🚧
A barrier-free room is supposed to represent a room that has no thresholds or steps between any parts of the rooms within it. In theory, it is possible to enter the room from the hallway or outside, and go all the way to the toilet, under the showerhead, or elsewhere without encountering anything in the way on the floor.
A barrier-free room may have other features such as door locks that are lower down to make them easier to operate from a wheelchair riding height. However, barrier-free rooms are not necessarily completely adapted to use by disabled people. For example, there may be limited floor space due to furniture and amenities such as large televisions.
An accessible room would, in theory, represent a room that is completely compliant with government accessibility regulations in that jurisdiction. It would have a barrier-free layout, along with many other modifications to make use by disabled people easier.
Hotels and motels may have only a few, or even zero barrier-free or accessible rooms. Older buildings, or those that are in jurisdictions with little or no regulation are more likely to lack these types of rooms.
Booking a special room well in advance is prudent, as limited availability is more likely when compared to regular rooms.
Some hotels and motels may keep a small inventory of adaptive equipment, such as manual wheelchairs, or even floor lifts. However, the availability of such equipment is not certain, and any equipment that requires sizing to the patient may not fit the person trying to use it.
The patient should bring their own equipment when staying in a hotel or motel.