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Invited by Tourism for All, FAMTRIP | PORTUGAL 2023
During our familiarization trip to Portugal, we stayed at the Vila Galé Ópera and the Villa Batalha Hotel. In this article I will tell you everything about the first hotel, Vila Galé Ópera, located in Lisbon. The hotel is considered as one of the most accessible hotels in Lisbon, and just 20 minutes away from the airport.
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”
The hotel is located right in front of the Tagus river, which makes it an amazing place to go for a walk/ride. There are seven rooms adapted for people with a disability, all these rooms are easily wheelchair accessible with enough space in the room.
Let’s start with a review of the room because this was amazingly spacious. You can stay in a double room with twin beds, either pushed together or apart from each other. The bed was just high enough for the hoist to fit underneath, but I asked them to consider buying bed raisers. There was enough space in the room to maneuver to both sides of the beds in a wheelchair. Minor detail, but I loved that the closet hanging rod was placed at a wheelchair accessible height.
The power outlets were not really accessible, since they were placed under the desk. There were no outlets near the bed or in the bathroom.
Now let’s move on to the bathroom, which was a little bit small in comparison to the bedroom. There was little space to move around in the bathroom, but for me, it was enough. So the bathroom is equipped with a roll-in shower, which also fitted a shower chair (arranged by Tourism for All). The bathroom sink is made of marble and there’s some free space underneath to roll under. But the height of the toilet was in my experience on the lower side, about 40 cm from the floor. If this is an issue for you, just know that Tourism for All can arrange a toilet seat riser.
Let me give you some more information about the equipment that Tourism for All can arrange for you during your stay. As I said before, the shower chair and toilet raiser are available to hire. But it’s also possible to hire a passive hoist with different slings in different sizes. If you like swimming, I have some good news for you, this hotel has a swimming pool which is accessible with the pool lift from Tourism for All. Besides all this equipment, they offer more so for the full list check their website. If you need any of these things during your stay, contact Tourism for All or ask the hotel to arrange it.
I’d love to give this hotel a 4 out of 5-star rating. The room is huge, especially for a room in a city. Another important aspect of a ‘wheelchair accessible room, is of course the bathroom, but the space was minimal. We also missed power outlets, since these were all placed in one corner.
