Good accessibility apart from difficulties getting inside
3
3
Date of visit: July 2016
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet
Overall Rating
Average
I had difficulties getting into this pub, and the staff are not alert or attentive enough. Once I was inside, things got better.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
The main entrance at the front of the pub has a flight of stairs, and the wheelchair-accessible entrance is at the side. This entrance is locked from the inside. There is a doorbell. It wasn't working. I sent my friend in to alert the staff to my presence. A barman came and let me in. I told him the doorbell wasn't working. "Yes," he said, "I checked it this morning and it's not working." He was very casual about this failure and didn't seem to care at all. This is not up to the high standard I usually associate with Wetherspoons pubs.
Parking & Transport
Excellent
The branch of Wetherspoons is very near the Central Station Metro stop which, like all Metro stops, is fully step-free. Several bus routes also serve this central area of town.
Accessible Toilets
Average
The accessible toilet is on the second floor and is reached via a platform lift. There is no signage to this toilet. There is an obscure door leading from the main bar to the platform lift, with no signage on it. The lift is fine. The toilet itself would be fine if the thoughtless staff hadn't placed two bins in the wheelchair transfer area, see my picture below.
Staff
Poor
I was not at all impressed with the staff. They were aware of the broken doorbell but didn't take the matter at all seriously - it was in fact a source of mild amusement for one of the barmen, a team-leader who should know better. When I asked for directions to the mysteriously hidden accessible toilet the same barman, said "I'll be with you in a moment" and then immediately forgot, so that after a few minutes I had to prompt him. The staff do not understand that you should NOT put rubbish bins in the wheelchair transfer area in an accessible toilet.
Additional Information
This could so easily have been a five-star review. The following things need to be sorted out if this pub wants a five-star review: - The doorbell at the wheelchair entrance must be fixed, and kept in full working order - The staff must be more attentive to their customers - The rubbish bins in the toilet must be positioned outside the wheelchair transfer area (see my photo below) Currently I don't recommend this pub to wheelchair users.
