Lodging Hospitality
September 23, 2011
By David H. Raizman and Elena S. Min
You’ve had a year to plan for their implementation, but as we approach the six-month mark until March 15, 2012, you had better make sure your property is prepared for the latest set of ADA regulations. Unlike most of the past regulation in the area of disabled access, these laws focus on the operation of your place of lodging, not its architecture.
Reservation of Accessible GuestroomsArguably the most significant impact of the new regulations relates to reservation system requirements that must be in place by March 15, 2012. By then, places of lodging must:
• Allow guests seeking accessible guestrooms to make their reservations during the same hours and in the same manner as guests reserving rooms from the general inventory;
• Allow disabled guests to reserve accessible guestrooms or specific types of accessible guestrooms and then ensure the specific accessible guestroom (or type of accessible guestroom) is held for the reserving customer;
• Describe in detail, as part of their reservations system, all the accessible features of any designated accessible room, as well as the absence of otherwise required accessible features; and
• Restrict the sale of accessible guestrooms to persons without disabilities until all non-accessible guestrooms of that type have been sold.
These newly required features of a compliant reservation system will mean far-reaching changes for most places of lodging. For example, many places of lodging have traditionally required guests seeking accessible units to make reservations directly through the hotel property. That is no longer allowed. When reservations are generally available by phone, in person or through a third party, a disabled guest must be able to make reservations at the same time and in the same manner as all other guests. (Reservations by internet, discussed further below, appear to be excluded from this current set of regulations, but there are other changes afoot that may affect your hotel’s website.)
Similarly, the widespread practice of assigning guestrooms upon check-in and subject to availability is no longer lawful, at least for a disabled guest’s reservation of accessible guestrooms. In what may be the biggest logistical and training challenge, your reservations agents will need to be in a position to provide detailed information about the accessible features, or lack thereof, for each property’s accessible guestrooms. Your property may need a comprehensive survey of the accessible guestrooms before you are even in a position to train your reservations staff to provide this information.
Other Things To Remember About These Regulations — Good News on Service Animals, Swimming Pool Access and More
Reservation of Accessible GuestroomsArguably the most significant impact of the new regulations relates to reservation system requirements that must be in place by March 15, 2012. By then, places of lodging must:
• Allow guests seeking accessible guestrooms to make their reservations during the same hours and in the same manner as guests reserving rooms from the general inventory;
• Allow disabled guests to reserve accessible guestrooms or specific types of accessible guestrooms and then ensure the specific accessible guestroom (or type of accessible guestroom) is held for the reserving customer;
• Describe in detail, as part of their reservations system, all the accessible features of any designated accessible room, as well as the absence of otherwise required accessible features; and
• Restrict the sale of accessible guestrooms to persons without disabilities until all non-accessible guestrooms of that type have been sold.
These newly required features of a compliant reservation system will mean far-reaching changes for most places of lodging. For example, many places of lodging have traditionally required guests seeking accessible units to make reservations directly through the hotel property. That is no longer allowed. When reservations are generally available by phone, in person or through a third party, a disabled guest must be able to make reservations at the same time and in the same manner as all other guests. (Reservations by internet, discussed further below, appear to be excluded from this current set of regulations, but there are other changes afoot that may affect your hotel’s website.)
Similarly, the widespread practice of assigning guestrooms upon check-in and subject to availability is no longer lawful, at least for a disabled guest’s reservation of accessible guestrooms. In what may be the biggest logistical and training challenge, your reservations agents will need to be in a position to provide detailed information about the accessible features, or lack thereof, for each property’s accessible guestrooms. Your property may need a comprehensive survey of the accessible guestrooms before you are even in a position to train your reservations staff to provide this information.
Other Things To Remember About These Regulations — Good News on Service Animals, Swimming Pool Access and More
Other parts of these same regulations have been in effect since March 2011, but are still worth a reminder.
Service AnimalsProbably the best news for lodging operators is that only dogs may be considered “service animals.” No longer must a hotel entertain requests for monkeys, snakes or birds or for animals providing “comfort” or “protection.” Those loopholes have largely been closed. (The regulators did create a “miniature horses” exception if they have “been individually trained to do work or perform tasks” for the benefit of the disabled guest.)
But the new regulations also significantly restrict a place of lodging in several ways when it comes to service animals. First, only the following questions are allowed from those who would question the legitimacy of a claimed service animal:
Is the animal required because of a disability?
What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
That means, you may not ask about an individual’s disability or request proof of a service animal’s training. Second, persons with service animals cannot be charged fees, even if persons accompanied by allowed pets are required to pay such fees.
Swimming PoolsThe new regulations also require you to install accessible features in your hotel’s existing swimming pool, sauna and spas, unless it is not “readily achievable” to do so. Given the costs involved, this requirement probably merits closer examination.
The Internet Too?!Yes, the Department of Justice also took the occasion of the ADA’s 20th anniversary (July 2010) to announce that it intends to issue regulations requiring the accessibility of the websites of all public accommodations, including places of lodging. In so doing, the DOJ noted that the law already requires access, even though the regulations are only now being developed.
What To Do Next?The ADA and state disability access laws generally pose unique challenges to places of lodging. Get ready for March 15 with a careful analysis of how the new ADA regulations and the coming Internet regulations may impact your place of lodging.
David H. Raizman is a partner and Elena S. Min an associate at the Los Angeles office of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a full-service law firm. Their practice focuses on a wide variety of disability access issues, both in the hospitality industry and beyond, and involves both compliance efforts and litigation defense.
Service AnimalsProbably the best news for lodging operators is that only dogs may be considered “service animals.” No longer must a hotel entertain requests for monkeys, snakes or birds or for animals providing “comfort” or “protection.” Those loopholes have largely been closed. (The regulators did create a “miniature horses” exception if they have “been individually trained to do work or perform tasks” for the benefit of the disabled guest.)
But the new regulations also significantly restrict a place of lodging in several ways when it comes to service animals. First, only the following questions are allowed from those who would question the legitimacy of a claimed service animal:
Is the animal required because of a disability?
What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
That means, you may not ask about an individual’s disability or request proof of a service animal’s training. Second, persons with service animals cannot be charged fees, even if persons accompanied by allowed pets are required to pay such fees.
Swimming PoolsThe new regulations also require you to install accessible features in your hotel’s existing swimming pool, sauna and spas, unless it is not “readily achievable” to do so. Given the costs involved, this requirement probably merits closer examination.
The Internet Too?!Yes, the Department of Justice also took the occasion of the ADA’s 20th anniversary (July 2010) to announce that it intends to issue regulations requiring the accessibility of the websites of all public accommodations, including places of lodging. In so doing, the DOJ noted that the law already requires access, even though the regulations are only now being developed.
What To Do Next?The ADA and state disability access laws generally pose unique challenges to places of lodging. Get ready for March 15 with a careful analysis of how the new ADA regulations and the coming Internet regulations may impact your place of lodging.
David H. Raizman is a partner and Elena S. Min an associate at the Los Angeles office of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a full-service law firm. Their practice focuses on a wide variety of disability access issues, both in the hospitality industry and beyond, and involves both compliance efforts and litigation defense.
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