Leisure

Hotels and holidays

Summary: Holiday ideas for blind and partially sighted people

• Introduction
• Holiday ideas
• Specialist hotels
• Mainstream hotels and holidays
• Insurance
• Funding and escorts
• Further information
• Holidays for All
• Contact us

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Introduction

Everyone needs a change of scene from time to time, including the two million people in the UK with sight problems.

We offer information about a range of holiday opportunities available for people with a sight problem, their friends and families.

Photograph by Sam Tanner

Holiday ideas

Our ‘Holiday Ideas Information Pack’ gives ideas and suggestions on the different holidays for you to choose from. Information includes:

• Specialist hotels – details about a number of specialist hotels around the UK for blind and partially sighted people. This includes hotels run by Action for Blind People and the Royal Blind Society.
• Residential homes – for those who may need more care and attention, residential homes offer a good option for that well deserved break.
• Further details, including RNIB’s three residential homes in Somerset, Yorkshire and East Sussex, are available.
• Holidays abroad – a list of specialist tour operators in the UK who arrange individual and group holidays overseas for people with all types of disabilities. Some are able to provide escorts.
• Other useful contacts – addresses and telephone numbers of other travel related organisations.

To order a Holiday Ideas Information Pack, please contact us (details below).

We would very much like to hear your recommendations so that we can share information with other blind and partially sighted people.

If you have had a good holiday experience and would like to recommend a hotel or tour operator to others (whether in a mainstream hotel or in a specially adapted hotel for people with sight loss), please contact us.

Specialist hotels

There are various other hotels specially designed or adapted for blind and partially sighted people throughout the UK.

Action for Blind People has four hotels in

• Lake Windermere
• Bognor Regis
• Weston-Super-Mare
• Teignmouth in Devon

For more information telephone 020 76 35 48 00.

The Royal Blind Society runs the ever popular

• Belmont Hotel in Llandudno (Telephone 01492 87 77 70)
• Honeywood House in East Sussex (Telephone 01903 77 03 39)

Mainstream hotels and holidays

What is a "mainstream" holiday?

A "mainstream" hotel or holiday is one not specifically designed for blind and partially sighted people.

What can you expect from mainstream holiday providers?

You may find it helpful to know that service providers, including hotels and holiday companies, are legally obliged to make “reasonable adjustments” to enable disabled people to use their services under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). This includes:

• providing assistance, if you ask. This could be a staff member who guides you to your room or to your table in the hotel restaurant.
• welcoming guide dogs. As a result of legislation, all hotels and guest-houses should accept guide dogs.
• providing a member of staff to read the menu/activity programme for you. A number of hotels or holiday companies also provide information in alternative formats such as large print, braille and tape.

What is the DDA?

The DDA aims to end discrimination against disabled people in employment and in the provision of services (including services within the tourist industries).

It is now illegal under the DDA to discriminate against a disabled person, for a reason relating to their disability, without justification.

How you can help mainstream hotels and holiday providers

If you have a sight problem you can help hotels to help you by letting them know in advance of any special requirements you may have.

For example, you could request:

• that you are met at the train station or that a taxi is booked for you
• that you are given a guided tour of the hotel on arrival
• that a staff member helps you with any self service meals
• that you have a ground floor room.

The more information you can give hotels or holiday providers, the more likely they are to assist you, if they can.

We can give contact details of mainstream hotels in the UK recommended to us in the past by blind and partially holidaymakers.

We can also give information to mainstream hotels and holiday providers on how they can make their service more accessible.

Insurance

It is very important to insure against the possible risks that you run whilst you are on holiday, such as medical problems. It is also important to advise your insurance company of any pre-existing medical conditions, impairments etc.

Please contact us for further information (details below).

Funding and escorts

RNIB are unable to provide volunteers to escort you on holiday.

However, we produce an information leaflet, "Helping you to take a holiday", with details of other organisations that may be able to provide assistance in finding either an escort or extra help with holiday costs.

To order a copy, please contact us (details below).

Further information

There are other organisations that can provide advice and information on holidays:

• Tourism for All UK (formerly known as Holiday Care) provides holiday and travel information for disabled people and their carers in the UK and abroad, and have information on a range of travel related topics.
• RADAR can provide information on holiday opportunities and also produce a holiday guidebook for people with disabilities.

Holidays for All

Holidays for All is a group of the UK's leading disability charities working together to promote accessible holidays for all holidaymakers.

A brochure detailing accessible holidays and hotels in the UK for people with a range of disabilities is available from all members of the Holidays for All group, who are:

• Arthritis Care
• Grooms Holidays
• Action for Blind People
• Leonard Cheshire
• New Jumbulance Travel Trust (Telephone 01582 83 14 44)
• Calvert Trust:
  Exmoor, Devon (Telephone 01598 76 32 21)
  Kielder, Northumberland (Telephone 01434 25 02 32)
  Keswick, Cumbria (Telephone 01768 77 22 54)
• Vitalise (Telephone 0845 345 1972)

Contact us

For more information on anything listed here, or any other holiday opportunities, please contact us at

RNIB Leisure
105 Judd Street
London
WC1H 9NE

Telephone 0845 766 9999 or 020 73 88 25 25
(Some callers may find it cheaper to call a landline, so we have detailed both 08 prefixed numbers and landline equivalents where available).

Email: helpline@rnib.org.uk

Content author: helpline@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13