Nice, affordable hotel but a bit tricky on wheels
4
4
Date of visit: September 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
This ibis was a nice hotel that seemed quite modern and welcoming. It was a reasonable price but is slightly further out of the main city centre. I stayed in an accessible room which had all the necessary amenities but was very sparse in terms of design. It was painted grey and white with very little in terms of any decor. Even some of the fixtures like shelving and coat racks were very minimal. There was a large wet room style bathroom which was very spacious. The hotel had a café area in the main foyer which had mismatched furniture which gave it quite a homely feel. One thing I did struggle with was the ramp to get to the main entrance of the hotel was really steep and I actually had to use the grab rails on either side to pull myself up to the top. There was a sign at the bottom of the ramp with a number to let staff know that someone needed assistance up the ramp but there did not always seem to be a lot of staff available.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
The main entrance to the hotel was slightly above street level and there was a flight of stairs or a ramp to reach it. Like I mentioned in my overview, the ramp was really steep. It did have a plateau in the middle of it and grab rails on either side. But as a solo, manual wheelchair user, I really struggled with this ramp, especially with my luggage. There was a sign at the bottom of the ramp with a number to notify staff that someone needed assistance. But there did not always seem to be a lot of staff available. Another issue I had was that both the stairs and the ramp came out into a bike lane. In my seated position, there was a wall on either side of the end of the ramp which obstructed my view of the pavement and bike lane. So I had to roll out into the bike lane to even be able to see if anyone was coming. The entrance to the hotel consisted of two sets of automatic sliding doors with an absorbent flooring between them. Once you entered through both sets of doors, the flooring was a combination of different types of wood panelling. There was a small amount of seating on the right and ahead was a shelving unit. This shelving unit turned out to be the check-in area. It took a minute or so for a member of staff to appear and it was not clear where I was meant to go or how to notify anyone I was there so I did feel very confused at first. Once the staff came out it was a simple check-in process. From the main reception area there was a door to the lift lobby which required you to tap your room key to unlock the door. If you were leaving the lift lobby to exit the hotel there was a large green button to unlock the door from the other side. Once you went through this door, the flooring changed to a carpet. This carpet was quite tricky to push my wheelchair across and it seemed to have been laid in alternating directions, so one moment I was being pulled to the right and then it would start pulling me to the left. This carpet was then throughout the hotel until you reached your room. There were two lifts that travelled between all the floors of the hotel. One was slightly smaller than the other but they were on the smaller side on the inside. The lift buttons were tactile and also had Braille on them. It had a digital display showing the floors and it had a hearing loop. There were signs inside the lift showing which rooms were on each floor and some other displays which could be changed to show menus or promotions. My accessible room was quite far away from the lift and there were a number of heavy fire doors I had to pass through. Those heavy doors were difficult to manage, especially with the carpet also causing me some issues. The room was nice but it had a strange layout and if I had much more luggage or any larger equipment, such as a hoist, it would quickly have become quite short on space. The bed was a double bed that was placed against the wall so anyone in a wheelchair would only be able to reach one side of it. It was also a bit high so I was not able to just slide over from my wheelchair. It did seem like it would have enough space beneath the bed for a hoist, although as I do not use one I may be wrong. There was a small coat rail by the door with some hangers and then a full-length mirror. Next to these was a TV and below this was a very narrow shelf. In the corner was a small plastic table with a plastic chair with armrests. This had a kettle and tea and coffee making items on it. There was not a lot more space on the table. There was a single window which had a roller blind on it and due to the layout of the building there were other hotel rooms that could see directly through the window as they were really close. Unfortunately, the roller blind chain was really high up and could not be reached from a seated position. Luckily, I am able to stand briefly so I could shut the blind but I then had to keep it shut for most of my stay because it was so difficult to open and close and how easy it would have been for others to see inside my room. The bathroom was a wet-room style bathroom and it was quite spacious. The door opened outwards into the bedroom and had a horizontal grab rail on the inside to make it easier to close. It had a small twist lock however it was quite small and I do not think it would have been able to be locked with a fist or elbow. The toilet had space for a left-side transfer and a height-adjustable grab rail was also installed on this side. Next to it was also another fixed, vertical grab rail. On the other side of the toilet was a fixed, horizontal grab rail. The flush was a lever style flush with a larger end which could have been operated with a fist or elbow and it was mounted on the cistern. It was placed on the opposite side as the transfer area so you had to reach across the toilet to use it. In front of the toilet was a small sink with a single tap. The tap was manually operated and had a long lever style handle which seemed like it would be able to be operated with a fist or elbow. The tap twisted to control both the temperature and flow of the water. One issue I had though was that in order to make the water warmer you had to twist the tap further and the flow of the water combined with the very shallow sink meant that the water would just fly out of the sink and into my lap. I ended up having to use really cold water most of my stay to avoid having a soggy lap. There was a mirror mounted above the sink with fixed, vertical grab rails on either side. To the right of the sink was a manual soap dispenser and towels were provided around the bathroom. There were two emergency red cords by the toilet and sink. Both had been looped around grab rails so I made sure to unloop them. There was a roll-in shower which had a separate shower seat rather than one attached to the wall. The seat felt sturdy, was a good height and had a backrest. The shower had two shower heads, one was a large, fixed, overhead shower head and the other was a smaller one that could be detached and moved around as needed. There were a number of grab rails around the shower including two height-adjustable ones and two fixed ones.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
This hotel is 1.3 kilometres from Sheffield railway station with some steep hills along the route. From the railway station you can get trains provided by East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, TransPennine Express and Northern Trains. These provide services towards London St Pancras, Norwich, Liverpool Lime Street, Edinburgh Waverley, York, Newcastle, Plymouth, Reading, Cleethorpes, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Nottingham, Scarborough, Lincoln, Huddersfield, Doncaster, and other stations along the way. The closest tram stops to the hotel are the University of Sheffield tram stop, which is roughly 1 kilometre from the hotel. Alternatively, there is the West Street tram stop which is roughly the same distance. From both of these stops you can access the blue and yellow services. The yellow services travel between Middlewood and Meadowhall. The blue services travel between Malin Bridge and Halfway. Around the corner from the hotel is a bus stop called Moore Street/Fitzwilliam Street. It is roughly 290 metres from the hotel and the services that stop here are: 52, 65, 81, 85, 120, 257a, 257b, and 272 Peak link. They do not have a car park of their own and they recommend using the APCOA The Moor car park which is roughly 600 metres from the hotel itself. This is a paid multi-storey car park which is open 24/7. It has around 670 spaces in total with some of those being accessible parking spaces. There are lifts on both sides of the car park as the floors take a staggered approach. There is a height restriction of 1.85 metres. There does not seem to be any discount for the car park fees provided by the hotel.
Accessible Toilets
Average
There were toilets in the main reception area, including an accessible toilet. The door had a standard door handle and opened outwards. Inside there was a fixed, horizontal grab rail to make it easier to shut the door and there was a small twist lock. I do not think this small lock could have been operated with a fist or elbow. This was a small toilet with a small amount of space for a left-side transfer. However, there was a sanitary bin in this area too which may obstruct some people from being able to use the space properly. There was a height-adjustable grab rail on the same side as the transfer space and another fixed, vertical grab rail was mounted on the wall beside it. On the other side of the toilet was a fixed, horizontal grab rail. The height-adjustable grab rail had a holder with toilet roll on it. In front of the toilet was a really tiny sink with a single tap. The tap was manually operated and had a slim lever style handle which seemed like it would be able to be operated with a fist or elbow. The tap twisted to control both the temperature and flow of the water. Above the sink was a manual soap dispenser and a mirror was mounted on the wall above that but it was so high I could not see into it from my seated position. There was a fixed, vertical grab rail on either side of the sink and to the right was an automatic hand dryer. The emergency red cord was hanging freely to the floor.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Good
It seemed like there was not always a lot of staff on site, it was always quite quiet and there often was not a member of staff visible in the reception area unless they were helping someone. Overall, the staff seemed helpful and welcoming. They were also happy to store my bag for me on the day I checked out.
