Le Nordik Spa in Chelsea Quebec is a wonderfully relaxing place. It has many saunas and hot tubs, along with cooling stations and relaxation and quiet areas. There are a host of treatments available but my sister and I go for the water therapy. It is a full day of wandering to and from saunas and pools. This time Jerri joined us and it was a fantastic day.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the difficulty in the accessibility of the place. To be fair, they don't claim to be accessible, there are steps everywhere. Having weighed the pros and cons my sister and I felt the front entrance was probably the biggest challenge. She emailed and asked if there was another entrance explaining that we realized there were stairs inside. Inside the stairs have rails and are not covered with snow and ice. Outside there is a series of flat rocks as stairs, beautiful but dangerous for someone with balance concerns.
We were reassured when we got an email with instructions for a handicap entrance and parking in another area. We arrived and had some difficulty finding this "handicap" entrance, but eventually found it.
There was some effort to park, although there were three spaces, there was a large truck unloading supplies right in that area. To make matters worse there was a car parked in one of the spots, idling, waiting for someone. That someone turned out to be an employee who came running out of the building, and jumped into the car.
Finally parked, we went looking for the entrance we were told about which didn't require outdoor stairs. The only thing we saw was a locked door which read administration. Standing there in the falling snow we decided to knock on that door since we couldn't see anything else. A pleasant young woman opened the door and we explained we were looking for the handicap entrance that we had emailed about. She had no idea what we were talking about. She suggested we take the snow covered two flights of stairs to our right. I asked if we could just walk though the administration entrance. Off she went to find a manager, leaving us standing in the falling snow. We weren't even invited inside to wait. I am using a cane now, so not so invisible with the disability.
Eventually, a manager came back and opened the door, and invited us in. We explained we had emailed ahead and were given an alternative entrance. She allowed us to go through the office hall away and up the indoor stairs.
It was a lovely day from that point on, but it is a hard way to start a day of fun and relaxation. Thankfully, I have learned to let it go once I have been assertive about the need for sensitivity.
I was able to spend an incredible day with my sister and my daughter. What more could I ask for? Sensitivity training for staff would be a good start.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the difficulty in the accessibility of the place. To be fair, they don't claim to be accessible, there are steps everywhere. Having weighed the pros and cons my sister and I felt the front entrance was probably the biggest challenge. She emailed and asked if there was another entrance explaining that we realized there were stairs inside. Inside the stairs have rails and are not covered with snow and ice. Outside there is a series of flat rocks as stairs, beautiful but dangerous for someone with balance concerns.
We were reassured when we got an email with instructions for a handicap entrance and parking in another area. We arrived and had some difficulty finding this "handicap" entrance, but eventually found it.
There was some effort to park, although there were three spaces, there was a large truck unloading supplies right in that area. To make matters worse there was a car parked in one of the spots, idling, waiting for someone. That someone turned out to be an employee who came running out of the building, and jumped into the car.
Finally parked, we went looking for the entrance we were told about which didn't require outdoor stairs. The only thing we saw was a locked door which read administration. Standing there in the falling snow we decided to knock on that door since we couldn't see anything else. A pleasant young woman opened the door and we explained we were looking for the handicap entrance that we had emailed about. She had no idea what we were talking about. She suggested we take the snow covered two flights of stairs to our right. I asked if we could just walk though the administration entrance. Off she went to find a manager, leaving us standing in the falling snow. We weren't even invited inside to wait. I am using a cane now, so not so invisible with the disability.
Eventually, a manager came back and opened the door, and invited us in. We explained we had emailed ahead and were given an alternative entrance. She allowed us to go through the office hall away and up the indoor stairs.
It was a lovely day from that point on, but it is a hard way to start a day of fun and relaxation. Thankfully, I have learned to let it go once I have been assertive about the need for sensitivity.
I was able to spend an incredible day with my sister and my daughter. What more could I ask for? Sensitivity training for staff would be a good start.
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