I have come to the conclusion that the people who design hotel bathrooms do not have a clue about functional design. I understand that it all comes down to money, but a safe and practical bathroom would make me very happy. After spending 4 days in a Las Vegas hotel for the Kitchen & Bath Show, I have a few changes to suggest.
My first suggestion would be to get rid of all those tubs and replace them with showers. Who takes baths in hotels anyway? And, if you are one of the few, hopefully you scrubbed the tub before you sat in it.
Getting in and out of a tub is dangerous enough, especially when no grab bars are provided. It is even more dangerous when the tub floor is higher than the bathroom floor. If you don’t know what I am talking about, call me. I have issues with blowing shower curtains. All the hotels updated to a curved rod which did not solve this problem, in my opinion.
Hotel bathrooms never have enough niches for soaps and shampoos, but the main complain here is the pathetic shower head and water supply controls. I hate when I can’t figure out how to turn the water on and off. By the way, a thermostatic control should be mandatory.
I would prefer having a pleasant shower experience instead of granite counter tops. No brainer here!!
My second suggestion would be to replace the bathroom door with a pocket door. I can’t tell you how many times I hit my leg on the door or walked into it trying to get in the tub. A hotel unit consists of a bathroom, bedroom and closet. The function of the bathroom door is not to keep out the masses, but to provide privacy if the room has 2 occupants. I was the only one there, so if I had some tools I would have removed the damn thing.
My last suggestion would be to replace the exhaust fan with one that doesn’t sound like a jet engine. The fan and light were on the same switch so I had no choice but to listen to this annoying roar.
If I was not a kitchen and bath designer, would I be complaining about these terrible design flaws? Probably, unless I was oblivious to functional design.
