The minimum number of guest rooms required to be accessible in transient lodging facilities is covered by section 224 of the 2010 ADA Standards. Scoping requirements for guest rooms with mobility features and guest rooms with communication features are addressed at section 224.2 and section 224.4, respectively.

Accessible guest rooms are used not only by individuals using mobility devices such as wheelchairs and scooters, but also by individuals with other mobility disabilities including persons who use walkers, crutches, or canes.

Guest rooms with communication features are used by persons that are visually and hearing impaired.

Even knowing where to look does not always make it simple to understand the requirements.  This newsletter will give you some examples of the not so well known rules about Transient lodging.

#ADAFact: If there are less than 51 guest rooms in a hotel or dorm, you are required to have mobility rooms without roll in showers.

This rule is very easy to miss because most of hotels have more than 50 guest rooms.  If you have less than 50, there are zero roll-in showers required.  But there are still required accessible bathing fixtures.  In a recent hotel review, I performed there were exactly fifty guest rooms.  I looked at the chart to see how many rooms with mobility features were required and saw that it was two.  But what I also noticed was that both of them could not have a roll in shower.  As a matter of fact, there is always a minimum number that is required without roll in showers.  So they could provide tubs or transfer showers instead.  See the chart below.

If they are interested in providing a roll in shower as an option, they would have to add a third guest room with mobility features.

In the 1991 ADAAG this was not the case and some establishments made all the rooms with communication features the same as the rooms with mobility features.  Communication features must be available as soon as the guest arrives.  It is no longer allowed to have a device at the front desk for the guest’s to request.

Here are some examples of communication features

this is a hard-wired notification device for the hearing impaired.

There typically is more communication rooms required than mobility rooms, and therefore some would be exclusively rooms with communication features.  Designers must be careful to make sure that they are providing 90% of the rooms with communication features without mobility features.