In August, I made a very quick trip to Mostar, literally just for one night, from August 15 to 16. I wasn’t there to do the tourist rounds. I was visiting a friend, so I needed a hotel that met three basic requirements: it had to be wheelchair accessible, it couldn’t cost a small fortune, and, if possible, it had to be close to the city centre.
My first filter was, of course, accessibility. Because you can offer me a hotel in the best location in town at a dream price, but if I can’t get into the bathroom or reach the toilet, then the location, the view and the stars on the door really don’t help me much.
First surprise: information about accessibility is almost nonexistent
I found Hotel Mostar thanks to a recommendation from a friend who told me she was almost certain they had an accessible room. I say “almost certain” because I couldn’t find enough concrete information online.
Neither the hotel website, Booking, nor Google gave me a detailed explanation of what exactly it means when they say the hotel has a room for a person with a disability. And anyone who uses a wheelchair knows that the sentence “the hotel is accessible for people with disabilities” can mean absolutely everything and absolutely nothing.
So I called the hotel. And the interrogation began.
- How wide are the doors?
- Can I enter the bathroom in my wheelchair?
- Is the shower level-access?
- Are there grab bars?
- Can I roll up to the sink?
- What is the toilet area like?
- What about parking?
In other words, I didn’t simply ask: “Do you have an accessible room?” I learned that lesson a long time ago.
I asked them exactly what they had.
Once they explained the layout and what the room included, I booked it.
Arrival and parking: definite points for the hotel here
The entrance to the hotel is completely level, and I had no problem entering in my wheelchair. The parking is right next to the hotel and, another plus, hotel guests don’t have to pay for it. I’m mentioning this because parking next to a hotel is not always included in the room price.
The system for entering and leaving the parking lot, however, is a little story of its own. When you enter, the machine gives you a parking card. When you later want to leave the hotel by car, you need to scan that parking card together with your room card on a separate device. Then you insert the parking card again into the machine at the exit barrier so the barrier will open.
Simple once you understand it. The first time? Well… apparently it wasn’t quite idiot-proof enough for me. 😄
It took me a moment to figure out what went where, but once you understand the system, it works perfectly normally.
Reception: lovely staff, very high counter
The staff were very friendly and ready to help. No complaints there.
But I do have one universal hotel mystery: Why are reception desks almost everywhere designed as if an entire basketball team is supposed to stand behind them?
If you’re short, problem. If you use a wheelchair, bigger problem. If you’re short and sitting in a wheelchair, like me, then you basically have to raise your voice a little just so the person on the other side can see and hear you.
This is not a Hotel Mostar problem specifically. I see it almost everywhere. Still, it would be nice if hotels started thinking about making at least one section of the reception desk lower.
The room: this is what it should actually look like
The moment I entered the room, it was obvious that this wasn’t one of those situations where someone had thought: “Let’s just call it accessible and hope for the best.”
The room is spacious. There is enough room to move around and turn a wheelchair comfortably. The access around the room is good, the mirror is positioned at an appropriate height, the power outlets are accessible, and overall, everything is set up the way it should be.
You’ll be able to see the room much better in the video accompanying this article than I could ever describe it in words.
If I really wanted to nitpick, I would say I missed having a proper balcony. The room has a French balcony. But realistically, if you’ve come to Mostar, I hope you’re not planning to spend your entire trip sitting in your hotel room.
And now we come to the real test: the bathroom
The bathroom is actually accessible. Really. It is spacious enough for a wheelchair, the toilet is approachable, there are grab bars, the sink is accessible, and the shower is a proper roll-in shower, with no threshold.
You can roll right up to the shower area, and there is a fold-down shower seat attached to the wall that you can transfer onto. Of course, you’re not going to shower in your everyday wheelchair. But there is enough space to approach the shower, transfer safely, and actually use the bathroom normally.
And that is exactly what I mean when I say that a hotel bathroom is accessible. I only have one small, but very practical complaint.
Once you sit on the shower seat, there is no shelf or other surface within easy reach where you can put your shampoo, shower gel and the other things you need while showering.
A tiny detail? Yes. But once you’re sitting under the shower and realise your shower gel is somewhere you can’t reach, that tiny detail suddenly doesn’t feel quite so tiny.
And it could be solved very easily with one simple shelf.
The bed, or a small mountain-climbing expedition?
Now we come to my eternal battle with hotel beds. Could someone please explain to me who started this trend of ridiculously high beds? And, more importantly, when is it going to end?
Because they are breaking me. 😂
To be fair to Hotel Mostar, their bed was not extremely high compared with some other hotels where you practically need a ladder next to the bedside table. But I’m short. For me, this bed was still high enough that I couldn’t get into it independently and needed help from my personal assistant.
So I wouldn’t treat this as a major negative specific to this hotel, because I come across the same problem almost everywhere. But I really wish that, when accessible rooms are being designed, someone would also think about bed height and the ability to transfer onto the bed.
Accessibility is not just about wide doors and a grab bar next to the toilet.
Breakfast and other facilities
During my stay, the hotel served breakfast, which was organised as a buffet. The staff were ready to help if there was something I couldn’t reach by myself.
I want to stress that I’m only talking about the period when I stayed there. At that time, the hotel did not serve other meals, but I can’t say whether that is the case throughout the entire year. For me, it wasn’t a problem because the hotel is in a very good location and there are plenty of other food options nearby.
Location and Mostar from a wheelchair user’s perspective
The hotel is very well located, which was one of the reasons I chose it. As for getting around Mostar itself, this is where we enter the standard Bosnian and Herzegovinian story.
On one side of the street, you have a dropped kerb. You cross the road. And on the other side you are greeted by a pavement with no ramp. Because, naturally, why would we finish the job on both sides?
There are also potholes, uneven surfaces and inaccessible crossings. But I wouldn’t single Mostar out for this. Unfortunately, I could write almost exactly the same paragraph about nearly every city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I didn’t go to the Old Town this time. I was only there for one night and my visit had a specific purpose. And, to be completely honest, in the middle of August, with peak tourist crowds everywhere, I wasn’t particularly eager to turn it into an expedition.
So I’m not going to comment on the accessibility of Mostar’s Old Town. I didn’t test it this time.
And what about the price?
I would say the price falls somewhere in the mid-range. We all know what has happened to accommodation prices over the last few years. Apparently inflation has decided to go on holiday with the rest of us.
But at least here you don’t need to sell a kidney just to spend one night in a hotel. And, just as importantly, I didn’t feel as if I was paying some mysterious “disability premium package” simply because I needed an accessible room.
Would I stay at Hotel Mostar again?
Yes. Without much hesitation.
Based on my experience, Hotel Mostar is genuinely very well adapted for wheelchair users. I would especially highlight the spacious accessible room, the genuinely well-designed bathroom, the step-free entrance, the parking next to the hotel and the friendly staff.
What would I improve?
- First of all, I would put much more detailed accessibility information on the hotel website and on booking platforms. If you already have a good accessible room, tell people about it and show it.
- I would add a shelf in the shower.
- I would lower at least one section of the reception desk.
And if I could send one collective request to hotels all over the world, it would be this:
Please stop making beds as if we are supposed to climb onto them instead of sleep in them. Thank you. 😄
For my short stay, Hotel Mostar was one of the more positive experiences I’ve had when it comes to accessible hotel accommodation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It isn’t perfect. But we are talking about a few things that could be fixed very easily, rather than a situation where the entire hotel would need major construction work before a wheelchair user could stay there comfortably. And that is a very big difference.
If you are a wheelchair user and you have stayed at Hotel Mostar, let me know what your experience was like. And if you know of another hotel or accommodation in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is genuinely accessible, rather than simply described that way, leave your recommendation in the comments. Those kinds of recommendations are worth their weight in gold to all of us.
Hotel Mostar on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mostarhotel/
Video of the room and bathroom: https://youtube.com/shorts/nH8Jfoaq8gk