Always ask your hotel for the “handicapped” room - guaranteed to have a roomier bathroom, a bigger bedroom overall and it sometimes even costs less than a “regular” room.

These first-come first-serve Gimpy rooms are available to anyone with mobility, hearing or vision issues, not just wheelchair users. These rooms usually are nearer the front door of the hotel, so you don’t have so far to go to reach your car, a cab or a restaurant. For the deaf, these rooms have lights, in addition to alarms, to alert you to emergencies, such as a fire.

Cait asked for one at Disney World and got a huge corner suite with a bathroom that was the size of a regular hotel room. The bathroom had marble counters, a bathtub with a lift and a shower with grab bars galore.

Another time, while on the road, Cait pulled into Oxford, Miss., at 11:30 p.m. without reservations, ask for the “handicapped” room and got a lovely, well-appointed room larger than most of the rooms at the hotel.

The only drawback is the bed size. Sometimes the beds are doubles rather than queens or kings. So if bed size is important, ask before you take the room.

Eds Note: To see what we think about the word “Handicapped” click here.