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Access Statement

• Introduction
  The Somerville was originally built as a private residence in the 1840s. It has had several extensions added since then and has been operating as a hotel for more than forty years. The building has 2 floors with a main entrance on the ground floor. The ground floor is elevated. There are nine bedrooms.
  

  We endeavour to cater for the needs of all of our guests.

• PART 1 - PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BUILDING

  The following statement is a summary of our accommodation provision . We hope that you will find this useful in planning your visit. Feel free to contact us if you require any further information.

• Pre-Arrival
  The main Torquay station is 1 mile away
  The coach station is 0.75 miles away
  The nearest bus stop is 200 yards away down Babbacombe Road (outside  the museum) Frequent bus services are available and timetables are provided upon request.
  Local taxi services are available upon request
  We can be contacted by phone or by email
  
  
• Arrival and parking facilities
  Our car park is located at the rear of the property
  There are no marked bays and the surface is gravel
  Access to the building is via the front door which has a set of steps up to it
  (There are five steps which are generally 17 inches high. There are hand rails either side of the steps.
  The car park has night time motion activated security lighting
  Assistance can be given to guests with their luggage.
  Full guest information folders are available in all rooms.
  
  
• Main entrance and reception
  There are steps up to the front door as mentioned above
  The outer doorway is 135cm wide whilst the inner door way is 81cm wide.
  The check in process is normally carried out in the bar/lounge area.
  
  
• Public areas - General (internal)
  The ground floor area is all located on one level. The doorway access to the lounge, bar area and dining room is 68cm. The flooring in those areas are as follows: lounge short pile carpet, bar and dining area wooden floors with Persian rugs.
  There is a unisex toilet located on the ground floor

  There are 11 stairs to a half landing, a further step and then a further five steps to the first floor of the main building. The steps are carpeted in short pile carpet and are 83cm wide, 24cm deep and 16cm high.

  To comply with fire regulations all doors are self closing fire doors. A legally compliant fire alarm system is operational with emergency lighting provided,. Please inform us on arrival of any hearing difficulties so we can arrange for special alarm procedures to be put in place
  All Tvs provided have teletext and subtitles.
  The Somerville is totally non smoking

• Bedrooms
  There are three double bedrooms on the ground floor. Four further bedrooms are on the first floor of the main building and a further three rooms are on the first floor of the extensions.
  The widths of the bedroom doors vary between 70 and 78 cms and the doors to the ensuites vary from 36cm to 68cm
  All ensuites have a toilet, washbasin, mirror and shower. The size of the shower trays vary from 760mm squared to 900mm squared as well as two at 760mm x 1200mm.
  All ensuite floors are tiled with specified floor tiles
  
  
• PART 2 - SUPPORT WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE GUESTS WITH SPECIFIC NEEDS
  
  Guests with restricted mobility: The nature of the building means that guests totally reliant on wheel chairs would not be able to access a full range of facilities ( e.g. No ensuite is sufficiently large to accommodate a wheelchair)
  
  

  However for guests with some independent mobility, we have:

  • Ground floor bedrooms
  • Low step showers and grab rails
  • Nearly level access at rear of building
  • Hand rails on front steps
  • The ability to obtain specialist equipment such as wheel chairs and mobility aids for the duration of a guest’s stay.
  •  A downstairs toilet.
  • All public rooms on the ground floor with level access.
  • A formal procedure for guests with particular needs is in our evacuation procedure.

  For guests with visual impairments, we:

  • Have good colour contrasting in the fixtures and fittings of our rooms
  • Have good lighting especially in the ensuites
  • Can offer assistance in reading menus & other materials
  • Can offer large print copies of our own materials
  • Have an audio description of our facilities on our website

  Guests with hearing impairment, we:

  • Ensure that we speak clearly so that the guest can lip read.
  • Direct the guest to written information
  • Have teletext on our TVs
  • Have procedures in the event of evacuation

  Guests with bronchitis and breathing difficulties, we have:

  • Non feather bedding available
  • High standards of cleaning in the rooms and have regular
  • scheduled deep cleans
  • Rooms where no animals are allowed

  Guests with food allergies

  1. Guests generally inform us at point of booking. This is recorded on booking form and paper diary. We also double check all guests at check in.
  2. We are able to obtain special foods such as soya milk or wheat free bread.

  Guests with dogs for assistance.
  We can accommodate guests with such dogs in our garden room. This is the only room to accommodate dogs.

  Guests with other specific requirements.
  We are able to make some adaptations to rooms to accommodate special equipment. For example we have adapted rooms to accommodate portable dialysis units and have stored fluid for guests in advance of arrival.
  
  If you have any individual enquiries please feel free to contact using any of the contact details on the website