# 87


III-7.5170                                        June 17, 1993





Mr. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Washington, D.C. XXXXX

     Re:  DJ XXXXXXXX
          Holiday Inn
          5th & C Sts., S.W.  
          Washington, D.C. 20002 

Dear Mr. XXXXXX:

     This letter is in response to your correspondence in which
you allege a violation of title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12181-12189, and the
Department of Justice implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. pt. 36,
by the above-referenced Holiday Inn.  In particular, you
indicated that an AT&T Access 2000 unit, a card-operated
telephone with TDD capability located in the hotel lobby, would
not accept your credit card for a local call.  In addition, the
AT&T telephone unit would not accept coins and the adjacent coin-
operated telephones were not accessible because no TDDs were
present.

     The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") authorizes the
Department of Justice to investigate alleged violations of title
III. 42 U.S.C. 12188(b)(1)(A).  However, after considering the 
information you have provided to us, we have concluded that the
facts presented do not constitute a violation of title III of the
ADA.  

     As an existing place of public accommodation, the Holiday
Inn is, among other things, obligated to remove communication
barriers that are structural in nature, where such removal is
readily achievable; to provide auxiliary aids and services where
necessary to ensure effective communication; and to ensure
generally that individuals are not denied, on the basis of
disability, an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit
from the goods, services, and facilities of the hotel.  See
generally 28 C.F.R. 36.202, 36.303, 36.304.

     Accordingly, if the hotel offers its clients or customers
the opportunity to make outgoing telephone calls on "more than an
incidental convenience basis," such as providing in-room
telephone service for its guests, the hotel must make TDDs
available on request in private guest rooms.  A hotel also is
required to have a TDD at the front desk on request so that
guests with hearing or speech impairments can contact the front
desk from their rooms.  However, as an existing place of public
accommodation, the hotel is not obliged to provide TDDs in common
areas such as lobbies.

     The ADA Standards for Accessible Design for new construction
and alterations are more stringent.  With regard to new
construction, for example, if four or more public pay telephones
are provided on a hotel site, including at least one that is
located in the interior of the hotel, the hotel is required to
provide at least one TDD.  In addition, in new buildings with
banks of three or more interior public pay telephones, at least
one public pay telephone in each bank must be equipped with a
shelf and a power outlet to accommodate a portable TDD.  See ADA
Standards at sections 4.1.3(17)(c) and 4.1.3(17)(d).  A hotel
would be obligated to provide a coin-operated TDD if the other
pay telephones are coin-operated.  If the hotel only provided a
card-operated TDD unit, the hotel would deny individuals, on the
basis of a disability, an equal opportunity to benefit from the
goods, services, and facilities of the hotel in violation of 28
C.F.R. 202(b).

     If you have any questions concerning our action on this
complaint, please feel free to contact me at (202) 307-6309. 

                            Sincerely,




                        Sheila K. Delaney
                             Attorney
                      Public Access Section

Enclosure