Most hotel operators expect an accessibility audit to be about ramps. Ramps are usually the part they have already done. The failures that stop a guest are quieter than that, and they are almost always cheaper to fix at drawing stage than after handover.
Here is what comes up on nearly every hospitality survey we run.
The threshold nobody measured
A main entrance with a level approach, and then a 40mm lip at the door itself. It reads as nothing on a site walk. In a wheelchair it is a wall. This is the single most common finding in our files, and it is usually a matter of one threshold plate.
Accessible rooms that cannot be booked
The building has four compliant rooms. The booking engine has no way to reserve one. Guests ring reception, reception cannot see the inventory, and the room sits empty while the guest goes elsewhere.
A guest who cannot enter the lobby and a guest who cannot complete the booking are the same lost guest.
This is why we survey the estate and the software together. Splitting them is how the gap survives.
Bathroom grab rails at the wrong height
Fitted, certified, and 100mm off. The fixing points are already in the wall, so correcting it is inexpensive — but only if it is caught before the tiling goes in.
Wayfinding that assumes you can read it
Room numbers in low-contrast brushed steel, no tactile numerals, and corridor signage sited above sightline. Contrast on signage is measurable and it is in the standard. It is rarely tested.
Fire evacuation with no plan for who cannot use stairs
The hardest one to retrofit and the most serious. A refuge point, an evacuation chair and a named procedure are not expensive. Discovering you have none of them during an inspection is.
What this means for a procurement file
Every item above maps to a clause — ADA for the built environment, WCAG 2.1 AA for anything on a screen. A finding without a clause reference is an opinion. A finding with one is something you can hand to a regulator, a board, or a contractor.
If you want yours checked, the first assessment is free: one building or one website, with a prioritised list of what fails and roughly what it costs.