Holiday Inn Fort Erie Convention Centre 1485 Garrison Road Fort, Erie, ON Tel: (905)871-8333 Fax: (905)871-5411 Reservations: 1-8888-269-5550 Web site: www.holiday-inn.com
click on photos to enlarge	Fountain in the lobby	Main lobby area	Lowered front desk area

General manager: Raouf Battikh

This 106 room hotel has two accessible rooms, 251 and 351. Room 251 is for non-smokers and and 351 is a smoking room, however, the housecleaning is so thorough I don't think you could tell if anyone has smoked in either. The hotel isn't too big or too small and it isn't in downtown Fort Erie or near a tourist area. We were shown around by Kathy Renowden, the food and beverage manager and she really knew the hotel well.

Fort Erie is right off the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, N.Y. and you are close to Fort Erie Slots, Fort Erie Race Track and everything at Niagara Falls is 15 minutes away by car.

PARKING LOT: The hotel is in a large new area of Fort Erie that features the city hall, the YMCA, the Fort Erie Leisureplex that features skating, a children's daycare and a Madison's Restaurant as well as other municipal services. The hotel entrance is set back from the street. Once you've driven in, you'll find four designated parking spots about 20 yards from the front entrance, adjacent to a sidewalk that runs right into the hotel. I have a side-loading van with a ramp, so I parked in the spot closest to the sidewalk, let the ramp down on the sidewalk and rode right onto the sidewalk from the van.
The parking lot is large so you should be able to find a spot for any kind of vehicle you drive.

ENTRANCE, DOORS AND LOBBY: The doors are automatic and once in you are in the lovely lobby featuring a fireplace, comfortable overstuffed furniture, a fountain with koi swimming below it and the front desk to the right. The front desk is 4' (1.22m) high but if you go to the end of it there is a section that is only 3' (0.91m) high and suitable for people in wheelchairs or anyone short in stature.
There are also two low payphones in the lobby.

CONCIERGE: The people at the front desk will gladly help you find anything you need including directions, tickets, restaurants, aids for daily living, whatever.

ELEVATORS, HOTEL HALLS AND ROOM ENTRANCES: The elevator doors are wide at 42" (1.1m) and there are arrows designating up and down on the buttons and the number of the floor in braille on the side of the elevator. Also when the elevator reaches the floor it bings the number of the floor so three bings mean the third floor. The elevator stays open long enough to let you get on, even if you are fairly slow, and the buttons in the elevator are low at 33" (84cm) from the floor.

The halls are wide and carpeted. When we arrived on the third floor we could look over into the pool some 30' (10.44m) below us. It was being repainted, but it is a lovely, fairly small pool with huge windows bathing it in daylight and a 30 foot ceiling over it. Room 351 was just across the hall from the elevator and next to the window overlooking the pool.
The emergency exit for each floor is at the end of each hall.

The door to the room is opened by a very easy to work bar-style lever handle and a plastic card key. You can even work the door handle with your elbow if you have to. There is braille just below the number on the door. As with most hotels in Niagara, if you tell the people at the front desk when you register that you will definitely need help should there be an emergency, they will code your registration card and you'll be one of the first people to receive assistance from staff or firemen.
There are two peep holes in the door, low and high and the 34" (86cm) door has a slow moving automatic closure on it so you can get in without it closing on you. The light switch in the hall operates lights in the doorway and hallway. The hallway is 58" (1.5m) wide and is of a strange shape, sort of zig-zagging from the door to the room.
To the left as you first enter is an open closet with low racks 4' (metric) from the floor, an ironing board, iron, hangers and pant hangers. Extra pillows and blankets can be had by calling front desk.

Door numbers, light, handle and peepholes	Bed area	Door and closet area	Small bar area opposite bathroom	Opposite bed

THE BEDROOM: The room itself, excluding the hall, is 19 1/2' (6m) long by 12'10" (4m 25cm) wide. There is 50" (1.3m) between the end of the bed and the dresser. There are two queen size beds in the room and they are on legs so a Hoyer lift could be used, if necessary. Both accessible rooms are exactly alike. Neither of the accessible rooms in this hotel has adjoining rooms. A cot can be brought in if needed.
There is also a long four-drawer dresser with a large colour remote TV on it, a square table, two chairs, a bedside table between the beds with an alarm clock radio on it and a light with two heads over it. This light is very high and no one could turn the lights on or off lying down. I'm told it will be replaced.
There are pot lights over the window drapes that are operated by a switch over the bed.
Plugs suitable for recharging a wheelchair or scooter battery or running a Hoyer lift are beside the bed where there is 3' (0.91m) between the bed and the bathroom wall. The plugs are 17" (43cm) from the floor.
I'm told there is an alarm for the hearing impaired over the bed on the bathroom wall and a smoke detector in the same location. The alarm for the hearing impaired is not marked.
There is no minibar in the room but a small portable refrigerator can be rented for $10.
There is a telephone between the beds and one in the bathroom. A large mirror is over the dresser but is too high for most people seated in a wheelchair. There is a full length mirror in the hallway. Beside the mirror is a counter with pot lights over it, a small sink, and a coffee maker with cups, sugar, creamers, tea bags, everything you need for the morning. The ice and vending machines are directly down and across the hall in a room big enough for anyone to access on a scooter or in a wheelchair. Usually they are tucked into a space so small you can hardly get to them but here they are easily accessible.
The room is big enough to take two people, a scooter or wheelchair and luggage but it is not huge by any means. However, you likely won't be in it much and things can be stored in the bottom of that open closet. It doesn't really show from the room proper so they would be out of sight as well. There is also a luggage rack in the room.
There are three switches on the wall by the bathroom. One operates the hallway and door entrance lights, one the lamp in the dresser and the other the pot lights over the tiny bar area.
The room thermostat is on the wall into the room and is 58" (metric) from the floor...too high for most people using a mobility device to reach. The large window at the end of the room overlooks Garrison Road and has a tiny slot in it to bring in fresh air but it does not truly open.

No hand held shower head	Bars beside toilet and back of tub	Note space bar takes if you need to sit to transfer	Longshot of toilet and space beside it	Vanity area and proximity to toilet

BATHROOM: The bathroom has a 34" (86cm) door which opens out with a lever bar handle and there is almost no lip into the bathroom at 1/8". There are two hooks on the bathroom door, high and low. The hall is 64"(1.63m) wide into the bathroom so you have pretty good turning ratio there although it still took me some manoeuvring to get into it with my scooter. A wheelchair would have an easier time.
There is a telephone in the bathroom mounted on the wall at 43" (1.1m) from the floor.
The sink is oval, the lever handle push/pull, swivel faucet is 14" (36cm) from the edge of the vanity and there is sufficient space on the counter for toiletries and you can get your knees under the sink. A full-width mirror over the sink is well-lighted and the light switch is 47" (1.2m) from the floor on the right of the door. The hair dryer is the type you push to unclip which is easier for most than the type you have to squeeze to unclip and it is mounted 38" (97cm) from the floor.
The toilet seat is 17" (43cm) from the floor and there is 3' (0.91m) from the edge of the toilet to the edge of the vanity. A transfer could be made from the front or the right hand side of the toilet. There is a grab bar at the back of the toilet and a large lift bar between the toilet and the tub that would really help a person get up from the toilet but makes it more difficult for some to access the tub. The toilet has a tank on it. I mention this because some people rely on the tank top to lift themselves from the toilet. The toilet paper is easily reached at 28" from the floor and there is an extra roll and a tissue box on the wall as well.

TUB/SHOWER: There is a bathtub with two curtains, the outer curtain and the plastic liner. There is a huge bar in front of the tub secured to the floor. This would really help a person who can stand to get in and out of the tub, but if you have to sit on the edge and transfer onto a bath board and swing your legs in, this bar would make it impossible to get your legs in unless you could lift your leg over the bar, something not too many folks could do. I think the pictures here will say it all. There is only 31" (79cm) for a person to sit on the edge and get into the tub so you have to enter front wards, not sideways. The tub opening is 23" (58cm) wide and there is a 41/2" (11cm) lip on the wall side and a 5" (13cm) lip on the outside to take a bath board but that grab bar could easily stop you from using it.
A dispenser on the wall contains shampoo, conditioner and shower gel but it is too high for anyone seated to use. The water flow and temperature control is managed through a triangular shaped unit that would be fairly easy to turn if your fingers work but not as easy as a lever you simply hit.
The bathtub also has a 4' (1.2m) bar at the back and a 3' (1.62cm) grab bar on the side. Towels are behind the toilet and there are more over the toilet out of reach, which could be knocked down. There is room for your own soap and shampoo, etc. in the tub which is well-lighted.
Given time, the folks at the Holiday Inn can get anything you need in the area of aids for the bathroom.
There is room service available at the hotel from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. till 9 p.m. weekdays, and Fridays and Saturdays until 10 p.m. The square table in the room can be easily set up for a meal.
The fire notice on the back of the hotel door is 67"(1.7m) from the floor and can't be read from a wheelchair.

LOBBY RESTAURANT: Freeland's Restaurant (905)871-8333 in the lobby seats 94 people and is a very pleasant space all done in black, white, burgundy and dark cherry wood. It is right off the lobby to the left and the seating is booths and tables and chairs. The fare is full or a la carte breakfasts, hot or light lunches not topping $13 Cdn. and dinner. Dinners range from lighter fare such as hamburgers at $8.95 and steak sandwich at $12.95 or surf and turf at $28.95.

Restaurant hours are from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 until 9 p.m. on weekdays and until 10 pm., Fridays and Saturdays.
The dining room is a comfortable, pleasant room and there is a lounge just outside of it for drinks before dinner. I loved the addition of huge well-kept fish tanks in both the dining room and the lounge. They let me know that someone cares enough to add a personal touch and is present often enough to look after the fish. The way I look at it, if the fish are healthy and well-cared for, people who use the hotel and restaurant will be, too.

WASHROOMS IN LOBBY: Off the lobby to the left is a long hall and down that hall just past the regular washrooms is a family style washroom with a single door system that swings in. The hall is very wide so there is no problem getting into the door of the washroom. The toilet is low (14") (36cm) to the top of the seat and there is no tank on the back of the toilet. There's a 2' (0.6m) bar on the back of the toilet and an L-shaped 31" each way (79cm) bar beside the toilet. The overhead light goes on automatically when you open the door. The purse hook is fairly low at 53" (1.34m). The sink is open for knees and 32" (81cm) from the floor. The soap dispenser is 36" (91.44cm) from the floor. Taps are the up/down/swivel type with a extended lever handle and there is also a tissue dispenser there. Paper towels are dispensed in a container 3' (0.91) from the floor and the garbage container is under the paper towel dispenser. The mirror is low and easy to use, the room is well-lighted and clean. To get out of the bathroom there is a lever handle with a lock in the handle. The room is fairly easy to use and I could get out backwards by myself but it is easier with someone along.

Railing and steps into pool

POOL/FITNESS/SPA AREA: I could tell the pool was a lovely area even though it was being upgraded when we visited. It is a solarium area really as the windows are some 30 feet (9.1m) tall and the pool simply basks in the light from these windows. There is a shallow end at 3' deep and cement steps with rounded edges. The pool is 4' deep in the middle and 5'6" at the deep end. There is also access to a patio from the pool in the summer. The pool is accessed through the change area which is not accessible. The locker and shower areas are all too narrow to accommodate anyone in a wheelchair or scooter. If you want to use the pool and can get in and out of it considering the steps, ask the people at the front desk to let you into the pool area through the main door. There is also a fully equipped fitness and workout room open from 5:30 a.m. until 11 p.m.

The ATRIUM SPA (905)871-4141 or 1-877-928-7486 e-mail: atriumspa@yahoo.ca or Web site: www.ogilvieclinic.com where you can pamper yourself with a manicure, pedicure, massage, waxing, sugaring, facials, masks, you name it, is right near the poll area. With notice, the people at the Atrium Spa might be able to accommodate you in your room if you didn't think you could manage their rooms, special tables and chairs at the spa. Nothing is impossible.
A hallway off the lobby has several offices and shops including Extreme Health Foods, Injury Fit Pro-active Rehab and Ogilvie Chiropractic Clinic, Expressfit for Women and The Seville Unisex Hair Salon.

CONCLUSION: This is an attractive, mid range hotel close to but not on top of Niagara Falls and very near the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, N.Y. that offers two rooms that are accessible if you can stand to access the tub or need extra bars to hold onto when entering the tub. For some, these big bars would stop you from using the tub.

Viewed March 10, 2003