Anger at poor disabled access at Rothesay hotel

Norman Wyman from Plymouth made the 1000 mile round trip to see family and friends last month.

But he was left disappointed by the lack of disabled facilities at the hotel.

He said: “It’s 18 months since our last trip so we were keen to see the upgrade at the Glenburn Hotel we had heard so much about. We were not disappointed. Clearly a lot of time and money has been spent on the upgrade both in the public rooms but also the bedrooms.

“However, the old wheelchair access ramp through the dining room was closed off for safety reasons.

“Was new disabled access forgotten in the refurbishment? Or was it purposely left out? Moreover, why no disabled friendly rooms?

“I was surprised to be informed there is no replacement disabled access available and no rooms in the hotel have disabled facilities.

“Given the standard of the upgrade throughout the hotel you would have thought disabled access would have faired better.

“In fact,I would have thought these would be legal requirements.”

Glenburn Hotel manager Robbie Cameron admitted disabled access is an issue and that the hotel has been looking at ways to rectify it.

He also said that the age of the building caused additional problems as access wasn’t an issue in those days but stressed that there were disabled facilities within the hotel.

However, he claimed it was an island-wide issue, with other hotels on Bute in the same situation.

Mr Cameron said: “It’s not a legal requirement. We have a disabled ramp which when it was put in place 20 years ago was satisfactory. The gradient is now seen as too steep.

“The building was built in 1892 and the problem is where do we put the ramp? It would be a zig zag further out. Where do we put it and ensure it doesn’t impinge on anywhere else? So it’s not feasible to put in.

“It’s something we have looked at but it’s extremely difficult to put in.

“We advise that there is a ramp there but we do know it’s too steep and advise them not ot use it.

“We can’t take responsibilty should someone use it due to the gradient, it’s a health and safety issue.

“It’s something under consideration at the moment, but where do we put it?

“We were looking at a stair lift but should that break down, being on the island it’s difficult to get an engineer.

“We are not the only hotel on the island which has access issues. The buildings were built that long ago it’s not easy to address the issue.

“We understand we have an issue, but we are looking at how we can address it.

“We appreciate the situation but to be honest nobody has made a great deal about it before.

“There are disabled toilets in the building and there is a partial disabled room with alarms and toilet facilities.”