When we arrived in our hotel room a few days ago the two beds looked quite different from one another. Both were single beds and covered in the same sheets – this was clearly a twin room – but one was higher and had a safety rail running along one side.

We’d booked the holiday using an accessible travel company and this meant we could also order more specialised equipment than is usually provided. I feel very sick if I sleep flat and the pain in my back is also easier to manage if I can adjust my position easily. At home I have an adjustable electronic bed provided by my occupational therapist (OT), but it’s very unusual to be able to get one at a hotel.

This bed’s different from the one I have at home in a key way that I didn’t realise the significance of until the first time I slept on it: it has a bar that hangs over it with a handle dangling from it.

At home I often have to ask for help from my support worker when I want to be re-positioned during the night. I’d realised I needed a grab rail of some sort to help pull myself up, and I’d even ordered some grab handles with suction cups online, but these were useless and kept falling off the wall after just a few minutes!

The grab handle on my hotel bed, though, is perfect – it means I can pull myself up and change position much more easily than I can at home. I’ve taken a photo of it to send to my OT.

I hadn’t expected to come all the way to Spain to write about a bed, but the dangling handle’s made a big difference to how well both I, and as a consequence my support worker Fran, sleep.