The rest room attendant with outstretched palm is not restricted to Europe, although it is almost a standard fixture there. I've run into in several places in the US, usually in upscale hotels. In a couple of places, I've found that the attendants were not hotel employees. Instead, they were independent contractors who were actually paying the hotel for permission to work the washroom. There must have been enough folks who just wouldn't or couldn't walk passed that outstretched hand (or skip the hand washing) to make it worthwhile.