Blind man documents experience getting stuck in inaccessible hotel elevator

‘I don’t feel disabled when I fiddle around for stuff, but when things are inaccessible, I’m forced to live in my disability,’ singer Mario Bonds says

Mario Bonds, a blind man, has documented his recent experience getting stuck in an inaccessible hotel elevator in Atlanta, Georgia.

The musician first posted his video, which has now been shared to TikTok, about an elevator incident at the Hampton Inn Suites on his social media accounts last month. The clip started off with Bonds introducing himself as he stands in the elevator and addresses the inaccessible space.

“I don’t feel blind when I walk with my cane. I don’t feel disabled when I fiddle around for stuff, but when things are inaccessible, I’m forced to live in my disability,” he said.

After sharing the address of the hotel in Georgia, Bonds said that he was stuck on the elevator for “10 minutes” while trying to go to the lobby to get food. The camera was then directed towards the elevator’s touch-screen, which indicated the floors in the hotel. There was also a keypad below to type in the floor, which Bonds said was “supposed to make accessibility better”.

However, he said that there weren’t any raised “braille” markings on the keypad, which would have helped him know which button was for which floor.

Braille “is a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision”, according to the American Foundation for the Blind.

In the video, Bonds said that because there weren’t any braille markings, he had to figure out if it was “a phone keypad” or “calculator keypad”. From there, he also said it was unclear how to press “enter” to “activate” the floor that he wanted to go to.

He also shared that the hotel had its lobby on an uncommon floor.

“In this elevator, the lobby is on the 20th floor,” he said. “Not the first floor. So when I accidentally push the button to go to the first floor, I’m still in a bad situation because that’s not the lobby, I need to get the food that I got.”

The former Glee Project star said that after a janitor got him off the elevator, he went back to his room and discovered that his key didn’t work. He noted that while he’d “normally” just go back downstairs to get another key, he didn’t want to go into that elevator again.

“I didn’t want to go through a horror story of getting stuck in this elevator,” he said, before criticising the Hilton staff, adding: “We were told by the front desk, ‘We didn’t build the hotel, we feel attacked.’”

While he noted that the general manager was “great,” he emphasised that the “first level staff at the desks were extremely insensitive”. Bonds also claimed that the staff told him that the elevator has “the wheelchair emblem on it for people who are disabled”.

He said that he corrected the staff, explaining: “I repeated to them, I don’t have an ambulatory disability. I’m blind.” When he pushed the disability button, an automated voice in the elevator said: “Use the keypad to enter the destination floor.”

After pointing out there were no instructions for how to use the elevator keypad, he ended his video with the hope that the Hilton staff will get some “sensibility training”.

“This elevator is absolutely atrocious. I appreciate that all of the staff have finally come and looked at it,” he said. “But they’ve got to do something about this.”

He also noted that per the 1988 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), “no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of handicap,” denied “the opportunity to participate in or benefit from a service, program, job, or other opportunity on the basis of his or her handicap”.

Last week, Bonds duetted the TikTok video of himself and highlighted how this experience in the elevator impacted him.

“Before this situation, I did not have anxiety about being stuck alone in an elevator that I can’t operate because it was not ADA compliant,” he wrote in the text over his video. “Also to be treated [with] disregard by the hotel staff was absolutely humiliating. I believe in teachable moments, and I hope this is one for Hilton.”

In the comments of his video, many people sent messages of support and encouraged the Hilton hotel in Atlanta to make changes to its elevator.

“I just saw the shared video and came straight to your page,” one wrote. “I am so sorry you had to have this horrible experience. We need to do better.”

Another added: “I hope Hilton reaches out to make it right and update their elevators so this doesn’t happen again.”

After Bonds’ video went viral, a spokesperson for the hotel issued a statement to Channel 2 Action News, in which they said the hotel was “aware of these reported concerns”.

“Providing a hospitable, welcoming environment is the essence of our business, and it is our policy to comply with all ADA regulations. We immediately took the necessary steps to investigate further, including a consultation with our elevator company regarding potential updates to our equipment,” they said. “We are also conducting additional training to provide a more seamless guest experience for individuals in need of accessibility accommodations.”

The Independent has contacted a representative for Bonds and for Hilton Hotel for comment.