The Abbey Conference Centre, Hill Room

Unfortunately this building is not very accessible though it's listed facilities would lead you to believe it is, lifts, disabled toilets and a variety of meeting rooms with larger doorways to accommodate wheelchair users, frame walkers and people who have other mobility aids. However that comes with the caveat that door tractions in the corridors and toilets in the basement required assistance from other users to help wheelchair users access the facilities. The disabled toilets in particular need their door closures to be adjusted to allow someone to push them open easily. Our event attendees has to queue for the lift as it's capacity was not 8 people as stated l would say 4 comfortably and l wheelchair only with broader machines loaded with bags really struggling to on board. This coupled with tight turns in the corridor contributed to an unacceptable level of discomfort for our conference members. Of course it's an older tall terraced building sandwiched between bigger neighbours who have bigger budgets to do inclusive retrofitting that works better. I suggest they get an up to date access audit asap, then try to follow it's recommendations to improve their level of accessibility. Perhaps l might have given it 3 stars as an individual user but once my friends realised l was a Google guide with a reputation for honest reviews they begged me to lower it to 2 stars. The nail in the coffin so to speak though was the incredible noise coming from the cafe drinks chillers that was deafening, irritating and if l had been allowed to switch them off. My poor ND was completely fried after 2 sessions sat within it's vicinity. They need servicing and the company who supplied them needs to give the cafe something much quieter. I also question the necessity to chill drinks in the winter months. On the plus side the staff are pleasant, very helpful and perhaps do not realise that putting their library at the top of a small flight of stairs is a no no. Colour full art and useful information filled the walls and lm sure the build is very much appreciated by many regular visitors. It just needs another level of TLC to make it functionally inclusive.