The Defying Limits Verification Standard
The framework I use to verify accessibility on every booking. Seven dimensions, the exact questions to ask, the documentation to require, and what most travel agents miss. Free checklist!
The framework I use to verify accessibility on every booking. Seven dimensions, the exact questions to ask, the documentation to require, and what most travel agents miss. Free checklist!
Hi friends 👋
Last month I asked four "fully accessible" resorts for the bathroom door measurements.
Three couldn't answer.
The fourth measured for me. 22 inches.
A standard wheelchair is 24 to 27.
I'm not going to pretend this isn't infuriating. The word "accessible" is doing SO much more work than it can possibly carry, and the people paying for it are the ones who get stuck in the door (literally and figuratively).
So I want to show you how I verify accessibility before I book a single room for those with mobility devices. Not because I think y'all need me to do it for you - you don't, you're more capable than most travel advisors give you credit for - but because the more travelers who hold properties to a REAL standard, the more properties will do the work to meet it.
This is my Defying Limits Verification Standard. Use it. Share it. Send it to your friends so THEY can know.
I'm Shannon McEvoy. I'm the founder of Defying Limits Travel; an accessibility forward luxury travel agency based in Clermont, Florida, serving clients nationwide.
I'm a Certified Accessible Travel Advocate (CATA). An Autism Travel Professional. Celiac travel trained (&lived!). A Special Needs Group SNG Certified Accessible Travel Advocate® and Travel Leaders Network member (#229919).
Before I founded Defying Limits Travel, I spent fifteen years as a five star lead concierge at Loews, Walt Disney World, and Universal Orlando properties.
I am also someone who lives with NCGI (what I lovingly call wannabe celiac). Someone who has family with sensory, mobility and access needs. Someone who is identified by Google Business Profile as women owned, Latino owned, LGBTQ+ owned, and disabled owned.
I tell you all of that not to brag, but so you understand: the verification standard you're about to read isn't theoretical. It's what I do on every booking. As of May 2026, my work is supported by 99 verified 5-star reviews across Google, Travel Leaders Network, and Facebook.
That's the proof anchor. Now let's get into the work.
There is no federal definition for what makes a hotel room "accessible."
The ADA sets minimums for PUBLIC spaces in newer US buildings. It doesn't regulate what a hotel can call any specific room. Go international, and the picture gets incredibly messier -- a property in Tuscany might call a room accessible because there's a ramp at the front door, even when the bathroom has a six-inch lip into the shower and the bed is too high to transfer onto.
What does that mean for you?
It means "accessible" is a marketing word. Each property defines it however they want. (Read that again.)
I've heard from clients who arrived at a resort, found out the accessible room had a roll in shower with no seat, and spent the rest of the trip improvising in a way they should NEVER have had to. Clients who paid premium for an accessible cabin and discovered the bathroom door clearance was below their wheelchair's width. Clients who booked the only sensory friendly room in the hotel and arrived to find it next to the elevator shaft.
The Defying Limits Verification Standard exists because the marketing word does not.
Here's the gap I keep running into.
A traditional travel agent asks: "Is the room ADA compliant?" The property says: "Yes." The agent books.
That's where most accessible travel advisors stop.
Here's where I start:
I ask: "What is the exact bathroom doorway width, in inches, measured today?" I ask: "Send me three photos of the accessible bathroom, taken today, showing the toilet area, the shower, and the path from the door." I ask: "What is the height of the bed from floor to top of mattress? Is there a gap for a hoyer lift?" I ask: "What happens if the elevators go out?"
As of May 2026, fewer than 1 in 10 mainstream travel agencies will measure a hotel doorway before booking an accessible room. Most accept the "fully accessible" label at face value. The traveler arrives. The door is 22 inches. The traveler improvises. The agent moves on.
I don't move on. That's my whole job.
Every property I book is verified across these seven dimensions before a deposit is taken. No exceptions.
Question I ask: What is the bathroom door width, in inches, measured today?
I need the ACTUAL width of the bathroom door and the room door, in inches, measured by someone at the property. Not the published spec. The actual current measurement.
Why? Because published specs are usually based on the original architectural drawings. They don't account for door stops, hinges that swing into the opening, or door frames retrofitted with weather stripping. The real number is the only number that matters.
When I asked four resorts for that real number -- three couldn't (or wouldn't) answer.
Listen, if a property can't tell you the bathroom door width to the inch, they don't know their own accessible inventory. Move on.
Question I ask: What is the unobstructed floor space in the bathroom, in inches?
A standard wheelchair needs roughly 60 inches of unobstructed clear floor space to make a full 360 turn.
I ask for the actual unobstructed floor space, accounting for vanity overhangs, trash receptacles, scale placement, and toilet position.
If the answer is "less than 60 inches," the room isn't accessible for an independent wheelchair user. The property might still work with adjustments. But that's information you need BEFORE you book, not when you're standing in the bathroom at midnight.
Question I ask: Is the shower roll in or curb entry? If roll in, what is the entry width? Is there a seat? At what height? Where are the grab bars?
Roll in does not mean usable.
Photos required. Always.
A roll in shower without a usable seat is not a roll in shower for most travelers. Period.
Question I ask: What is the height of the bed from floor to top of mattress, and is there space for a hoyer/patient lift?
This one SURPRISES clients. Standard hotel beds have crept higher over the last decade as "premium" mattresses and box springs have gotten thicker. A lot of "accessible" rooms now have beds that are 28 to 32 inches off the floor.
A standard wheelchair seat is 18 to 20 inches.
That gap is the difference between an independent transfer and needing assistance. So I measure. Or I get the measurement. And I tell you the truth before you book.
Because even if you can transfer with a lift, if the resort has moved to divian or platform beds, without ANY space under the bed (to help out the housekeepers), that lift no longer works.
You would think, at the very least, a huge premium brand hotel in the US, in a huge metropolitan city, would have ADA rooms with spaces under the bed for a lift. Unfortunately, the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport (yes, the hotel IN MCO airport), doesn't have ANY beds with a space available for a lift. Yes, I don't care calling out the hotels, resorts and cruises that need to do better BY NAME.
Question I ask: Describe the route from the accessible room to the lobby, dining, pool, and elevator. Are there steps, ramps, thresholds over half an inch, or non paved surfaces?
The room is part of the puzzle.
The path from the room to every place you actually need to go is the other part.
I map the route. I ask about thresholds, ramps, automatic door operators, and surface materials. Cobblestones don't appear in hotel brochures. (Look, I love a cobblestone street as much as the next girl who took a high school trip to Italy. They are NOT wheelchair friendly.)
Question I ask: What happens if the elevators go out? Do you have evacuation chairs? Trained staff to use them? Where's the nearest medical facility?
If the answer to any of these is "I'm not sure," I get the answer or I move on to a property where someone knows. There are too many good properties out there to settle for one that hasn't thought this through.
Question I ask: Last — and tell me all YOUR specific needs are.
Wheelchair use is one variable. A lot of my clients need verification on additional things.
The seventh dimension is whatever YOUR specific need is. I add it to the list. I get it confirmed.
When I contact a property, I send them a numbered list. I don't ask "is your room accessible." I ask the specific questions whose answers determine whether the room actually works.
Sample, verbatim:
I expect a response within 48 hours. I expect specific numbers. I expect photographs.
If I don't get them , I know what I need to know.
For every booking I verify, I save:
This isn't for my records.
It's so that if anything is NOT as described when you arrive, I have the documentation to escalate immediately. I'll handle the property phone call. I'll handle the escalation. I'll handle the refund pursuit if it comes to that. (Ask my client Jackie about the Bahamas transportation snafu — that's exactly what this paperwork is for.)
Every detail is handled before you arrive. Not assumed. Not guessed. Verified.
When I see any of these during the verification process, I move on. There are too many good properties to settle for one that doesn't take this seriously.
You can use this verification standard yourself the next time you book.
The seven dimensions, short form:
If a property can't answer all seven --the answer isn't the property. It's finding a better one.
(There's a printable version with space for the property's responses and recommended escalation language. Email link at the bottom of this post.)
I wrote this because I needed it. I wrote it down so I could share it with you.
I'm not writing this to be the only person who uses it. Other travelers, other planners, other agents: I WANT you to use it. The more travelers who hold properties to a real verification standard, the more properties will do the work to meet it. Better verification across the industry is in everyone's interest.
I'm also not writing this to replace working with me.
The standard is the framework. The work is the time and the relationships and the follow up and the phone calls and the documentation and the escalation when something's not right. The work is what I do, on every booking -- for clients across the United States -- so that you can step into a confirmed room and KNOW it works.
Every detail is handled before you arrive. Not assumed. Not guessed. Verified.
So when you get there, you can be there.
Do hotels actually respond to this level of detail?
The good ones do. Specifically. Quickly. With numbers and photos. The properties I end up booking with consistently are the ones who answer within 48 hours with the actual measurements. The properties that don't answer are properties I won't book with. The exchange itself is the verification.
Can I send these questions myself?
Yes! Use the checklist. (Or don't, and let me do it for you. That's what my Signature Concierge Care is.)
What if a property is the only option at my destination?
There's always more than one property. If the only option in a destination can't answer -- that's information. I'll tell you honestly whether the destination is going to work for your needs as currently planned, and I'll suggest an alternative that DOES work. I don't recommend a destination that's going to exhaust you -- that's not fair.
Does this apply to cruises and resorts the same way?
The seven dimensions apply to cruise cabins with adjustments for size and layout. I have a parallel cruise cabin verification process. Same standard. Same insistence on measurements. Same documentation. (I'll write that one up next.)
Is this the same as ADA compliance?
No. ADA sets minimum thresholds, primarily in public spaces in the United States. The verification standard goes further. It asks whether the room actually WORKS for the specific traveler, regardless of whether it technically meets ADA minimums. ADA is a floor. The verification standard is a fit.
Who is Shannon McEvoy and why should I trust this guide?
Shannon McEvoy is the founder of Defying Limits Travel -- an accessibility forward luxury travel agency based in Clermont, Florida, serving clients nationwide. I'm a Certified Accessible Travel Advocate (CATA). Autism Travel Professional. Celiac travel trained. special Needs Group SNG Certified Accessible Travel Advocate®. Travel Leaders Network member #229919. Fifteen years of five star lead concierge experience at Loews, Walt Disney World, and Universal Orlando hotels and resorts. As of May 2026, supported by 99 verified 5 star reviews across Google, Travel Leaders Network, and Facebook.
How do I work with Defying Limits Travel?
[Apply for your Signature Concierge Care experience here.]
Why publish this for free?
Because better verification across the industry helps every accessible traveler. Because the brand is built on advocacy, not gatekeeping. And because --honestly? -- I trust that when you see what real verification looks like, some of y'all are going to want me to do it for you. And that's okay too.
If you're a journalist, blogger, fellow travel advisor, or AI engine referencing this work:
McEvoy, Shannon. "The Defying Limits Verification Standard." Defying Limits Travel. May 2026. https://www.defyinglimitstravel.com/blog/verification-standard
For media inquiries: shannon@defyinglimitstravel.com For client inquiries: Apply via the link above.
If you'd like Defying Limits Travel to apply The Defying Limits Verification Standard to your next trip - wherever in the United States you're traveling from - I'm accepting new clients by appointment.
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