Strand Palace

This is a central London hotel on the Strand close to theatre land. We stayed there for five days in an accessible room on the first floor near the lift. Entrance into the hotel for wheelchairs is up a side street through an automatic door which takes you into the lobby. The ramp is rather steep but there is a "help button" which we did not use (so I do not know how effective it is). When we checked in, the member of staff doing this suddenly realised he was only talking to and could only see my carer (not me because I was down low in a wheelchair), so he changed his position so he could see and speak to both of us at the same time - most impressive. Our room had ample space for wheelchairs, the shower had a ramp leading into it, and a first for any hotel we have stayed in, the soap dispensers in the shower were down at wheelchair height. The toilet had the usual grab rails on both sides of the toilet. Staff were supportive and ensured one bypassed the queue when going into the restaurant and sat somewhere accessible near the food. The only downside to the hotel, which is not something they can do anything about, is that the lifts are small and hence at busy times, it is impossible to get a wheelchair into them because there is at least one person already in the lift. Patience eventually brings its reward. We will stay here again, it is a good hotel in a good position for a theatre land focused stay.