What's with the bathroom design in these hotels?
Jan 15, 2019, 9:07 pm
#61
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: IAD
Programs: UA Gold (MM), Hilton Diamond, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 27
That shower is even better than the hotels that now feel it's a feature to have a bathtub in the sleeping area (i.e., outside the bathroom). Second gripes about low water pressure, toilet paper dispensers that are virtually impossible to reach, no counter space for your toiletries, and glossy (ready super slippery) tub/showers.
Jan 15, 2019, 10:57 pm
#63
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 14
I believe the OP is not refering to cultural differences like using a squat toilet in Asia or a tent toilet at Base Camp at 17000 feet in the Himilayas. I think the OP is referring to hotels in cities that are modern but poorly designed for privacy when two people are sharing a room. We all know that everyone farts, but we really don't want our traveling companion to hear it coming from the hotel bathroom when we are there for a romantic rendezvous.
Jan 15, 2019, 11:15 pm
#64
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 14
The two hot wires in the "rest of the world" each have 110-120 VAC 50/60 hertz plus a ground. The USA usually has one 110-120 VAC 60 Hertz plus a ground and neutral which is tied to ground at the breaker box. They are all pretty much equally likely to electrocute you if you short them from one hand to the other or drop a plugged in hair dryer in the tub while taking a bath. Your mileage may vary.
Jan 16, 2019, 5:53 am
#65
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
The two hot wires in the "rest of the world" each have 110-120 VAC 50/60 hertz plus a ground. The USA usually has one 110-120 VAC 60 Hertz plus a ground and neutral which is tied to ground at the breaker box. They are all pretty much equally likely to electrocute you if you short them from one hand to the other or drop a plugged in hair dryer in the tub while taking a bath. Your mileage may vary.
Jan 16, 2019, 6:10 am
#66
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: Rapid Rewards, AAdvantage,
Posts: 120
That shower in the Netherlands - in case you need to keep your eye on the highway while showering. Where is that, by the way? I'm traveling to Amsterdam in April, and that is completely unacceptable. Is the toilet out on a ledge somewhere?
Jan 16, 2019, 7:08 am
#67
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 70
From what I recall, the toilet is in a cylindrical enclosure with a sliding door in one corner.
Jan 16, 2019, 7:42 am
#68
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,727
Most of my issues have been mentioned but a few I've seen in the last year that haven't been mentioned:
1. Shower heads at inappropriate heights. I'm not tall, and I've had a few showers in the past year where the shower head was so high I couldn't reach it to adjust it. Of those, only one hotel had a wand, but unfortunately it was so high I couldn't reach it either. Lest someone who is tall think I'm discriminating, I've also had a few where the shower head was so low I was quite happy to be short, and wondered how an average height person much less a tall person would be able to take shower there.
2. Showers that force you to stand in the shower directly in the spray of water to turn them on. No I don't want to be sprayed with whatever temp water the person before me chose, and I don't always want to get my hair wet when I'm taking a shower but I encountered a few showers in the last year where I had no choice because of where the controls were.
1. Shower heads at inappropriate heights. I'm not tall, and I've had a few showers in the past year where the shower head was so high I couldn't reach it to adjust it. Of those, only one hotel had a wand, but unfortunately it was so high I couldn't reach it either. Lest someone who is tall think I'm discriminating, I've also had a few where the shower head was so low I was quite happy to be short, and wondered how an average height person much less a tall person would be able to take shower there.
2. Showers that force you to stand in the shower directly in the spray of water to turn them on. No I don't want to be sprayed with whatever temp water the person before me chose, and I don't always want to get my hair wet when I'm taking a shower but I encountered a few showers in the last year where I had no choice because of where the controls were.
Jan 16, 2019, 8:35 am
#69
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 383
I skimmed the thread and didn't see my #1 hotel pet peeve. What's up with pedestal sinks in hotel bathrooms??? Dumb dumb dumb. No place to put cosmetics, skin care products, electric toothbrush charging base, or anything else. This is a travesty, especially against women travelers/guests. I carefully check tripadvisor and other review sites for photos of bathrooms and won't book ones with pedestal sinks or any of the above-mentioned in this thread. I'm retired and can stay anywhere I want, I realize corporate travelers often cannot choose.
I also detest toilets without a lid, spewing toilet water droplets with every flush anyone?
My criteria for hotel rooms: big vanity, toilet with a lid, deep-enough sink to hand-wash apparel plus a towel rack above the tub or shower to hang sink-laundered clothing (I travel with a flat sink stopper just in case), empty fridge for my Diet Dr. Peppers, proper luggage rack, easily reachable outlets for chargers, desk for laptop work. And, as many here have mentioned, bathroom privacy. I agree with others who recommend hotel room designers take some trips staying in their work, and how about focus groups with real frequent travelers.
The worst in my experience? Those Citizen M hotels. Stayed at the AMS airport location once and never again in that chain.
I also detest toilets without a lid, spewing toilet water droplets with every flush anyone?
My criteria for hotel rooms: big vanity, toilet with a lid, deep-enough sink to hand-wash apparel plus a towel rack above the tub or shower to hang sink-laundered clothing (I travel with a flat sink stopper just in case), empty fridge for my Diet Dr. Peppers, proper luggage rack, easily reachable outlets for chargers, desk for laptop work. And, as many here have mentioned, bathroom privacy. I agree with others who recommend hotel room designers take some trips staying in their work, and how about focus groups with real frequent travelers.
The worst in my experience? Those Citizen M hotels. Stayed at the AMS airport location once and never again in that chain.
Jan 16, 2019, 11:22 am
#70
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13,573
OHH yes the old bathroom barn door. I am looking at you Kimpton Palomar. I nearly broke my finger in the door accidentally. It took 6 month for that nail to recover. Even worse was my other half found himself locked in the bathroom Why? It was due a faulty slide mechanism of the "barn"door. He ended up spending much of that night in the bathroom(long story). Our grandkids were in the next room and also found themselves stuck in the bathroom.
Designers of hotel bathrooms say NO to the barn door except in the barn.
Designers of hotel bathrooms say NO to the barn door except in the barn.
Jan 16, 2019, 12:00 pm
#71
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,262
I can understand that one when you're talking a room with a great view in a secluded resort area. A random urban skyscraper with a view of a highway interchange, not so much.
Jan 16, 2019, 2:02 pm
#72
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,784
That makes sense. I just posted reviews on 5 hotels last week on tripadvisor and majority of the follow-up questions on the reviews were asking about handicap access.
Jan 17, 2019, 10:27 am
#73
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Port Moody, BC
Posts: 484
I hate bathroom faucets where the lever for the drain stopper is so cleverly hidden that it takes three bloodhounds and a dowser to locate it...the first time I encountered one I had thought the stopper was one of those press down to plug/press again to release versions, but the lever was on the back of the faucet where I might have noticed it in the reflection from the mirror if said mirror had gone all the way down to the counter.
Jan 17, 2019, 10:32 am
#74
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 812
Years ago I was on a tour and we were checked into a hotel that had frosted glass at the bottom of the bathroom door/walls and clear glass on top. I was alone so it didn't matter, but we had one father-daughter combination that they had to find another room for in another hotel. Several older women traveling together found it disturbing also. Really, you can't make this stuff up.
And don't get me started on the lack of shelf space, and lack of hangers for damp but still reusable towels.
And don't get me started on the lack of shelf space, and lack of hangers for damp but still reusable towels.
Jan 17, 2019, 12:01 pm
#75
Join Date: May 2013
Location: JFK
Posts: 459
I find the two chairs set facing the shower vaguely unsettling.
One thing that bothers me, and I have found at several hotels in the UK, is the bottom of the tub being higher than the floor. So when you go to step out of the tub you end up stepping down...with one foot still planted on a potentially slippery wet surface.