Courtyard by Marriott Niagara Falls 5950 Victoria Avenue Niagara Falls, ON Canada Tel: (905)358-3083 Fax: (905)358-8720 Web site: www.nfcourtyard.com
	Front desk	Travel desk in foyer

General Manager: Bev Newton

This lovely self-service hotel offers 258 rooms, three accessible.
Accessible rooms: 126, 127 on the main floor and of particular interest to those of you who don't want to have to rely on an elevator, and 1029, a suite which has an adjoining room with a king bed and a pullout bed plus a Jacuzzi.

The hotel is on Victoria Avenue, right in the middle of the tourist area above the falls, but you cannot see the falls from the accessible rooms. However, if it's good accommodations you are searching for and you can physically roll or walk down to the falls-- I'd say 15 to 20 minutes would do it-- this is an excellent hotel for someone in a wheelchair who can transfer.

PARKING: The parking lot is to the left of the hotel and the front entrance which is on the side of the hotel towards Clifton Hill. There are three designated parking spots and I parked my side loading van in the one nearest the sidewalk, let the ramp down on the sidewalk and the rest of the way was a piece of cake. The other two designated parking spaces are not big enough for side- loading vans but adequate for wheelchair users. The parking lot is big so there shouldn't be any trouble finding a spot for a rear loading or side loading van.

ENTRANCE & LOBBY: There is a curb cut with a bit of a lip on it; you might need help up it if you can't tip the front of your chair yourself and aren't motorized. The entrance has double automatic doors and luggage carts are available at the entrance. There is no doorman.

There is a small gift shop to the immediate left of the entrance where items such as aspirin, postcards, warm sweaters, and all the things you might have left home or might want to take home are sold.

Just inside the doors to the right is also an entrance to The Keg Steakhouse and Bar that serves a full buffet every morning from 6:30 a.m. for hotel guests. Beyond that is the front desk with a height of 46" (1.16 m) but there is a lower section for people in wheelchairs at the end of the front desk counter. Just wheel around the corner and there it is and you can see everyone and write at your own height.

CONCIERGE: The concierge desk at the end of the lobby entrance is lower and open from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. daily. The young man at the concierge desk was a student learning the hotel business at Niagara College and he says he bends over backwards to help anyone staying at the hotel find places to eat, figure out how to get places they'd like to visit, procure theatre tickets, or locate a piece of equipment they may need to accommodate their disability. Across from the front desk is a lovely lounge with a huge TV, a cozy fireplace and many places to sit to figure out where your next place to visit will be.
There is also an ATM and a high speed Bell Sympatico computer link up in the lobby. You can exchange Yen, U.S. Euro or pounds for Canadian for a $5 Cdn fee at the front desk.

Anyone who has a disability and is using the hotel will have their registration card specially coded and in case of an emergency, the hotel engineer or firefighters will go to their rooms immediately upon arrival. All rooms have strobe lights in case of fire and there is a PA system for the hallways. Rooms 126 and 127 are on the first floor and are seconds from the side door and the parking lot. If you don't want to have to use an elevator or stairs in case of an emergency, this is the hotel for you.

The hotel also has three telephone signalers, a door knock signaler, a sonic boom alarm clock, a photoelectric smoke detector with strobe and a TTY machine for people with hearing impairment.

HALLWAYS - We visited room 127 on the main floor down a bright wide ramped hall way off the front desk. The room is large. The doorway is well lighted and the doors are wide with lever handles. There is a 1/4" (0.635 cm) lip at the doorway. Keys are plastic cards, there are high and low peep holes in the doors and the doors do not stay open for entry or exit. I'm told this is a safety measure but it sure makes it difficult for people in scooters or wheelchairs who are trying to exit the room on their own.
There is a light switch immediately upon entry which lights up the hall and the hall into the bathroom.

BEDROOM: There is braille on all of the hotel doors and signage. Upon entry there is a luggage rack and you are in a small hall with the bathroom to your left and a sink in a counter before you go into the area with the shower and toilet.
The room has two queen beds with a night table between them and a double lamp over it with push button switches. There is an armoire opposite the bed with a remote color TV in it. There is 64" (1.62 m) between the bed and the armoire so you have plenty of room to get equipment and an electric wheelchair or scooter into the room and manoeuvre it around. There is no mini bar. Coffee, tea and a coffee maker are on the counter where the sink is in the hallway to the bathroom.
The beds are on platforms so you cannot get a Hoyer lift under them.

Two queens in room 127	Opposite the beds in 127

There is a desk opposite the beds and to the right and a chair as well as an easy chair with a foot stool, floor lamp and a small table. There are two telephones in the room, one on the desk and one between the beds. An internet dataport can be accessed from the telephone hookup by the desk and the desk has a lamp over it featuring two electrical outlets.
Electrical outlets are easy to access and numerous, one being behind the floor lamp, one beside the bed and another beside the desk.

A cot can be brought in to accommodate an extra person at no extra charge.

The window in this room is 46"(1.16 m ) from the floor so you cannot see out from your wheelchair if you cannot stand. The view is Pyramid Place and the parking lot so you're not missing much really. I expect the height of this window is for safety reasons as you are on the main floor. The window has a slat on it that flips open a little for ventilation but the window does not open. The room is heated and ventilated by a thermostatically controlled unit 64" (1.62 m) from the floor on the wall to the right of the window. You might not be able to reach it from a wheelchair. I could just reach it sitting in my scooter. There are blackout curtains on the window that can be drawn shut.

In the hall to the bathroom there is large closet with mirrored doors and a safe on the floor inside the closet as well as an iron and ironing board. The lowest rack to hang things on in the closet is 63" high (1.6 m).

Across from the closet is a counter featuring an oval sink with a push/pull/swivel type faucet and a full mirror above it. The knee room from the floor to the valance around the sink featuring a tissue dispenser is 26" (66.04 cm) and there is a garbage container down on the floor under the sink. A hair dryer and coffee maker, glasses and cups are on this counter as well. Lighting over the counter is excellent and there are also extra electrical outlets here.

BATHROOM - The entrance into the bathroom has been ramped by using what looks like metal weatherstripping. It is 18" (45.72 cm) from front to back and only 1/4" high but there is a place in the centre of the door frame that a wheel could get caught in. You might need help going up, over and down this small ramp.

Sink and door into bathroom	Toilet with grab bars	Linda on shower seat	Shower seat to edge of shower	Water controls at end of shower unit

The 33" (84 cm) bathroom door opens with a lever handle that includes a push button lock into the bathroom and there is a high hook for a bathrobe. We have recommended a lower one be installed so people using a wheelchair can hang up their bathrobe on it and the people at the Marriott hotels in Niagara are very good at following up on recommendations.

The toilet seat is 16" (41 cm) from the floor and there is 45" (1.14 m) between it and the edge of the moulded fibreglass shower. There are bars on the back and side of the toilet and the toilet paper is easily reached.

TUB/SHOWER - The moulded one piece fibreglass shower unit is great for someone who can transfer but you cannot roll a wheelchair or commode directly into it as it has a 2 1/4" (5.72 cm) lip on the edge of it to hold water.

I have the ability to stand but I cannot take a step so I could transfer from my scooter, put my hands on the large, very sturdy corner seat, turn myself around and sit down. The seat, which is 20" (51 cm) sticks out right to the edge of the shower unit so you don't have to step in to sit down. I could then shimmy in towards the wall a bit and using the hand-held shower head, hose down, soap up and rinse off. But, if you cannot transfer, you'd have to try to tip up the chair you are using to shower to get it over the lip to the shower.

The unit takes the space of a normal tub so you can figure out how far away the taps are. If you are alone, you'd have to turn on the water, get it the temperature you want, wind the hand-held shower head around the ledge on the back of the unit and then get in at the other end. If you are seated in a wheelchair, you'd never be able to wind the shower head as you couldn't reach it. There are 3' (0.9m) grab bars on three sides of the unit and the floor is flat so someone who can stand would have the option of standing under the shower head or back further out of the water or sitting on the seat. If you are traveling with someone, this unit would be ideal as a caregiver can help you easily in the shower. There is certainly room for two here!

There is no light in the shower but the bathroom is well lighted and it is not dark when the curtain is pulled. There is plenty of room for soap and shampoo, even on the seat beside you depending on your width, and there are towels everywhere but they'd have to be moved to the toilet seat before you use the shower.

I think pictures will say more than I can here about these units. They are wonderful for those who can transfer but if you can't, you may have some other way of using the unit or you may simply want to use a room with a normal bathroom although it likely won't have the space this one has.

My overall impression of this room was that it was fairly austere, bright, large and clean. I wish the shower unit didn't have that lip but it does so it leaves a lot of people who cannot stand looking for something else unless your caregiver can lift you from chair to seat. The seat does stick out to the edge of the shower so you could sit without putting your feet in the shower and then swivel them in after you are seated.

ELEVATORS - The elevators are large but do not have the talking option however the back wall is all mirror so you can see what floor you have reached if you simply look in the mirror. There is braille on the outside of the elevators and under the elevator keys and under the room door numbers. Perhaps someone can tell me how a blind person can tell what floor they are on if the elevator doesn't tell you what floor it is stopping at and you are alone in the elevator.

SUITE 1029 - We also visited corner suite 1029 which is at the end of a long hallway. The halls are bright and 58" (1.47 m) wide at the narrowest. Suite 1029 connects with Room 1021 so if you have a large number of people traveling together and some are disabled, suite 1029 would give you two queen beds and a double pullout couch with room 1021 providing one king bed and a pullout and a Jacuzzi.

Suite 1029 is set up the same as 127 except that it isn't quite as spacious in the bedroom or bathroom but it has the extra sitting room. You enter via a hallway 70" (1.8 m) wide into a sitting room that has a double pullout couch with a coffee table in front of it and an armoire featuring a large color TV directly across the room. There are also several lamps with push button on and off controls and several easy chairs as well as a table with two chairs suitable for eating in the room. There is also a large window in this room you can see out of from your chair that overlooks Lundy's Lane.
From that room is a hallway that echoes the hallway in room 127 with a counter featuring leg room under a sink, a mirror, coffee and tea makings, plugs, a hair dryer, etc.

The bathroom is laid out the same as the one in Room 127 with a fibreglass moulded shower unit and regular height toilet. From the edge of the shower unit to the toilet is 37" (0.91 m) and 50" (1.27 m) from the edge of the shower unit to the wall. It is 64" (1.62 m) from door to back wall.

From that hall you go into a bedroom featuring two queen beds and everything the same as 127 except there is a large low window in this room with an interesting view of the world below.

LOBBY RESTAURANT - The restaurant in the Courtyard Marriott is The Keg Steakhouse and Bar, (905)353-4022; Fax: (905)358-8720; e-mail: keg@vaxxine.com There is a front door to this restaurant off Victoria Avenue or you can go into it through the lobby of the hotel.

Hours: Every day buffet from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Sunday to Thursday 3 p.m. until 11 p.m.,
Fridays and Saturdays 3 p.m to 1:30 a.m.

The restaurant features smoking and non-smoking sections.

The 287 seat restaurant has all manner of seating including booths and tables and arm chairs. There is also a bar raised lounge area and a level bar area with a large TV and high stools which can be moved to make room for wheelchairs or scooters in the bar if need be.

A full buffet breakfast for $19.99 is served from 6:30 a.m. until 12:30 noon to hotel guests and anyone else. There is an egg station where you can have your eggs made any style you like and a toaster for freshly toasted bagels or bread that you do yourself so it doesn't get cold waiting to be brought out to you, as well as a myriad of breakfast items such as French toast, waffles, pancakes, bacon, cereals, fresh fruit and anything else you might think of that might be called breakfast fare.

The lunch menu or bar menu features lighter fare such as fajitas, wings, chicken strips and a beef dip that my assistant and I split. It came very hot with fresh cut chips, dip and ketchup and I think the bill was about $19 Canadian with coffee for one and a tip.
The dinner menu features more substantial fare such as steak, prime rib and surf and turf priced anywhere from $26 Cdn/17 U.S. to $35. Cdn/$22 U.S.

LOBBY AND RESTAURANT WASHROOM - The washroom for the restaurant and the lobby area of the Marriott is just down the hall from the Marriott front desk. It has a single door entry and a large wheelchair accessible stall. The 32" (81.28 cm) door of the stall opens out into the room and unless you are very athletic it can be impossible to reach out and grab the door by the bottom to close it behind you. It was recommended that a hook or U-shaped handle be put on that door midway between the slider lock and the hinges to allow the user to close the door themselves. There are many accessible sinks with electronic sensors that control the water so you don't have to touch the faucets and soap dispensers next to the sinks. The paper towel unit that also holds the used towels is 46" (1.2 m) from the floor and the hot air hand dryer is 43" (1.1 m) from the floor. The washroom door is a bit heavy to open but I did manage it on my scooter myself. If you have upper body strength problems take a friend with you to the washroom to open the main door and close the stall door.

Ramp down into pool area	Pool and hot tub

LOWER FLOOR - POOL, ETC. - One floor below the lobby is a lovely swimming pool. The pool area is completely ramped down into the pool but there are 10" (25.4 cm) steps down into the water. A person could get down on the floor and lower themselves into the pool or the hot tub if they had good upper body strength.

There is also a dry steam room with low benches but there is a 1" (2.54 cm) lip into that room where the wooden boards of the steam room meet the tile floor of the pool area.

There is a hot tub connected to the swimming pool by a waterfall. The hot tub has a 10" (25.4 cm) step down into it as well.
Just outside the indoor pool is an outdoor pool but you'd have to access it from the lobby area because there are steps down to it from the inside pool area.

The washroom in the pool area does not have a wheelchair accessible stall and is too narrow for wheelchair or scooter. You'd be best to shower and use your room bathroom before you come down to use the pool if you think you can manage it. It is a very nice area with lovely atmosphere and would be a good place to relax and warm up after a day outdoors if you visit Niagara in the winter. If you have someone with you, it wouldn't be too difficult to get into the pool and just lie there, float and relax. When we visited in January 2003 the hotel has some absolutely fabulous two night specials. Ask when you call or check the hotel Web site for special holiday packages.

There is also a physical fitness room with TV and machines and an arcade that uses two rooms, one for pool and fooseball and the other for computer games.

The Courtyard Marriott is a lovely hotel for those not looking for five star accommodations but still want the niceties. Those moulded showers would be ideal for people with disabilities who can transfer and are traveling with someone who can help arrange the water, hand-held shower, etc. The rooms are bright, spacious and clean. The staff is courteous, friendly and helpful. The hotel is within walking distance of the present casino (Jan. 2003) but will be further from the new one being built. It is, however, within walking or rolling distance of the edge of the falls and the Maid of the Mist Centre as well as Clifton Hill.

Visited Jan. 23/2003