BATHROOMS

In my next life I’m going to come back as a hotel bathroom designer. Why is that every bathroom in every hotel in the world has a fault or more to drive the visitor spare? After experiencing bathrooms in 23 different forms of accommodation on this trip, from riads to yurts, from hotels to apartments, from modest to 5 star hotels, I have yet to find the perfect bathroom. 

Therefore I have drawn up a list of 20  bathroom design rules that need to be taken into consideration. Please let me know if you have more to add to the list:

1. Step in showers as default for any visitor over 60

2. If there isn’t enough bench space next to the sink, add a bench underneath 

3. Have a minimum of 3 hanging points per person (hand towel, bath towel, clean clothes)

4. Make sure the light enables you to see in the mirror clearly

5. Ensure that there’s enough room in the shower to turn around 

6. If a bath/shower is unavoidable, provide slip mat and place to sit to get in safely

7. No handheld only shower devices 

8. Clear labelling as to directions for taps

9. Provide a plug for the sink (to enable clothes washing) 

10. No individual soaps or bottles  that never get used up – find a space for large reusable bottles

11. Toilet paper on the side wall  in front of the person sitting rather than behind 

12. Hand towel hanging points near sink

13. Sink and the tap accessible to people who are 5’2”

14. Hanging points for towels that don’t hang over the toilet roll making it damp

15. Water temperature that is stable

16. Towel heating rack, even in warm climates, for drying out that overnight wash

17. Be able to turn taps on without getting completely drenched in cold water

18. Don’t have the shower head fixed and pointing in such a way that you keep turning the water tap off when you get try to stand under it

19. Ensure that the flour doesn’t flood when the shower is used

20. If shower curtains are a necessity, ensure that they are long enough that they don’t stick onto you as your shower.

Ironically, there was a quote from Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!” which I was reading while I was away:

“(Zee had joked that a hotel’s fanciness was directly proportional to how long it took you to figure out how to turn on the shower head)” (244)

My award for this trip goes to Dwell Apartment Hotel in Athens. Although a very small (and very orange) room, it had many of the desired design features. Runner up was Fluvian Terrace in Rhodes which, like the apartment itself, was large and spacious. 

Dwell - Athens


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