Wheelchairs and ADA Accessability in Las Vegas

I will be arriving in Las Vegas in a few days (woo hoo!) but recently had surgery and will probably need a wheelchair for my stay. I can walk very short distances and stand for a few minutes at a time.

My questions are: Do most major hotels have their own wheelchairs? If not, is there a place to rent one? How ADA Accessable is Las Vegas? And most importantly, what is the best way to play craps from a wheelchair? Can I request a chair from the floor?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Most of the strip casinos are new enough that they were built after the ADA laws. Most of the older locations have been renovated so it's really not a problem.

There are walkways over the strip at a couple of the key intersections. These walkways have both elevators and escalators.

Call your hotel ahead of time to ask about wheelchair rental. While I have no idea of the cost, most will either have one, or be able to get one, with just a little advance notice.

Vegas is very much a walking town, but even able-bodied people will note that the dogs are barking at the end of each day. Do yourself, and the person that will be pushing you, a favor: Get a motorized chair. It'll be a couple bucks more, but well worth it.

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Regarding chairs at craps: How helpful the personnel will be as far as helping you and providing a chair varies depending on any number of factors, including how busy they are and their mood. But there's no rule preventing people from taking an unoccupied stool from a nearby card game. People do it all the time. Of course, try to do this only at craps tables that have room.

I couldnt tell you about getting hold of a wheelchair, but regarding accesibility, most casino's I remember have the gaming floor located on the ground floor, so it should be easy to get from the door to the gaming floor.

There are also elevators at all the major crossroads with the pedestrian bridges.

[edit]oops. too slow.

The Deuce has a wheelchair ramp and a space to lock the wheelchair in place during transit. I don't know about other buses. I haven't seen any handicapped access in casino shuttles.

Do know if it's safe to go to Atlantic City yet...

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6482986

I had to read the story to see the complaint:

Quote:

He claims numerous violations at the casinos, including:

- cash advance and check cashing counters and ATM machines that are "inaccessible as to height."
- gaming tables that are "inaccessible as to height."
- lack of adequate informational and directional signs addressing people with disabilities.
- slots areas that are inaccessible due to multiple steps.
- slot machines that are inaccessible due to fixed seating in front of each machine.
- restrooms that don't meet specifications, such as providing accessible paper towel dispensers and insulating exposed drain pipes under lavatories to prevent burns.

I live in Northern NJ and spend most of my casino time at Bally's, Showboat (both are Harrah's properties) and Taj Mahal. Of the three, I can say this:

All height issues are probably true. I have seen one wheelchair height BJ table at Showboat. One time I noticed a full table (of able-bodied people), when a wheelchair patron showed up. The game stopped until someone volunteered to leave. It also had a sign indicating preferential seating for wheelchairs.

Still, one table is hardly sufficient. I don't know if there are any cash / ATMs that are at lower heights, but I don't doubt the claim.

Showboat heavily advertises $5 BJ 24/7/365. The truth is, this is ONE table. It is NOT the wheelchair table. FYI: When A.C. is crowded and/or on weekends, $15 tables are the minimum.

Yeah, most slots have chairs that are hard or impossible to move.

I wouldn't know about the exposed pipes in the restrooms, but, yeah, the towels would probably be hard to reach.

Ramps? There are plenty of ramps, although the complaint may indicate a couple specific areas that are inaccessible. I personally don't know of any such areas.

Bottom line: I think the person in that article has a valid case.

HOWEVER...

Gambler (the original poster) made it obvious that he(she?) can stand and transfer to a regular chair, so even in Atlantic City, Gambler shouldn't have any problems. Ditto for Vegas.

I'm not proud of this story, but when I bought a house here in 2001 the previous owners left a nice lightweight wheelchair in it. Later a hole-carding friend of mine asked to borrow it, because the low height of the chair would give him a better angle at seeing the dealer's hole card. So I complied and let him use it.

The casino he went to (I'm not sure he would want it mentioned) was extremely gracious at accommodating him. At the Three Card Poker table where he wanted to play there was an empty spot, but with the wheelchair he couldn't get close enough to the table. So the supervisor asked the players to scoot over, making room my friend. Although it wasn't me doing it, I felt badly about enabling the whole thing by loaning my friend the wheelchair, and made a point to not do it again. In fact, every time I saw the wheelchair after that I was reminded of the incident, so I donated it to charity. From what I hear, some kid in El Salvador is using it. Anyway, it just goes to show that I think the casino employees will be quite helpful.

Quote: Nareed

The Deuce has a wheelchair ramp and a space to lock the wheelchair in place during transit. I don't know about other buses.

As long as they're RTC then that's a big yes.

Quote: Nareed

I haven't seen any handicapped access in casino shuttles.

The only shuttles I have experience with are the Rio shuttles Harrah's runs, and IIRC they have a lift in the back.