I would hope that Charlotte's employ a "last in first out" approach to allocating upstairs tables to those who have expressed a preference.If someone books who tells them they have someone in their party who cannot manage stairs, they would be given the table of the required size upstairs that was booked most recently, and the person who had booked it would find they were downstairs. They would not have been promised an upstairs table anyway, as a matter of policy, and it's been that way for many years. I still have no issue with that.If someone has booked the whole of the upstairs for a function that would be a different matter, as you obviously can't separate people who are together, in fact Charlotte's have told me in the past that they always put big party functions upstairs, presumably as they are easier to serve there. In that case a newly booking person who had mobility problems would not be able to be accommodated on that occasion. This would be the case in any establishment that had limited facilities for disabled access.Personally my main worry about being down in the basement is what happens if there's a fire! I'm sure that Charlotte's comply with all the necessary fire arrangements that they must legally have to, but I can't see any quick easy way out of the basement, especially if there's a fire raging up above!
Dave Hawley ● 3974d