FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1996 (202) 616-2765
TDD (202) 514-1888
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AGREEMENT ENSURES THAT RESERVATIONS FOR
ACCESSIBLE ROOMS WILL BE HONORED AT COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT HOTELS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Courtyard by Marriott hotels will take
steps to ensure that travelers with disabilities are given the
accessible rooms they've been promised, under an agreement
reached today with the Department of Justice.
The agreement, which affects more than 200 hotels around the
country, resolves a complaint filed by a Tulsa, Oklahoma man who
alleged that the Courtyard by Marriott, a subsidiary of Marriott
International, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
by failing to provide an accessible room he had previously
reserved. Courtyard by Marriott has agreed to modify its
reservations policy to make it easier to reserve accessible
rooms, hold accessible rooms until all other rooms are occupied,
and guarantee the availability of the rooms once they are
reserved.
"Travelers with disabilities can now be sure that the
accessible room they reserve will be there for them when they
arrive," said Deval L. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights. "The simple policy changes called for in today's
agreement will alleviate a common problem encountered by people
with disabilities."
The complaint alleged that in June of 1993 David Williams
reserved an accessible room at the Memphis Courtyard by Marriott,
after several attempts.
A few weeks later, when Williams and his wife Mary Ann, who
uses a motorized scooter for mobility, checked into the hotel and
were shown to their assigned room, they discovered that it was
not accessible. When Mr. Williams complained to the staff, he
was told that the room was in fact designated as accessible. Mr.
Williams then contacted the Guest Relations office at the hotel
headquarters and explained the situation. He was informed again
that the room was certified as accessible.
The staff offered Mr. Williams a room at a nearby Marriott
hotel -- at approximately $50 more per night. The Williams'
eventually found an accessible room at a hotel located several
miles from downtown Memphis.
In fact, a Department investigation discovered that the room
to which the Williams' were assigned was not one of the eight in
the hotel that were designated as accessible, but was next door
to one. Marriott International claims that a staff member at the
Memphis Courtyard inadvertently wrote down the wrong room number
for the Williams', then reserved the accessible room for someone
else.
Under the settlement agreement with the Department,
Courtyard by Marriott will:
ensure that every Courtyard hotel maintains an updated
list of its accessible rooms;
train employees about the requirements of the ADA;
instruct staff at all Courtyard hotels that accessible
rooms may not be reserved for non-disabled customers
unless all other rooms in the facility are occupied;
ensure that the central reservations office has
information about the availability of accessible rooms
at all Courtyard by Marriott hotels, so that requests
for accessible rooms can be honored promptly;
provide, at a customer's request, written confirmation
that an accessible room has been "reserved";
take steps to re-locate a non-disabled customer
assigned to an accessible room if the room is later
requested by a customer with a disability;
pay the difference, if any, between the cost of an
accessible room at a specific Courtyard hotel and an
accessible room at another facility, if a reserved room
is unavailable; and,
pay the Williams' $10,000 in damages and a civil
penalty of $7,500.
Courtyard by Marriott has also agreed to remove barriers to
access at the Memphis hotel. The hotel will make the parking
areas and public restrooms fully accessible, install an
additional handrail on a ramp leading from the hotel lobby to a
lounge area for safety, ensure that two of the eight designated
"accessible" guest rooms provide roll-in showers, and make the
phones and alarms in five additional guest rooms accessible to
people with hearing impairments.
"Today's agreement serves as an example that we hope others
in the hotel industry will follow," added Patrick.
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires
private entities that own, lease, lease to, or operate places of
public accommodation, like hotels, to provide individuals with
disabilities full and equal access to their goods and services.
The Department also announced an ADA settlement today with a
Comfort Inn hotel near Walt Disney World, which has agreed to
make its rooms and common areas accessible to people with
disabilities.
People who would like to find out more about the ADA or
would like to obtain copies of today's agreement can call the
Justice Department's toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 TDD or access the ADA home page at
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.
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