Industry Insight: Hotels Refusing to Allow Essential Medical Equipment in Guest Rooms. Why Blanket Bans Are a Legal Risk

We are seeing a growing number of cases where hotels refusing to allow essential medical equipment into guest rooms, usually citing “health and safety” concerns. A recent example involved Roca Nivaria Gran Hotel in Tenerife, where we were advised that an electric profiling bed and an electric hoist would not be permitted. For many disabled travellers, this type of equipment is not optional. It is essential to sleep safely, transfer safely and remain independent. Hotels are refusing to allow essential medical equipment does not create inconvenience. It creates exclusion.

The legal position in Spain. What matters in practice

Spain’s legal framework protects disabled people from discrimination in access to goods and services, including accommodation. The central legislation is the General Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and their Social Inclusion, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013.

This law incorporates the requirement to provide reasonable accommodation. In legal terms, this means making necessary and appropriate adjustments unless doing so would impose a disproportionate or undue burden. Importantly, refusals must be based on a specific, evidence-based assessment. A blanket policy or generalised safety concern is unlikely to meet this threshold.

Spain is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which reinforces that failure to provide reasonable accommodation may amount to discrimination.

We are not providing legal advice. However, from a compliance perspective, a refusal that is automatic, policy-driven, or unsupported by a documented risk assessment carries clear legal risk.

Why “health and safety” is rarely a sufficient justification

Hotels often describe medical equipment as an electrical or fire risk. This position is difficult to sustain when compared with everyday practice.

Guests routinely bring personal electrical appliances into hotel rooms. Fire authorities, including the London Fire Brigade, have repeatedly identified hair straighteners as a genuine fire risk due to misuse. Despite this, hotels do not generally prohibit them.

By contrast, electric profiling beds and hoists are usually supplied by specialist providers. These providers operate maintenance schedules, safety inspections and electrical testing regimes. This equipment is designed for use in healthcare and care environments, precisely to reduce risk.

Electric profiling beds are also widely recognised in occupational health guidance as reducing manual handling risk for both users and carers. From a risk management perspective, properly installed medical equipment is often more predictable and controllable than unsupervised personal appliances.

What typically happens when equipment is refused

When a hotel refuses essential equipment, we seek clarification rather than confrontation. We ask whether a specific risk assessment has been undertaken, whether the refusal is based on policy rather than law, and whether certification and servicing documentation has been considered.

In some cases, refusals are reversed once the issue is properly examined. In others, hotels maintain their position. When that happens, the impact on the traveller can be severe, ranging from unsafe workarounds to cancelled trips.

The wider issue is not one hotel or one destination. It is a pattern where essential medical equipment is still treated as optional rather than as a reasonable adjustment.

Until this changes, disabled travellers will continue to face barriers that non-disabled guests never encounter.

Want to know what to do if a hotel refuses essential medical equipment. Request our handy guide…….