Disclosures: Nina Carmela Tamayo, DO, MS, MPH: Nothing to disclose

Objective: Identify barriers to travel planning for wheelchair (WC) users by examining online accessibility features by major hotel chains in New York, New York. Our goal is to evaluate the online content and provide policy suggestions to improve best practices for persons with disabilities (PwDs) to hoteliers.

Design: Comparative descriptive content analysis.

Setting: Hotel Websites.

Participants: Top hotel chains and their subsidiaries in Manhattan, New York based on their number of properties (n = 161 hotels, Marriott = 68, Hilton = 42, InterContinental = 22, Hyatt = 11, Choice Hotels = 8, Wyndham = 7, Best Western = 3).

Interventions: not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Online accessibility features for hotel rooms, general property, and number of features offered.

Results: 148 hotels were examined, excluding those not readily listing online accessibility features under their amenities, or specified options only through the reservation process. Hilton had the most total features with 58, followed by Intercontinental (49), Marriott (28), Best Western (23), Wyndham (13), Hyatt (7), and Choice Hotels (3). The most commonly reported features for each brand included accessible entrances, registration desks, and guest rooms. However, we found a lack of adequate, specific, and standardized accessibility information, with the number of options largely varying across hotel chains and their subsidiaries.

Conclusions: This is the first study, of which we are aware, identifying barriers to travel with respect to online accessibility information of the top hotel chains in the USA. This adds to literature citing inaccurate or inadequate information about accessibility as a barrier to travel. We suggest the standardization of listed accessibility features for both accommodations and general hotel property. We also suggest providing a separate “accessibility” tab under the hotel menu for ease of finding features, and adding a link to available accessible rooms. More research needs to be conducted as to whether this online information translates to real life experiences.

Level of Evidence: Level V

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/is-my-accessible-room-accessible-a-pilot-project-investigating-united-states-hotel-chains-and-their-online-accessibility-information/