My First NFB Convention: Definitely Memorable but Partially for the Wrong Reason
by Leah Campbell
From the Editor: We have been trying to run convention experience articles in most of our issues, but this one was delayed longer than it should’ve been due to some disorganization on my part. The information it contains will be very helpful for people who have accessibility needs, and I understand that we have now incorporated this language into our contracts for future conventions. Thank you, Leah, for bringing this to our attention.
I found the NFB and became a member during the pandemic, so I had only attended national conventions virtually. I was excited when the 2023 NFB National Convention was announced to be held in Houston, Texas. I thought I might be able to attend in person, since it was closer to me in Oklahoma. It was only a little over a seven-hour car ride or approximately a 1.5 hours flight and there was a direct one.
Traveling for me now is a bit more complicated since becoming paralyzed in 2001 from chemotherapy for a disease that I had been misdiagnosed with eight years earlier. I now always try to fly on a direct, non-stop flight. I now must worry about arranging for lift assistance since I am unable to transfer, the airline possibly damaging my wheelchair during stowage. I then must arrange for wheelchair accessible transportation to and from the airport since my wheelchair does not fold. Then there are the hotel reservations. I need a mobility accessible room, but there is no guarantee that the beds are going to be any lower. What you get for an accessible shower can be wide-ranging and anywhere between a roll-in shower to a tub with a shower bench. Then, how would I even get a shower wheelchair to my destination?
I applied for the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship, and on May 10, 2023, I was notified that I had received one. I then set out to make the necessary reservations. I made reservations for a non-stop flight from OKC Will Rogers International Airport to Houston Hobby Airport. I called the NFB of Texas to inquire about wheelchair-accessible transportation to and from Houston Hobby Airport. I called the toll-free Hilton reservation line and was told that they could not make reservations for the block of rooms for the NFB convention and was told to call in-house reservations at the hotel. I called the hotel the next day and made reservations with in-house reservations for a mobility accessible room with two beds In the NFB block for July 1-7, 2023. Everything was reserved, scheduled, and secured with a credit card.
On July 1, our trip started with getting through TSA pre-check, lift assistance, and the flight successfully. The first problem started as we were getting our luggage at Houston Hobby Airport. I received a call from the driver of the wheelchair-accessible transportation that I had booked in advance telling me that he was not able to pick us up from the airport because we did not have a corporate account. I needed to speak with the person at the cab stand, and they would call for wheelchair-accessible transportation that was waiting in the nearby parking lot. The female at the stand called, but said that there was no wheelchair-accessible transportation available. So, she called the wheelchair-accessible transportation company. I then received a phone call from the same driver that had just told me that he could not pick us up and that he was ten minutes away. We were finally on our way to the hotel.
When I arrived at the hotel, the female desk clerk told me that there were no more accessible rooms available with two beds. They were "first come, first serve" and they had already given out all the accessible rooms with two beds and only had an accessible room with a king-size bed left. A king-size bed was not going to work for three adults. I tried telling the clerk that I had made reservations two months before, but she only got her manager, who just repeated everything she had said. I asked what a reservation was good for but got no response. He only offered me an accessible room with the king-size bed or a non-accessible room with two beds. I asked about putting a cot in the king-size accessible room, which he so graciously did at no charge. I had to choose to sleep on the cot to get the mobility accessibility that I needed.
I thought all of this sounded wrong but had nothing to back it up, until I read an article in New Mobility magazine that had come out on August 1 but had been buried in my inbox until October 18, 2023. In it, the author of the article, a wheelchair user himself, discussed his struggles with making a reservation, upon arrival discovering his room had been given away, and as a result his conversation with Assistant US Attorney Lauren DeBruicker. New Mobility has profiled DeBruicker before, and according to them, “She is one of a handful of wheelchair users kicking ass and taking names in the Department of Justice.”1 (“Bully Pulpit,” June 1, 2023) According to the DOJ’s revised ADA regulations around accessible lodging, when a reservation is made for an accessible guest room, the specific accessible guest room reserved must be held for the reserving customer, and the room must be removed from the reservation system.
According to the article in New Mobility magazine, “As simple as that seems, Hilton properties have a history of struggling to comply. In 2010, in response to a DOJ complaint that around nine hundred of their properties had failed to meet ADA standards, Hilton agreed to physically bring these properties up to ADA standards and fix their reservation system so disabled guests could actually get the rooms they reserved.”
I have now filed my own complaint with the DOJ regarding what happened at the Hilton Americas Houston. We will see what comes of that. Going forward, I hope the NFB is aware of the additional struggles that some of its members with additional disabilities face with traveling, and I also hope that it will take steps to make sure that this does not happen again at future conventions or Washington Seminars. I hope the NFB will work with hotels to ensure that they are aware of the needs of their guests with additional disabilities, the regulations relating to reservations regarding accessible rooms, and that they have policies in place to protect the rights of those guests. I am looking forward to attending my first in-person Washington Seminar in January, the convention in Orlando in 2024, and a better hotel experience.
References
1. “Bully Pulpit,” (June 1, 2023). When an Accessible Hotel ‘Reservation’ Doesn’t Guarantee Anything. https://newmobility.com/when-an-accessible-hotel-reservation-doesnt-guarantee-anything/?mc_cid=46f4c949b7