior. I didn’t even have a passport then. But now it’s time for my first stamp! Excited and wide-eyed I rolled off the plane, (hashtag wheelchair life lol), my friends and I grabbed our luggage, I go outside, take a deep breath and my first words on European soil… “IT’S HOT EH HELL”😂🤣 . It was like 85 degrees and it was only 9am!! But nonetheless we head to the hotel and let the adventures begin!

Being black in a European country was an adventure within itself. People randomly walking up to us in restaurants and saying random rap lyrics…. “My friend My friend… I got 2 phones... I got 2 phones *In Kevin Gates voice*” lol. But being black AND being in a wheelchair, you would have thought Julius Caesar himself came back from the dead the way they were staring at me!! My friends and I would laugh and joke around and say “we should stare back and see who looks away first” lol

My disability presented a few issues while we were there! For example, Rome’s definition of “wheelchair accessible” is having stairs with some old lift like contraption attached that would move up the rail. Kind of like those chairs old people put in their house when they can’t walk upstairs anymore. The Vatican, my hotel, several restaurants, all had these weird lift things … Two things wrong with this idea… since I am paralyzed, I am always in my chair. So, I would have to transfer over to the rail death trap seat, someone would have to carry my chair up the stairs, then once at the top I would have to transfer out of it back into my chair. The entire process would take like 15 minutes… this is virtually impossible to do after leaving the nightclub at 3 AM on 2 for 1 Long Island Iced Tea night🍸😂. So my friends decided that was too much and just carried me and my chair up the stairs. They had to carry me up and down these stairs every time we left or entered the hotel.

This process was hard, but my friends and I have this “we are just gonna figure it out when we get there” type of attitude! The glass is always half full! Positivity can be found in any situation! Whenever we came to an obstacle regarding my wheelchair, we would just figure it out! We were just happy to be four black 26-year-old Memphians with the funds and opportunity to go to Rome, Italy and experience things most people from where we are from will never see!! Go to Rome they said… It’ll be fun they said…THEY WERE RIGHT!

Disabled travelers tips!

My tips would be:

1.      First tip, those cobblestone roads and step San Francisco like streets are no joke. Luckily my friends were in shape. They would take turns pushing up those mountains they call streets. They would complain every day that their legs were tired and I would simply reply, “AT LEAST YOU CAN FEEL YOUR LEGS.. NOW PUUUSSHHH!!!” lol…

2.      Second tip, ask the hotel to send you a picture whenever they say they have an “elevator” or say they are wheelchair accessible.

Think of a lesson you learned when you were abroad

I learned a lot of lessons in Rome but one of the biggest is how bad we eat in America. Literally like 90% of everything we ate was fresh!! From the Bruschetta to the lobster pasta to the cannoli. Funny story, we are at a local restaurant hanging out and eating bruschetta when my friend takes a bite and immediately spits it out. The waiter asks what’s wrong and my friend replies “These tomatoes taste like dirt.🤮” The waiter responded “They are fresh. I picked them this morning in my garden. Americano no like fresh??”  I was crying laughing!!!! We are so used to processed food that fresh tastes nasty lol. 

Ocean Reef Suites - Miami Beach, FL

The Wheelchair Nomad Hotel Review

Hotel: Ocean Reef Suites Miami, FL (South Beach)

This hotel is in the heart of south beach and a great location if you want to be in the thick of things! Unfortunately it is lacking SOME accessible features!

I was unable to transfer into the bed unassisted due to the bed frame protruding out… Not Accessible

Inside the elevator. Pretty open. Large enough for a power chair

Bathroom was pretty open and accessible

Knob was missing for the detachable shower head. We were unable to turn it on which made it extremely hard for me to wash soap off of my legs.

This is the entry to the lobby which had a key operated elevator to the right… it’s “ok”. I was unable to use it by myself because the key was too hard.

Microwave is too high and sink needs a cut out for wheelchairs to roll under… not very accessible