MikeFromTokyo

Thank you. I've made note of Dornbracht. It's no surprise to hear about another excellent product from Germany. Weather it's a pair of binoculars, a Miele dishwasher, a hunting knife, or a Max Benz dressage saddle, the best quality often comes from Germany.

Now we're really off topic! But I always like learning about these things

bhrubin

I don't think double vanities are required for luxury but are usually the most appropriate choice. Entry level rooms may lack them, but any proper luxury hotel is suspect with higher category rooms and suites without double vanities.

Double vanities are useful not only in offering a couple their own individual areas but also in reassuring that there is more space overall in a bathroom. Luxury tends to imply better and more spacious, after all.

Historical properties can be exempted a bit from the double vanity expectation, but any properly renovated historical luxury property should have more double vanities than not IMO.

FWIW, we have plenty of Dornbracht faucets in our home. You can see a list of many luxury level faucet and bath fixture brands here:

http://www.justluxe.com/best-of-luxu...oom_brands.php

MikeFromTokyo

Thanks for that, bhrubin! Now I have my eyes one Lefroy Brooks and Graff... I'll have to investigate where to purchase.

Kagehitokiri

luxury hotels: IIRC richard branson approved/chose dornbracht at The Lodge Verbier. dornbracht is maker of rainsky, in quite a few top hotel suites. ive read dornbracht at many luxury hotel rooms and spas. IIRC scented talked about different luxury hotel suites with rainsky, ususally not largest one.

graff-faucets.com
graffdiamonds.com
always interesting

Valveking, one problem is US regulations. i seem to recall reading something that said largest dornbracht rainsky is not allowed in US residences. they are most commonly found in luxury spas.

MikeFromTokyo

I've definitely had rainsky at spas. I'll bet the largest one could be installed in private residences in the US if a contractor were willing to do so, regardless of regulations.

Kagehitokiri

issue is max waterflow, i think (practically) all residential water is / can be controlled by local governments

seem to recall government regulations re toilets (if not showers as well in EU countries etc)

quitecontrary

I hadn't heard of Dornbracht before but I'll have a look out for it - when we first refurbished our bathrooms over 20 years ago we fitted Grohe thermostats and shower heads etc - they're still going strong! We had pumps to improve the water pressure. We had the foresight at the time to keep the bathroom tiles etc white so we were lucky it didn't date too much and it was easy to make minor adjustments to keep them looking up to date - not like the fashion for beige porcelain tiles that were in fashion about 10-15 years ago - they look very dated now!

Strangely we have 2 other brands listed in that link above - Lefroy Brooks basin taps and Samuel Heath fittings. An architect friend uses Laufen - are these considered good?

From that list we often see Kohler in hotels - I think ICs use them - and also of course Toto loos. The HK IC has shower cubicles which are also mini steam rooms in I think Junior Suites. Last year we stayed in a small hotel somewhere which had a shower cubicle with all the side jets etc - it was great but they all came on the first time I tried to operate the shower and I got soaked in cold water - that's one of my pet peeves - showers that you can't turn on without getting partially wet as the control is under the shower head.

MikeFromTokyo

Ia a house that could be fixed with the right setup. A water tank, pumps etc.. to augment water volume and pressure. Also could be possible in more rural areas with well water.

Kagehitokiri

MikeFromTokyo, the max flow in largest rainsky is pretty insane, cant recall offhand

cant recall if scented said some luxury hotel suites have the largest one

jp-mco

The Lanesborough Suite has one by the look of it.

MikeFromTokyo

I'm quite sure I have used the largest one many times in a spa treatment suite. It's epic. At least I assume it is the largest one, as it is hard to fathom a larger one! It would actually be nice to have one at home some day...

All of this talk of shower heads and water pressure made me think of this. Maybe what Kramer really should have had was the Dornbracht Rainsky!

luxtrvlwrks

Double vanities should be the standard in any new luxury hotel build. However, it's not the most important element of a bathroom to me. I am fine with a single vanity as long as there is plenty of space for my/our stuff, especially if there is a separate vanity in the dressing area.

My requirements are a makeup mirror that works and that is at a height that does not require acrobatics, a shower with a shaving platform and room for my toiletries, a soft close toilet seat (surprisingly not consistently installed in luxury hotels), and a place to hang the hand-towel.

Bonus points for outdoor showers in tropical destinations, and heated bathroom floors in cool weather destinations.

farbster

This is an interesting conversation. I think two sinks are better than one, all else being equal. That being said, I'd most like to have a toilet in a separate room.

A funny example of how two different people can have different ideas...

We bought our house and the prior owner had very recently redone their master bathroom. They removed the tub and put in two separate shower stalls. The toilet was in the main room, right next to their double sinks.

We immediately put back a whirlpool tub and removed both of their showers and put one nice shower in. We also had oodles of room, so put the toilet in its own room.

Different strokes for different folks.

Should all nice, new hotels have fancy Japanese-style toilets? That would be nice