Whether you are considering staying at The White Lion, dining in our Brasserie or Sea Spice restaurants, having a coffee within our lounge or cocktail in our bar, we hope that you find the information below helpful.
We have looked to create this information in a selection of ways, starting with a video which will detail the features of the hotel and the accessible information for each area.
We have also split this information below in written format so you can scroll to the information relevant to you.
If you have any questions which we haven't covered below, at the bottom of this page you will find a contact form where we can look into individual requirements.
Accessibility video - The White Lion, Brasserie Restaurant and Sea Spice
The accessibility video we have created above is to help make your stay as pleasant as possible and looks to provide you with the need-to-know information should you wish to visit us and view our facilities ahead of time.
Below we have created a text-based version which includes the same information included in the video above for reference and should you prefer to read this information instead.
Visiting The White Lion, The Brasserie & Sea Spice
The White Lion Hotel was established in 1563 and has a lot of character.
With this in mind, we have tried to offer accessible facilities where the building allows.
Car parking and accessible entrance
There is one small car park for the hotel, this is for all guests, however, we do prioritise this for blue badge holders.
The car park is situated behind the main building of the hotel and is accessed via Wentworth Road.
This has limited parking, two spaces are specifically disabled spaces and can be reserved for blue badge holders.
This is our most accessible entrance with just a small lip on the threshold of the entrance.
There is also public car parking in front of the main entrance of the hotel on Market Cross Place. This is always free and unrestricted.
Alternative entrances and more information about our accessible entrance
Our main entrance, which takes you to our reception and lounge has six steps and handrails on each side. There are also four manual doors to enter the hotel via the main entrance. Some doors are typically held open, especially during our restaurants’ service hours.
There are also two separate restaurant entrances to our Brasserie and Sea Spice restaurants on the sea-facing side of the hotel.
The Brasserie entrance has six steps, with handrails each side, to its first entrance, which during service hours is held open. There is a further manual glass door to access The Brasserie and bar.
The entrance to Sea Spice has three steps down to the restaurant with one handrail and two manual glass doors.
However, for those already within the hotel or parking in the hotel’s car park there are alternative routes.
More information in regards to this can be found as part of our dining section below.
Should you find steps difficult to manage and you are parked along Market Cross Place, there is a side street next to the Hotel and Sea Spice, where you can access the back of the hotel and the accessible entrance.
If you are accessing the hotel via our car park, there is a manual door with a lip across the threshold at the entrance. In front of you, to the left, you will see our public accessible toilet for the hotel.
To get to reception, rooms or restaurants, there is one further manual door in front of you. After this, you will find the inside entrance to our exotic Indian cuisine restaurant, Sea Spice on your left, and a lift and stairs to your right.
The lift provides access to the reception, lounge and brasserie restaurant on the first floor and rooms on the second floor.
This is a platform lift and has a visual floor indicator and audible announcer. You will need to press and hold the button once inside the lift for it to continue to move to the relevant floor.
If using the stairs,there are eight steps to our reception, lounge, Brasserie restaurant and bar.
Staying at The White Lion
The White Lion has one fully accessible room, which is room nine.
This is on the second floor and has ample space for manoeuvring and an accessible bathroom.
Another room which has space and is an alternative option to room nine is room two, however, we must advise guests that this has one step into the walk-in shower.
There is also a number of rooms on the second floor which are accessible via the lift and have no steps, but instead have a bath which can be requested should these suit your needs.
Dogs including assistance dogs are welcome to stay with guests in any of our rooms.
If you do have any booking requirements, we would advise calling our reservations Folk and we can provide you with more details and the best options available. When calling the hotel, press 1 for our Reservations Folk.
Even if you have stayed with us before, if you would like to request a certain room, we would advise booking with us direct either by calling or through our website, as room allocations cannot be guaranteed through third-party booking websites.
Dining at The White Lion, Brasserie Restaurant and Sea Spice
The Brasserie Restaurant
Once within the restaurants or Brasserie bar all of our seating can be accessed without additional steps.
Full table service is available in both the restaurant and the bar, and both have ample room for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre.
The Brasserie has many different seating options and tables which suit smaller or larger parties. The flooring is also either laminate or carpet.
The Bar
The bar area, which also serves drinks to the Brasserie and lounge, has a few tables in this area.
The bar our dog-friendly area of the restaurant.
The Lounge
The lounge is made up of three seating areas all with soft furnishings.
The Brasserie bar provides drinks to this area and can be used by those staying, dining or looking to just have a drink.
The lounge is open plan and therefore, once in the lounge, there are no further doors or steps within this area making it easy to move throughout the space.
Sea Spice Restaurant
Sea Spice, is our exotic Indian restaurant and is a popular spot for residents and day visitors alike.
As mentioned earlier, Sea Spice has its own entrance from the sea-facing side of the hotel, to avoid the use of steps, we would suggest using our car park entrance.
If you are already within the hotel, from reception, you can use the lift or the eight steps down to the inside entrance of the restaurant.
Like the Brasserie, Sea Spice is an open plan restaurant made up of a range of seating options.
If you have a table preference or require any assistance, please speak to a member of our Folk.
Also on the same floor as Sea Spice is the accessible toilet mentioned earlier in this video.
Sea Spice also offers a full table service.
Additional requests for our restaurants
For all of our restaurants, our Folk are on hand to provide advice and
assist with requests for tables with the best lighting or tables with less noise.
As the restaurants are open plan, our advice may change depending on the number of tables booked at that time.
To help us make your experience the best it can be, we would please ask for you to let us know of any requests like this upon booking or check in so we can ensure that we are able to do our upmost to assist.
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our Folk on 01728 452720 or using the contact form below and they will be happy to help.