From French Polynesia to Paris, These 11 Hotels Around the World Are Getting Accessibility Right

One of the most exciting aspects of a vacation is the hotel stay. Ideally, it feels like an upgrade from your everyday surroundings, a place where design and atmosphere create a true sanctuary away from responsibilities back home. But for disabled travelers—an estimated 1 billion people worldwide—that sense of escape can come with an asterisk: You can stay here, but you may not be comfortable.

I was born with cerebral palsy to parents who met in the travel industry, so I grew up in and around hotel lobbies. The experience has also given me a lifetime of navigating ADA standards in practice. A hotel may technically accommodate guests, but I’ve found the execution often falls short. Elevators, for instance, provide an energy-saving alternative to stairs, but might be located down a long hallway. Ramps exist but could be far from the main entrance. Showers include grab bars but may require stepping into a tub. No hotel can meet every need, but when accessibility is poorly considered, it still feels personal.

Thankfully, more hotels around the world offer a strong sense of place and prime locations while also catering to disabled travelers with specific accommodations, from roll-in showers and wide doorways to visual alarms and light dimmers. Checking into one of these hotels can be a relief, eliminating the guesswork of whether a space will support your needs. As part of our Hotels We Love series, and drawing on both personal experience and reporting, we’re spotlighting 11 accessible hotels that stand out for getting it right.

Archer Hotel

Courtesy of Archer Hotel

Located in Northwest Austin near dining, shopping, and nightlife, the Archer Hotel has 171 guest rooms designed with murals reflecting the city’s way of life — everything from horses and barbecue to music venues and cowboy boots. Twenty-one accessible accommodations are available across room categories, from standard rooms to suites, addressing both mobility and hearing. Features include communication systems like doorbells that set off a flashing light for those who are hard of hearing. The rooftop pool is equipped with a pool lift, and nearby cabanas can be reserved for shade. A single-level terrace with a firepit and bar eliminates the need to navigate multiple spaces to relax with a drink.

Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa

Photo by Heidi Besen/Shutterstock

Set along O‘ahu’s white-sand coastline, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa integrates accessibility into its private and public spaces with a cohesive approach. There are more than 830 accommodations to choose from, including suites and villas; each features a tropical theme of earth tones and dark wood furnishings. Accessible spaces include visual alarms, door alerts, and grab bars in the bathroom. The Waikolohe pool, the largest at the resort, has zero-depth entry, and a water wheelchair available for use. A pool lift provides access to the nearby Rainbow Reef, with hundreds of tropical fish, while first-come, first-serve sand wheelchairs help guests navigate the beach.

Cascada Hotel

Courtesy of Cascada

Built with biophilic design principles in a glass-and-timber building with abundant plant life, the Cascada Hotel in Portland’s Alberta Arts District neighborhood is a wellness retreat near the city’s main attractions. The building is equipped with Merv-13 filtration for clean air, and the 43 studio suites have walk-in showers, shower seats, and kitchenettes in a modern-industrial setting. There’s a robust spa menu for various treatments, although on-site and subterranean thermal springs are the hotel’s main attraction, and can be visited alongside a pool and outdoor garden.

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa

Courtesy of Hilton

Overwater resorts are seldom designed with accessibility in mind, but Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa challenges that assumption. The 100-room resort is a showcase of Hilton’s brandwide commitment to accessibility with smooth walkways to both the garden guest rooms and the bungalows over the ocean. All have polished wood floors and ample outdoor seating. Select bungalows are wheelchair accessible, with roll-in showers and step-free entry.

Hilton Paris Opera

Courtesy of Hilton Paris Opera

Housed in a 19th-century building with Belle Époque architecture, Hilton Paris Opera immerses travelers in the architectural beauty of the City of Light while putting them within reach of the 8th arrondissement’s best shopping and dining. In addition to that, the hotel’s proximity to an accessible train station and major landmarks (it’s less than a half-mile from the Palais Garnier Opera House) reduces transit friction.

Accessible guest rooms include wider doorways, while manual doors lead into bathrooms with smooth flooring, roll-in showers, and grab bars. Guests can eat and drink at an on-site restaurant, Le Grand Salon, which shares the hotel’s historic setting and stays open until midnight Monday through Saturday—in case you need a croque monsieur with your nightcap.

Hotel Riu Plaza España

Located on Madrid’s famous shop and theater-lined Gran Via, the 584-room Hotel Riu Plaza España offers accommodations with a mix of midcentury-modern and contemporary style, and a large number of them have accessible features. Bathrooms include roll-in showers, grab bars, and hand-held shower heads. A rooftop bar with an onsite DJ spinning make for a lively, energetic scene after a day of exploring.

JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa

Courtesy of JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa

Located on the northern end of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert, the 950-room JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa sits on more than 300 acres. Aside from its 18-hole golf course, the property has four pools (with self-operating lifts or sloped entry), a lazy river, a video game arcade, and a spa with 41 treatment rooms. The guest rooms are clad in natural woods; accessible accommodations have flashing door signalers that emit light when a visitor knocks on the door, and lowered outlets and door handles spare wheelchair users from having to reach up. Roll-in showers and no-slip grab rails make bathrooms easier to navigate, too.

The Londoner

Photo by Andrew Beasley

Set on Leicester Square in London’s West End—near theaters, shopping, and dining—the Londoner combines location with plenty of on-site amenities. Six on-site dining options, from a champagne bar to a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, along with a subterranean spa that still gives the illusion of daylight above its pools, entice guests to stay put. Meanwhile, landmarks including Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden Market are a short car ride away. Accessible rooms include adjustable beds, roll-in showers, grab bars, and shower seats.

Pendry Manhattan West

Courtesy of Pendry Manhattan West

Located in Midtown Manhattan near Hudson Yards, Pendry Manhattan West integrates accessibility into its overall layout. The lobby offers varied seating and a clear line of sight to elevators from the front desk, simplifying navigation. The 164 contemporary-feeling guest rooms and 30 suites all have walk-in showers and toilets separated by pocket doors on either side of a hallway, and each space has its own sink (specific ADA-compliant rooms have more space for maneuvering). Light switches above the nightstands reduce the need to navigate in the dark. The Pendry Manhattan West’s popular Eastern Mediterranean-inspired Zou Zou’s is worth saving a dinner for, with such popular dishes as Moroccan fried chicken and grape leaf sea bass.

Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami

Courtesy of Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami

Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Beach’s high-end enclave of Bal Harbour Village, the Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami offers sleek, contemporary-feeling accommodations across 124 guest rooms. While all rooms have beach access and heightened privacy—there are only two rooms per floor—the disability-friendly options include lowered outlets, door handles, and deadbolts. Guests can ask for their bed height to be adjusted to make it easier getting in and out, while bathrooms have both roll-in showers and bathtubs with seats and grab bars. Enjoy lunch at Water’s Edge restaurant by the pool, either at a table or in a cabana, and reserve a seat at Artisan Beach House for a Mediterranean and locally inspired dinner of braised short rib or Florida red snapper.

Tambo del Inka, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Valle Sagrado

Courtesy of Tambo del Inka, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Valle Sagrado

Set in Peru’s Sacred Valley, Tambo del Inka integrates accessibility for disabled guests throughout the guest experience. The grounds are equipped with smooth flooring, elevators, and ramps alongside restaurants serving local and farm-to-table cuisine. At the Kiri Bar, you can sign up for a pisco or craft beer tasting or a mixology class, or pick your own ingredients in the garden and greenhouse for a meal. Guest rooms have views of the Urubamba River or the Chicón glacier, and include fireplaces and locally made pottery along with lowered fixtures, roll-in showers, and adaptable beds.