read the law before you bitch

[smileyeagle1021]

Seriously, the next able bodied person who bitches about how not having an elevator is an ADA violation is going to be thrown down a stairwell.
First off, your problem is laziness, which is not a disability (double bonus points if you confirm that you don't have a disability and I'm not just going off your physical prowess in jogging from the van to the lobby).
Second, the ADA says we must provide rooms for those with disabilities, it says nothing about every room needing to be accessable. Guess what, half our rooms (the ones on the first floor) are accessable to those with disabilities.
Third, this building predates the ADA, and we had a room with a roll in shower before it was required to have one... while exemplarly performance in the past doesn't justify merely meeting requirements now, it shoudl show you that the hotel has been willing to accomodate guests with disabilities as is feasible... adding an elevator to a 40 year old building, while possible, would require the removal of two rooms from inventory and either a massive rebuild of the roof, foundation, or both to support the elevator equipment, plus elevators aren't exactly cheap. We aren't talking about a simple matter of gut two rooms, install an elevator car, some cables, some pulleys, and a motor. We're talking about the type of thing that would require shutting down a huge part of the hotel... possibly the entire hotel depending on what electrical work needs to be done. So yes, your demands that we build an elevator so you don't have to put forth the effort to climb one flight of stairs is quite unreasonable, and citing a law we are in compliance with isn't going to phase us.

[superhotelworker]

My building is 20 years old, we don't have a elevator and EVERY room on my first floor is accessible (By the back door since we're built like a split level house) by wheelchair, and even one of the handicapped suites is smoking!
I like your answer.. I'm printing this out for work so my co-auditor can see it.

[Mytical]

Wait, you are expecting them to read and put forth effort? Oh my god, that is so unreasonable! Next thing you know you'll tell me you don't have them carried to their rooms on the backs of the lowly workers!

EW's just craw out of the woodwork don't they?

[infinitemonkies]

Awhile ago the elevator in my apartment building broke down.
One resident spent a good solid 5 minutes screaming at the landlord, shouting obscenities, threats, saying he'll withhold rent, he's going to move, blah, blah, blah

This guy was perfectly healthy, and lived on the second floor. He was bitching about having to go DOWN ONE flight of steps.


Note: Landlord fixed the elevator in about 30 seconds. Turned out someone on a higher floor dropped some mail, and it got caught in the door.

[smileyeagle1021]

infinitemonkeys, you reminded me of the dorms I lived in at Utah State... the elevators were notorously unreliable (like to the point that I got stuck in the elevator was considered valid grounds to miss a test and have it rescheduled). The thing that always amazed me was that the people who bitched the most about it were the students on the third floor... the students on the 7th floor would of course complain about it, but never beyond reporting that the elevators were stuck again and asking when they would be fixed. Then again I was on the second floor and one of the few people who didn't use the elevator except to take my laundry down to the basement and back.

[Chromatix]

I live in a 4th-floor flat - which is 3 levels above ground at the rear, and four levels at the front. Once or twice, the lift has failed or been under maintenance. I just took the stairs.

[hinakiba777]

When I worked Rez Desk at my university people would come and whine that the elevator was always turned off at night. From 10pm until 8am weekdays, and different times on the weekend.

This is because the elevator share a wall with several of the dorm rooms, including the Suite for the the Dean of Residence. So the noise of the elevator running would people up, which at 2am is kind of a dick move.

The funny thing is that when the elevator was turned off, the doors would remain open. The process of locking it on one floor would cause the doors to remain a jar. So it was infinitely hilarious for me to watch drunk people walk into the open doors of the open elevator and stand there pressing the button with no result. Then have them come rant it was broken when there were about 10 signs in the lobby and elevator stating it was shut down during these hours.

Unless someone injured themselves, there was only one person in that dorm who was physically disadvantaged. She had cerebral palsy and lived on the first floor. But the building was ridiculously designed wherein you walked in the front door you had to climb a flight to get to the first floor or down a flight to the basement. So you had to take at least a flight up or down to get to the elevator anyway. That's why all the handicapped students were in OTHER dorms.

The only people truly hurt by this is anyone who broke their leg. And in those cases you could call down or send someone down to get the elevator unlocked for you.

[EvilEmpryss]

People with disabilities (and half an ounce of common sense and courtesy) know that "reasonable accommodation" does not mean elevators in every building. Some buildings are exempt due to historic value or because the business occupying it can provide alternate accommodations. The university I'm going to attend has their advising office in a building that is not HA, but when I told them I use a walker one of the advisor met me in a building that WAS accessible. That is the definition of reasonable accommodation.

[Magpie]

At least two of the engineering buildings at my campus don't bother with access keys for the elevators. (This caused confusion when I called the office for persons with disabilities asking for the key, but that's because it's a really old panel, and has what looks like a keyhole in it). It's really easy to prevent people from using the elevators when they oughtn't though - I'm fairly sure I could have taken the stairs more quickly, on my crutches with a cast, than the elevator got me upstairs. (It's actually a really cool elevator - probably dates to when the building first went it, it has a manual door on the side away from the hall, to acess the various labs).