Bear4Asian

Some "see through" rooms are good, some not so much. I stayed in this one - Home Hotel on Taipei last summer and quite enjoyed it. To enter the shower one steps down into an open soaking tub. The outside wall is also glass with views across the alley. The toilet is in a separate room.

Skatering

As has been said, all well and good if you're solo or with a significant other. Deal-breaker if you're with friends.

I've had twin rooms where the bathroom's been see-through. It hasn't occurred to anybody designing hotels that if I'm not sharing a bed with the person I'm staying with, we probably do not wish for our bathroom activities to be visible to each other.

CPRich

Gack. That's as terrible as I imagined.

pinniped

Thankfully, I have yet to see this in my hotels, even in newer builds. Mostly a Marriott/Starwood guy this year...perhaps those brands aren't hipster enough for this?

jcwoman

Even if you are sharing a bed. Toilet activities are one thing that the husband and I keep private from each other.

I've always enjoyed this image, from Kohler marketing collateral for one of their expensive toilet designs:

mduell

W Santiago did not*, I've heard the W Istanbul does not.

* At least in rooms with a single bed.

Annalisa12

I stayed in one in Jakarta that was a huge square room (was called a suite). There was a 10 person jacuzzi in one corner with NO walls or glass at all and in the other corner there was a toilet on the other side of the shower. No door no partition! on the front! So one could host in the tub whilst someone else sat in bed watching tv and the tub!

Found the hotel... the room looked like this one but the bath was bigger. This is at the other end of the big square room. See the toilet paper on the wall with no door. lol

http://fm7hotel.com/junior-suite-room/

Sorry too lazy and not 100% sure of how to put picture here.

Annalisa12

What would be dearer to install? A glass wall/partition or a regular wall?

darthbimmer

I've encountered glass-walled bathrooms more frequently in Asia, especially in China, where four-star hotels are mostly newly built and compete with one another on modern styling. I see them less frequently in the US and UK, where most properties are quite a bit older. That said, they're not strictly a four- and five-star design element. I've found them even at a Holiday Inn Express in the US!

I presume design is the primary reason for these glass walls. It looks modern and hip-- especially when combined with high quality materials and fixtures in the bathroom. Moreover, the open sight lines provide better lighting and increase the sense of spaciousness.

In all cases that I can remember, there has been a movable partition-- a pocket door, a roll-up shade, etc-- to grant privacy between the bedroom and bathroom. I agree that any hotel which does not provide this is rendering its rooms unsuitable for a substantial portion of travelers.

MSPeconomist

I first saw something like this concept about two decades ago at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. There was a big picture window between the bathtub (and bathroom) and the room, although IIRC there were louvered shutters that could be closed on the window for partial or total privacy. I enjoyed the ocean view from the bathtub.

Long Train Runnin

That is quirky hotel. I have stayed there twice in transit of CGK. They also have the horse lamp that gets posted about in the BA lounge in their entry way.

porky

If you mean expensive, I think a regular wall would be cheaper compared to a glass wall.

Bootros

Depends. Some are (if they have elaborate framing), some aren't (floor to ceiling wall).

These are appearing more and more in hotels, and they're popular in Asia already. They consume less space, make the room feel larger, make the bathroom feel more light and open and, if you're into it, the "porn star" bath/shower can add that little extra to a dirty weekend.

It's when there are no blinds that there becomes an issue.

MelP

I'm staying in a hotel where the bathroom wall is glass when I go to London next month, in one of the new Hub hotels from Premier Inn - all of them have the glass bathroom wall (and door). They look to be frosted high enough though to not really see anything. Rooms are really suited for solo travelers anyway, I am actually looking forward to it (I will be solo).

Need

The first pic in post #5 looks a lot like Conrad Tokyo. I like the glass wall. It does make the room bigger. All the ones I have been to got blinds...remote controlled. It would be bad if it doesn't have blinds though.