Accessibility is Hospitality
For timeshare resort HOA boards and managers, ADA accessibility is no longer a compliance checkbox—it is the guest experience. Owner populations are aging, more than one in four U.S. adults lives with a disability, and questions about service animals, emotional support animals, autism awareness, and website accessibility now reach the front desk regularly. In a recent conversation hosted by Shep Altshuler, founder of the Common Thread Hospitality Leadership Coalition, Judy Manis, Senior Owner Support Manager and ADA Specialist with Lemonjuice Capital Solutions, walked through what resort teams most need to understand—and where they most often get it wrong.
Why Accessibility Matters More Than Ever
Manis framed the subject through the lens of hospitality. Her message to resort leaders was direct: while legal compliance matters, the guest experience should come first. Owners and guests rarely remember regulatory language, but they always remember how they were treated.
The scale of the opportunity is significant. More than 70 million U.S. adults live with a disability, around 30 percent of a resort’s potential customers will visit with someone who has a disability, and people with disabilities hold an estimated $220 billion in discretionary spending power. By 2030, an estimated 71.5 million baby boomers will be over 65, when mobility, hearing, and vision challenges become more common. Welcoming guests with disabilities is, quite simply, good hospitality and good business.
Understanding the ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law on July 26, 1990, exists, as Manis put it, “To make American society more accessible to people with disabilities.” A person with a disability is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities—a deliberately broad definition that includes hearing loss, vision impairment, PTSD, autism, and cognitive challenges that may not be visible at all.
For day-to-day resort operations, Title III is where attention belongs, because it prohibits places of public accommodation from discriminating against people with disabilities. Importantly for this audience, hotel-like accommodations such as timeshares, condominium hotels, and other mixed-use facilities intended for public use generally fall within Title III’s requirements.
Accessibility Extends Beyond Buildings
Ramps, elevators, and pool lifts remain essential, but accessibility also encompasses communication, employee awareness, reservation systems, websites, and policies. A resort can meet every physical requirement and still frustrate guests if its staff isn’t trained to communicate effectively with guests with disabilities.
Service Animals — Understanding the Rules
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog—or, in certain circumstances, a miniature horse—that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Businesses generally must permit a service animal to accompany its handler anywhere the public is allowed to go. Manis shared the story of Ron Chaney, a Purple Heart Vietnam veteran from the Naples, Florida area, whose miniature service horse, Sassy Mae, helps him stay on his feet—a reminder that behind every service animal is a person whose independence and dignity depend on it.
When it is not obvious that an animal is a service animal, employees may ask only two questions:
• Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
Employees may not ask about the nature of the disability, request medical records, demand certification or proof of training, or ask the animal to demonstrate its skills.
Common Service Animal Situations
Pet fees and deposits must be waived because service animals are not pets under the ADA, though guests remain responsible for actual damage their animals cause, as any guest would be. Another guest’s allergies or fear of dogs is not a valid reason to deny access; the right response is to accommodate both parties.
Pools generate frequent questions. Service animals may accompany their handlers on pool decks, but public-health regulations generally prohibit animals from entering the water. “The ADA will not override public health rules,” Manis noted. Staff should explain this calmly and consistently, because it is one of the situations most likely to escalate.
A resort may ask a handler to remove an animal only if it is out of control and the handler does not take effective action, or if it is not housebroken. Even then, staff must offer the guest the opportunity to obtain goods and services without the animal present.
Emotional Support Animals Are Different
Emotional support animals (ESAs) provide comfort and companionship, but the key difference is training. ESAs are not required to perform specific trained tasks, so they generally do not receive the ADA’s public-access protections—no automatic right of access to restaurants, pool decks, or lobbies. Some state and local governments extend additional rights, so Manis’s standing advice is to verify locally: “I always suggest that you check with your state and local government agencies.”
The gray area is a dog that calms its owner during an anxiety attack. If the dog has been trained to sense an oncoming attack and take a specific action to prevent or lessen it, it is a psychiatric service animal protected under the ADA. If it provides comfort through its presence, it is an ESA. If a guest brings an ESA into the pool, Manis recommends courteously explaining that the ADA does not recognize ESAs as service animals and asking the guest to return the animal to their room.
Disability Etiquette Matters
The stakes are concrete: 8,667 ADA Title III lawsuits were filed in federal court in 2025, and more than 3,100 of them involved websites. Etiquette and digital accessibility are not soft topics—they are where much of the legal exposure now lives.
“People with disabilities want to be treated like everyone else and want to be appreciated for their strengths. Focus on individuality, have patience, ask, and don’t always assume, and treat people with respect and dignity.” — Judy Manis.
Speak directly to the individual rather than to a companion or interpreter, offer assistance rather than assuming it, and never touch wheelchairs, canes, service animals, or other assistive devices without permission. When a guest asks about a pool lift the resort does not yet have, a constructive reply acknowledges the goal without overpromising: “We are actively evaluating whether modifications are readily achievable without major difficulty or expense.” Boards should know that pool lift requirements are part of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and apply to resorts and timeshares under Title III.
Autism Awareness and the Resort Experience
About one in 31 U.S. children is diagnosed with autism, and roughly 25 to 30 percent are non-verbal or minimally verbal. The subject is “near and dear” to Manis’s heart; she recalls a family member judged by strangers—“What’s wrong with him?”—simply because they did not understand his condition. Training is meant to replace that instinct with patience.
Bright lights, loud noises, crowds, and unexpected changes can quickly become overwhelming, and the trigger can be remarkably small. “Maybe a fan is running super fast, and yesterday it was running super slow,” Manis offered. A guest who appears frustrated or withdrawn may be responding to the environment rather than creating a problem. An autism-aware resort doesn’t require experts—just awareness, compassion, and a willingness to listen.
A Safety Note: Water and Wandering
Drowning is a leading cause of death among children with autism, who are often drawn to water—“it’s calming, it’s quiet,” as Manis explained. If a child with autism is missing, radio the entire team immediately and check pools, hot tubs, beaches, ponds, and fountains first. Once the child is found, stay with them, ask one question at a time, allow roughly 20 seconds to respond, and avoid touching, which can trigger sensory overload.
Employee Training Remains the Best Investment
Policies alone do not prepare staff for real-world situations; training does. Manis highlighted role-playing as especially valuable, along with simple tools like a pocket-sized “feeling thermometer” card that lets guests point to how they’d like to be greeted and whether they are feeling happy or overwhelmed. She also suggested posting plain-language service-animal guidance on resort websites, since a clear public statement can prevent many disputes before they begin.
Questions Every Board Should Consider
- Do employees understand the difference between service animals and emotional support animals?
• Have staff members received disability etiquette training?
• Is autism awareness included in employee education programs?
• Are accessibility policies clearly documented and consistently applied?
• Has the board reviewed website accessibility?
• Do guest-service standards reflect accessibility goals?
Accessibility Is Hospitality
Accessibility is not merely about avoiding complaints or reducing liability. It is about creating an environment where every owner, guest, and family member feels welcomed, respected, and valued.
“True hospitality requires compassion, and compassion relies on awareness. Employee training is your best resource.” — Judy Manis.
Resorts that combine awareness, training, and compassion strengthen loyalty, encourage repeat visits, and protect the long-term value of the resort experience—the kind of hospitality that keeps owners coming back.
Where to Learn More
- The ADA National Network (adata.org)
• U.S. Department of Justice ADA site (ada.gov), including its service animal FAQ
• HUD guidance on emotional support animals (hud.gov)
• Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org) and the Autism Society of America (autismsociety.org)
To Learn More, Contact:
Jan Barrow, Sr. Vice President of Development
863.602.8804