Friday, May 16, 2014

Accessible Travel in the USA: Hotel Bugs and Hungry Alligators


We're now in Cape Canaveral after barely getting any sleep the night before in St. Augustine (more about that below). It's the night before we board the Disney Magic for 3 nights cruise in the Bahamas.


The Floridian: Located in the historical district in St. Augustine this restaurant has a tropical atmosphere fit for the Florida location. I ordered the Mahi N' Grit and was the catch of the day. The meat was soft and I loved the flavour. The location and its restrooms are accessible, however there are no buttons for the doors.


St. Augustine Alligator Farm: We made it just in time for the alligator feeding, it was an incredible feeling to watch the gators each and to see how happy they looked when waiting to be fed. It was really funny to watch all the gators come towards the handler as she was speaking about feeding. There are lots of different animals there besides the alligators. The animal that stood out most to me was the Galapagos Tortoises moving when it was raining. Another creature is the albino american alligator since you don't see much of those in zoos. The area of the farm that was the most incredible is the Alligator Swamp where you can feed the alligators and is full of birds nesting. The farm is accessible with windows available for persons in wheelchairs for the best view. The only part that is not accessible is that there are no buttons to open any doors. For persons with disabilities the price is $12.


Madd Jack's Grillin' Shack: Voted #1 restaurant in Cape Canaveral, this is a BBQ grillin' shack! The staff is very friendly, with the owner talking with each table of guests that comes through. We ordered lots of meat, and my favourite is the pulled pork and the ribs as they were both tender and flavourful. The price is fair as the portions are so large that we noticed other tables of men pack theirs to go. The location is accessible, however the front door opens in a direction that's inconvenient if there is a car parked right in front of it. Don't let that stop you from going though, it is a spot to visit next time if you're going to Cape Canaveral for a cruise.


Last night we stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites in St. Augustine, Florida. We checked in after 11:00 PM after driving for another 7 hours from North Carolina. Tired and exhausted our family went to bed at around 1:30 AM, I went into the washroom and noticed lots of dots on the floor and realized that they were bugs. They were all dead but there was plenty of them lying around. It was concerning so I decided to check other areas in the room and discovered others on and around the two beds. I went downstairs to notify the receptionist and he did his best to offer an alternative, to move rooms or he'll clean the room. It wasn't until 4:00 AM that we were all moved into our new room and asleep. The most surprising part was the reaction of the manager in the morning. She accused as of three things: 1) That we went back into and used the infested room after we moved into the new room, she even tried to use "video evidence" that it happened by showing me video of us carrying our luggage into the new room at 2:47 AM, 2) That we accessed their kitchen and made waffles that we never ate and instead threw into the garbage, and 3) That they have never had these bugs at their hotel before and it can't be their fault. I would not recommend this particular location of La Quinta, especially if you have accessible needs as they don't have any roll-in showers.


Read our previous entries:

Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

3 comments:

  1. That's terrible news! Two friends of mine used La Quinta in Chicago because they allowed dogs but had a good experience. It's terrible that the manager could possibly accuse you of such things. I hope you have written the chain, as well as the individual hotel. If you booked through an outside website, you could let them know too, and perhaps write a review on TripAdvisor and Expedia.

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  2. Hey Jenn, the manager from La Quinta called few days ago and apologized for the accusation and mentioned that the bugs did originate from their hotel and they are looking into what they are and where the source is. They've also providing a refund. I've already email, Facebook and Twitter the corporate office to see what they will be doing to rectify this.

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