★☆☆☆☆
Fairmont Copley Plaza
138 St. James Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Phone: 617-267-5300.
http://www.fairmont.com/copleyplaza/GuestServices/Restaurants/OakBar.htm

oakbar03.jpgWhile attending a town hall meeting held by the  United States Access Board at the The Fairmont Copley Plaza, my mom, friends and I had lunch at the Oak Bar. I was disappointed this place is not very wheelchair accessible.

fairmont-copley-030.jpgAccess is easy for the Oak Bar is located within the Fairmont Copley Plaza. The Oak Room is the main dining room but is only open limited hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Oak Bar is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and offers all items on the Oak Room menu.

All the tables, except for one are NOT wheelchair accessible for they are too short for a wheelchair-seated customer. Two seating areas are NOT at all accessible for there is a step.

fairmont-copley-026.jpgWe joined fellow advocates, John Kelly founder of  NAG - Neighborhood Access Group and Eileen Feldman, Project Director, Community Access & Inclusion Project. We were all seated at the one accessible table and had to pull up a shorter table to have enough room for all of us.

The bar is NOT wheelchair accessible for it is too high. ADA doesn’t require a bar to be accessible but Kenny & Company believe all bars should have a lower section that is accessible to all. The lighting inside the restaurant is very dark and hard to see for anyone, especially if one is legally blind like me and Eileen. Prices are exceptionally high. A simple cheeseburger cost $16.

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There is no restroom located close by. If you need to use a restroom, as I did it is a long wheel to the hotel restroom located on the opposite side of the hotel lobby.

I give Oak Bar at Fairmont Copley Plaza only ONE STAR for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Four Stars, they would need to add a few more wheelchair accessible tables; place a sloped walkway to the inaccessible seating areas; lower a section of the bar to a wheelchair accessible height; brighten the lighting up a bit; and add a unisex, wheelchair accessible restroom that is easily accessible to all customers.