Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort Hotel (Also see Attractions) 6380 Fallsview Blvd. Niagara Falls ON Tel: 905-374-6928 Reservations: 1-888-FALLSVUE - 1-888-325-5788 www.discoverniagara.com
	Accessible room 2815	view from Room 2815

Number of rooms and suites in the 35-storey hotel: 374 – number of accessible rooms: 7, one of which is classified as a premier accommodation for high-end players.

This $1 billion posh casino complex overlooking the majestic Falls on eight hectares of land and incorporating gaming, a five-star hotel, top-notch entertainment and shopping, opened for business in June 2004. The hotel has a list of translators and people familiar with universal signing. All staff personnel are instructed on how to deal with guide dogs and all have to participate in sensitivity awareness training. We’re told it is the only casino in the world with deaf dealers.

The numbers of the accessible hotel rooms are 706, 806, 2815, 2910, 3008, 3205 and 3305. All have awesome views of the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

PARKING: Valet parking is available at the main entrance, but if you prefer to park your own vehicle you can proceed to the 10-level parking garage (just follow the directional signs). Each level has seven designated parking spots flanking the elevators, two of which on each floor are good for side-loading vehicles. Doors from the parking garage to the elevators are automatic. If you find that all of the 70 designated spots in the garage are filled, valet parking is always available for disabled guests. Parking fee is $5.

ENTRANCE & DOORS: The complex is huge and you can drive up to the main covered entrance where staff will either park your vehicle for you or assist you with directions to the parking garage. All the doors are automatic.

LOBBY: Once inside the complex you’re in the main lobby with entrances branching off into the casino, hotel, shopping Galleria and dining wing, which includes the entrance to the 1,500-seat Avalon Ballroom. The central focal point of this main lobby is the towering Hydro Teslatron reaching towards the glass-domed ceiling. It’s a cascading water structure named after Nikola Tesla who invented alternating current. The resort’s turn-of-the-century Belle Epoque style is carried throughout the complex and into the hotel rooms and suites.

Lowered area at hotel front desk

Hotel lobby: The hotel lobby features a marble floor and gilded chandeliers. The registration desk has a lowered section and is flanked by the concierge desk and bell desk. In keeping with the glamour and grandeur of the complex, there is even a private check-in room behind glass doors for VIPs and high-end players. Here, you get to sit with a registration clerk.

ELEVATORS: HOTEL HALLS & ROOM ENTRANCES: There are more than 20 elevators throughout the complex. The bank of elevators that we used to access the hotel had mirrored walls and beeped at each floor. The elevator buttons were reachable and had Braille on them.

Once at your floor the hall floors are carpeted and nice and bright. The door to your room is well lighted.

We audited Room 2815. All of the accessible rooms have a doorbell, but at the time of our audit there was no lower peephole. The doorway is 34” wide. There is a light switch immediately on your left as you enter that turns on the hall ceiling light.

Two queen beds on legs in 2815	plenty of space between beds and armoire	lowered rack in closet with light

desk and chairs can be moved or removed if more space is needed

BEDROOM: The room is nice and bright with a fabulous view of the Falls. There are two queen beds on legs with large headboards and beautifully dressed in fabrics incorporating colours of yellow, raspberry and green. An armoire sits at the foot of the beds with a TV on a pullout shelf. The TV remote rests on the bedside table. Below the TV are a small safe and a coffee station on a shelf. There is a kidney shaped desk that can serve as a dining table, and two chairs. A telephone with dial-up Internet access and a lamp with a twist knob are on the desk. A large wing chair sits by the window with a floor lamp in the corner behind it. Between the beds is a night table with a table lamp with twist knob, a phone and a clock radio. Water glasses are on a lower shelf of the night table.

The room also features a lighted closet with a lower clothes rack and lots of wooden hangers, a luggage rack, iron and ironing board and extra pillows.

There are several open plugs in the room and a heavy-duty outlet with surge protector is on the wall just above the night table that would work well for a Hoyer lift.

The hallway just inside the door is 8’ by 5’ narrowing to 3’2” wide at the bedroom entrance. The bathroom door is on the left as you first enter the room. Because of the narrowing in the hallway, Linda had to make a three-point turn on her scooter to get into the bathroom from the bedroom. Exiting backwards was no problem. A wheelchaur would fare more easily than a scooter. An extended scooter, the kind many tall men use, wouldn't make it into the bathroom. It would be to long to make the turn.

The bedroom is 20’ long from the closet to the window, 4’6” from the foot of the bed to the armoire, 3’ from the side of the one bed to the closet and 6’ from the side of the other bed to the window. There is a space of 34” between the beds.

We were accompanied on our audit by the coordinator of corporate communications and the hotel’s guest services manager, who explained that they specialize in custom requests and will gladly do whatever is needed to ensure a guest’s satisfaction, such as removing furniture if necessary. They also noted any suggestions we made for small improvements.

Easy access sink with magnifying makeup mirror	Flip down seat in shower	Grab bars and handheld	showerhead arrangement

BATHROOM: The light switch for the bathroom is 47” high and is on the wall in the hallway. The bathroom door is 31” wide with a lovely full-length mirror on the outside of the door and a double lower robe hook on the inside. It has a lever handle and opens into the bathroom. From the door to the far wall is a space of almost 10’ while the width, from the wall on the left to the shower and vanity, is 5’2”.

The toilet is 18” high and transfer would be from the front or the side. There is 3’ of space from the side of the toilet to the shower. There is an L-shaped grab bar on the wall by the toilet and a 2’ horizontal bar on the back.

The vanity is 32” high and is open right across. It has a huge sink 21” wide with a lever faucet. A large makeup mirror (magnified one side) sits on the edge of the vanity and the hair dryer would also be reachable at 42” high. A weigh scale sits on the floor underneath the vanity.

This bathroom features a true roll-in shower, a rarity in most Niagara hotels. There is even a light in the shower, which is even more rare. The shower area is 30” by 59” (with the built-in seat raised). The lever water control is 37” high. Just above this is a knob that controls the water between the shower and the tap and a water outlet in the shower 11” from the floor so you can just let the hot water run until you get steam and enjoy a steam bath. There is also a removable handheld showerhead. A J-shaped grab bar is on the wall just above the faucet and an 18” horizontal bar on the wall opposite the seat. Unfortuately the soap dish is opposite the seat too far up on the wall to reach by anyone seated. Managmeent has said they will put in a second lower soap dish near the seat.

Towels are nice and low on a rack 3’ high between the toilet and the shower. The bathroom is very well lighted.

RESTAURANT: When the complex is completed there will be a total of 10 dining venues from which to choose throughout the resort, everything from gourmet fine dining to a buffet and simpler fast food in the food court.

The Grand Buffet is available for lunch and dinner with brunch served on weekends. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday for $12.95. Dinner is served from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. (yes, 4 a.m.) every day for $19.95 and the brunch goes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for $15.95.

View of falls near the door of 17 Noir

If it’s gourmet dining you’re after then 17 Noir is the place to be. This restaurant is on two levels with an elevator. Although the restaurant seems on the dark side, as black is the predominant colour, it features fibre optics in the floor. There is an accessible washroom in 17 Noir but it does have a heavy door making it difficult to manage if you’re alone in a wheelchair or on a scooter.

We're going back to check out the spa, more restaurants and the penthouse suite which was occupied when we first visited. For more on the casino complex go to Attractions on this Web site. Stay tuned.

Audited July 29/04