The Queen's Hall

I hadn’t visited The Queens Hall since its refurb so was keen to see what accessibility was like. In terms of facilities, I wasn’t disappointed. There is a stone ramp to the accessible entrance and a member of staff was there to open the door. The accessible toilet is spacious and not filled with bins, though does come with the queue of people that don’t want to wait in the long queue upstairs to use the facilities (they were very open about that!). There is even a lowered section to the bad so wheelchair users can order drinks. There are 2 accessible seating areas, at the side and at the back. I will be checking out the side view next time because at the back, as soon as everyone stood to dance I couldn’t see anything and felt the very disconnected from the event. The staff were really friendly and happy to help with any questions.

This venue is great for wheelchair users. It's flexible seating options make it very easy for wheelchair users. There's also a well equipped accessible toilet

It was an amazing experience to be so close to songwriting legend Jimmy Webb. It was almost dreamlike to be in the company of a man who wrote such a string of hits. One of the titans of the great New American Songbook. That’s one of the beauties of Queens Hall, although it’s a 900 capacity venue you’re never very far away from the action. Seats for disabled punters in particular are just a few yards from the stage. Acoustically it’s amazing as befits an old Chapel or Kirk as we say hereabouts. Access wise the building has developed considerably over the past decade with more than adequate toileting facilities and a ramp outfront to a designated entrance. The website has full access information and the permanent staff are are informed and welcoming. The body of the hall is given over to tables with four chairs at each. This was my only disappointment. From my previous visits - in the disabled rows, close to the stage but off to the side - I eyed up these tables with envy and when it came time to book this show I didn’t bother ringing to sort out a wheelchair space but simply booked myself and my wife and my wife onto one of these tables, reasoning that they were fully accessible and thus didn’t need to bother with a wheelchair request. Unfortunately this caused a degree of consternation when I arrived. What I hadn’t realised was that for a big headliner the tables are pretty crammed in and to gain access to the table I booked would’ve meant asking one or two people to get up and move chairs out the way. This didn’t seem to me much of an issue but the staff member I was dealing with seemed most put out and was implying we couldn’t possibly take these seats . A lovely couple who were sitting just ahead of us and listening to this discussion offered us their seats at a table at the end of the row. It was still necessary for some reason to consult the staff members manager for this to be ratified but in the end we were seated comfortably around the friendly couples table who then took our booked seats. The moral of the story I guess it’s don’t try and beat the system. However when so many websites for venues still don’t allow wheelchair users to book online but instead we always have to ring to gain access it is of course tempting to try and circumvent this if the situation offers as I thought it did in this case. Whilst I can understand some of the logic of this it still sticks in the throat a little and feels like one law for walkers and another for wheelies.