'We were quoted £7K more for a holiday just because my husband is disabled'

A family has had a string of holidaysgo wrong after the dad lost the use of his legs in a motorbike accident.

The year of 2020 was a particularly tough one for the Stevenson family. Just before the Covidpandemic sent the whole of the UK into lockdown, mum Natalie was made redundant. Shortly after that, dad Mark was involved in a life-changing motorbike crash that left him paralysed.

For six weeks, the 44-year-old was confined to Glasgow Hospital, neither Natalie nor their four-year-old and 10-month-old daughters able to visit him due totravel restrictions. "I was completely shut out from the care," the full-time mum recalled. Even when Mark was transferred to Sheffield, the family had to commute from Hinckley, Leicestershire for a brief visit in the hospital car park.

Mark has been left paralysed from the chest down, meaning he has no movement or sensitivity across most of his body. Now he gets around in a self-propelled wheelchair and continues to work as a credit manager.

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Two years after the accident and with the pandemic having eased during the summer, the family decided to go on their first holiday together. A staycation was immediately ruled out due to the unpredictable weather, "freezing sea" and poor beach access for wheelchair users.

So they decided to look past their worries about getting on and off a plane and headed for Cyprus. It would prove to be the first of a string of disappointing holidays.

"The pool wasn't accessible. We were told there was a pool hoist, but there wasn't," Natalie explained. "The room was an accessible one, but the girls had to share the bed. They wanted to charge us for two rooms. The beach wasn't accessible either. What you find is, everyone has a different interpretation of what accessible means."

The next year, they had near-identical issues, this time at a hotel in Antalya. "It was a lovely hotel, but when we arrived we were given an accessible room with space for four of us. We had to lift the suitcases onto the bed when Mark wanted to get to the toilet. We couldn't open the fridge as the rollaway bed was in the way," Natalie said.

"We got our room upgraded to a family suite, which was better in terms of space and safety, but the bed was really high and Mark had issues with that. He also couldn't shut the door to the bathroom."

The constant frustration that came from things not being quite right has impacted the family, while getting into the swing of things on holiday has proven difficult. Since the accident, escaping everyday life has become a much more significant and important part of their lives.

"When a place has a pool hoist, it's about seeing the girls' faces when Mark can get in the water. For Mark, it's a massive bonus for him. He is weightless in the water," Natalie explained.

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This year the family travelled to Dalyan to a hotel that looked "very accessible" online. Unfortunately, they had to rely on a kind local couple to lend them a shower chair that Mark could use, as the one provided was too low. Again, the girls were left sharing a single rollaway bed.

They've shared their experience to highlight how the reality of accessible holiday bookings often doesn't match up to the way they're advertised, and how inconsistent standards are across different countries.

When it comes to booking via a specialist travel agent, the family have been priced out. "We looked at one firm's prices but they're astronomical. We were quoted £19k for six people to go to the Caribbean. It wouldn't cost more than £12k to book it without accessible needs," Natalie added.

“You pay in full before knowing if an accessible room is available. Family rooms that accommodate a wheelchair and children are especially rare, with assumptions often made that disabled travelers are elderly and child-free.

"It has massively put us off going on holiday. It upsets Mark, it makes him feel bad. He says 'just go without me', which is not even remotely going to happen. Mark still works, our holidays are so important to us.

A recent report by disability holiday specialists World Accessible Holidays revealed that families are up to 60 times more likely to find a hotel that welcomes dogs than one that provides accessible family rooms for wheelchair users.

Its research concluded that just 1.5% of hotels across 10 European countries offer accessible family rooms compared to 37% that accept pets. In Croatia, there are 36 accessible hotels vs. 2,304 pet-friendly ones.