Mobility scooters, made famous by Madge in the popular ITV series Benidorm, have been banned by Servigroup, the largest holiday chain in Benidorm. The hotel chain runs nine three and four-star hotels in the Costa Blanca resort, the ban was put in place on 1st May 2016 after announcing its plans earlier on in the year.
Love them or hate them, mobility scooters started off as a great idea so the disabled and elderly could get about and enjoy their holiday. Servigroup’s Operations Director said ‘Part of the problem is mobility scooters are used by people for fun, drunken antics or out of sheer laziness and the needful majority of users may now have to suffer due to the selfishness of a few’.
Servigroup’s company bosses have admitted the move has caused some tension among guests. They stated action had to be taken following numerous complaints from others guests stating the scooters were clogging up hallways and causing accidents inside the hotel grounds.
The sheer volume of scooters left in the lobby and reception areas – sometimes in the region of 25 – were obstructing passageways and exits. There have been countless accidents, with glass panels being broken and furniture frequently damaged – the hotel said they are also running out of room for the scooters.
However, the ban doesn’t apply to manual and electric wheelchairs for the disabled. Wheelchairs are still allowed on the hotel premises, but if you hire an electric scooter they recommend you hire them on a daily basis and return them to the rental company at the end of the day.
There is a local bylaw which prevents rental companies from hiring mobility scooters out to those under the age of 55 and those with no disabilities – it does seem many are flouting this.
Have you hired a mobility scooter in Benidorm? Do you feel this ban is justified?
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