Hotel Wayfinding Instructions
Blind Convention-Goers
These instructions
were taken from the program of the 2006 Washington Council of the Blind
Convention. Very little of this would be
necessary if the hotel had Talking Signs® technology installed.
Hotel
Description
The main entrance of the hotel is at the west end of the
building. Upon entering, the
By continuing North on the carpeting, you will come to the
gift shop in front of you. Making a
right and heading East, you will find yourself on tile, at the beginning of
which is the entrance to the Seaport Dining Room to your right, followed by the
coffee bar and then the entrance to the Seaport Lounge. Just before reaching the end of the tile,
accessible public restrooms will be to the right.
Continuing East, you will now be on carpeting. This is the Grand Foyer and is a large, very
open area being used for another group and their activities. Immediately off to the right is a hallway
that leads to the Northwest Ballroom.
There is a wide aisle way for access through the Grand Foyer which is along
the left, or North side of the foyer and which will be adorned with Astroturf
during our convention. Staying on the
Astroturf will assist us all in keeping on the walkway. When you come to the end of the Astroturf,
you will be on tile. About five feet
before the tile, you can turn right to head toward the Grand hallway. Just before the tile, are stairs leading up
to the second floor.
Continuing onto the tiled area, there will be an opening to
the left which houses a bank of elevators leading to the Tower; these are the
Tower elevators. The Cascade meeting
rooms can be found on the second floor and the majority of our group sleeping
rooms will also be in this Tower.
Continuing passed the elevators, still heading East, you
will find automatic doors out the East entrance. This will lead to the relieving area.
Directions
to our meeting space
From here I will give directions from the Tower elevators,
which are four elevators set in an octagon shaped area. The buttons can be found straight in, between
the middle elevators.
Once on the main floor, and going to the right when leaving
the Tower elevators, you will be on tile.
Once you step on carpet or Astroturf, the stairs heading to the 2nd
floor will be to your right. Just passed
the stairs you can turn left to head toward the Grand Hallway.
Turning left, you will be facing South and keeping a wall
along your left there will be the Grand Foyer to your right. Once you’re in the hallway, you will pass
Grand 1, then Grand 2 & 3. The
information/volunteer tables will be along the left in this hallway between
Grand 2 and 3. Grand 2 is where the
pre-convention board meeting, all general sessions, the business meeting and
Talent show will be held ,and Grand 3 is where all general meals including the
banquet will be. I encourage you to
consider making this the main hallway you use.
Past the second entrance to Grand 2 is an adjoining hallway
that runs West, and just past that opening on the left is the entrance to Grand
3. Taking the hallway which shoots off
to the right will lead you to the Northwest Grand hallway. As you walk West, you will find public
restrooms to your left. To your right is
an outside courtyard which separates the 2 long hallways. Without needing to turn, once you get to the
connecting Northwest hallway, Northwest 3, where exhibits will be held on
Friday, is directly in front of you. The
restrooms in this connecting hallway are not wheelchair accessible.
If needing the accessible restrooms, make a right at the
Northwest hallway, which will have you facing North and lead you back to the
foyer. Upon exiting the Northwest
hallway, make a left and you will soon step on tile, which alerts you that the
restrooms are to your left. If locating
these restrooms from the Grand Foyer, stay on the Astroturf path heading West,
and upon reaching the tile, turn left.
If desiring to go to the coffee bar, gift shop, restaurants,
front desk, etc. while in meetings, you may find it easiest to take the
Northwest hallway back out to the foyer and make a left to head toward those
locations, bypassing the Grand Foyer.
The cascade rooms are on the 2nd floor. Making a right when leaving the elevator
bank, go about 3 feet (you may find it helpful to trail the wall to your right)
and then turn left to head South down a long hallway. Please be aware that if you do not make the
turn as planned, a set of stairs are about 20 feet West of the elevators which
lead down to the main floor. Cascade
1-10 are along the right (West) side of the hallway and Cascade 13-11 can be
found along the left (East) side following some business offices. Accessible public restrooms are just around
the corner from Cascade 1. If coming
from the elevators, you would turn right, just before the wall begins on the
right to the long hallway, and if heading North from one of the Cascade rooms,
you would turn left once the wall ends along your left. You will then turn to the left to enter the
entryway of the restrooms.
Relieving
Area
Exiting the elevator bank on the main floor but going to
your left will lead you out the automatic doors. You will then turn left to get outside. Turn right, keeping the building on your
right and walk about 10 feet. Turn left
and walk another 20 feet or so to get to the relieving area. There will be 3 choices of surfaces to use
and receptacles placed nearby with motion sensors on them for locating easily.
Other
info:
All 3 public restrooms are set with Men’s being to the left
and Women’s to the right.
There are ice machines and pop vending machines on all
sleeping floors in the Tower which can be found at the beginning of the hallway
to the right.
In the tower, odd numbered sleeping rooms are along the left
side of the hall and even numbered rooms are along the right.
Braille and large print menus are available in both
restaurants, as well as upon request for room service.