The other week I and the Relative Lieutenant (my brother & chief helper), had a flying visit to Luxembourg with a one night stay. As the founding home of the EU I thought it would be ‘hot’ on accessibility, you’ll see below how it fared!
The first thing I have to say is that for a small place it’s very expensive, obviously the resident financial community can afford to pay. It also wasn’t easy finding a hotel with a suitable accessible room i.e. with a wet room and grab rails both in the shower and around the toilet, or at least a hotel that understood the requirements… hours of phone calls!!! But let’s start at the beginning, we flew BA from Terminal 3 at Heathrow, unfortunately their ground staff are not as clued up as those at Terminal 5 – we had to tell them to put a luggage tag on my wheelchair! I was also rather man handled onto the plane so I expected the same at Luxembourg airport….not so, I was expertly, efficiently and smoothly taken off the plane to my waiting taxi driver. Luxembourg airport have some of the best trained access staff and I’ve experienced a few.
I finally chose the 5 Star Sofitel Grand Ducal Hotel as they were the only hotel to send me a photo of the bathroom.
It appears to be good but this style of grab rail is quite unsteady and as it was pulled down it came off the wall. They were quick to repair the rail, in a makeshift way – I wasn’t to pull the bar laterally. Difficult with it moving in all directions. I went to the disabled toilet in reception but it had only one bar, something I’ve noticed is common in Europe. The access into and throughout the hotel was excellent but I wish they’d had a BBS PAD -Picture Access Description – I would have been prepared and less anxious!!! You can see a good example of a PAD here.
The shower was a wet room and there was a seat and 2 rails but at a very low height?? At least the mirror was angled so I could see myself.
It was a lovely hotel but the decor was slightly over the top. We had to move the desk and two large up-lighters so that I could get into bed and my new portable grab rail had to be secured to the bedside table as the bed was so large. See the review of the grab rail it’s a welcome addition to my hand luggage!
The staff couldn’t be more helpful and on the website they give the number of the concierge who helpfully, found me the number of a wheelchair accessible taxi. I had looked for taxis but they were all ‘ambulances’! It turns out that’s what they’re called and the company we used I would highly recommend, Taxis Ambulances C&C. I found one site on disability that was of some help, Anglo Info but that’s about it.
The hotel is on the outskirts of the centre and if it had been better weather we would have attempted to go into the city proper. Apparently there are lots of cobbles but there is a lift down the to the centre of town as Luxembourg is built on a hilly promontory.
We wanted to try Cafe des Artistes but they were unable to reassure us on access so we went to the hotel’s rooftop bar for drinks and a meal in their L’Étoile restaurant. One course looked like ‘The Clangers’ but it was good french food – maybe a little over elaborate in presentation??
The wine included some from Luxembourg but we did revert to a beautiful French Rosé, thanks to a knowledgable sommelier. The decor in the bar fought with a lovely view of Luxembourg but the restaurant was, thankfully, more muted.
Luxembourg is a beautiful place to visit with it’s mix of medieval buildings, the waterside and the lovely autumn foliage. We’re returning soon and I’ll try and find some other places to visit and review. If you’ve been why not let us know your thoughts on Luxembourg by contacting BBS.
The Sofitel Grand Ducal gets 2.5 BBS Ticks.