Best of bathrooms

For most people the bathroom is the ‘mirror’ of the hotel room. One of the first things you do upon entering a hotel room is to step into the bathroom. First impressions really count, and, if you are happy with the bathroom, it immediately enhances the overall impressions of your hotel room. There is also this ‘I feel good with my choice of hotel’ emotion. On reflection, ‘what is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you do before going to bed at night?’ Visit the bathroom ofcourse! The bathroom is therefore intrinsic to the hotel experience…especially when away - from –home.

Evolution of the hotel bathroom

At the beginning, the hotel bathroom was considered a ‘must have’ functional room to be hidden in a corner, primarily for the purpose of cleaning and grooming. Nowadays, the bathroom has developed into space where guests seek refuge to luxuriate after their day in today’s hectic lifestyle. Discerning consumers now look for the spa element in the hotel bathroom, where they can retreat and unwind. Modern day bathroom designs reflect this by utilizing a larger portion of the hotel guestroom.

What one sees now is the shift towards opening the bathroom to the other section of the room, where the junction between the bathroom and the bedroom flows fluently to form one perfectly balanced open space.

How does the luxury hotel and budget hotel differ?

Firstly, it’s all to do with budgets. Luxury hotels have larger budgets to purchase expensive bathroom products in order to comply with the brand standards that specify installing technically sophisticated products. The overall aim is to project an exclusive spacious and private experience that embodies the brand’s identity. The key consideration here is that guests in a luxury hotel have high demands of their bathrooms. Therefore, one sees the introduction of whirlpools, spas and other comfortable high-end solutions in luxury bathrooms.

Bathrooms in budget hotels on the other hand, choose smaller sized mid-range, highly efficient products to squeeze more features into the limited space. Above all, the key factor here is functionality with less or hardly any emphasis on any special experience. It’s all to do with ease of use, cleaning and maintenance. Hence, budget hotels opt for bathrooms without baths.  

Bathrooms for the differently-abled

Hotels should accommodate all kind of guests, including the differently abled. While the type of disability may vary, it is important for those in the hospitality industry to try their best to accommodate a wide range of guests with a wide range of abilities. Hotels must stop treating people with disabilities as a market niche. They cross all niches and all demographics, covering all economic brackets. They travel for the same reasons everyone one else does. They date, marry and have families.

Most hotels provide rooms for disabled guests because it is mandated by law. To comply, they build the minimum number of rooms and locate them in the least attractive section. Furthermore, the design approach by hotels to build rooms that resemble those in a hospital do not appeal to the non-handicapped guests. One of the main issues is in the bathroom. Fortunately, there are now several products which enable designers to develop a bathroom that is attractive to all. Cleverly designed it requires only a few grips to change it - from a non-handicapped outlook to been user friendly for the differently-abled.

Bathrooms that care for the elderly

With an aging baby boomer population, there are many travellers who are in their golden years. Senior citizens are actually considered one of the fastest-growing segments in today’s tourism market. Seniors despite been able to walk (not bedridden) face challenges arising from stroke, muscle or joint deterioration or several other causes. For the aged, space to move is a great issue. Having the toilet seat at a proper height makes a huge difference in comfort and safety. One way of providing this is by installing a seat extender. Consider fixing a toilet paper holder designed for single-handed changing. Make certain that the toilet paper holder can be reached from a sitting position. A toilet/bidet combo is the perfect alternative for hygiene and safety. Grab bars need not look like they came from a hospital (metallic and cold). There are foldable grab bars in the market that come in a variety of styles, colours and textures.

An adjustable shower head, combined with a hand-held shower in conjunction with a foldable shower seat (lessens the chances of falling), makes it easier for seniors to bathe while providing an increased level of safety. Installing the shelf for soap, shampoo, towels inside rather than outside and adding a light is useful – for all users, young or old! Having a phone reachable from the shower/tub is other safety feature. Most hotels have bath tubs that are veritable mine-fields for the aged. Having a walk-in type bathtub helps. Throw rugs cause tripping. If you must have one – secure the low pile rug with anti-slip tape.

Recent innovations in bathrooms

If there’s anywhere in the room where “touchless” seems ideal, it’s the bathroom. Tank toilets are now concealed, eliminating press buttons or push levers. A hands free flushing system that needs a wave of the hand before a black or mirror glass panel plate fitted with LED senses activates the flush. To complete the ‘hands free’ experience, an in-built shower nozzle enables users to wash with fresh water after every use, the shower-toilet combines the cleaning and hygiene capabilities of a bidet with the comfort and style of a sophisticated lavatory.

This one is for the passionate bathroom karaoke singers out there looking for some streaming musical accompaniment while standing underneath a gushing shower: A combination showerhead meets Bluetooth wireless speaker. While the showerhead base itself is equipped with 60 angled nozzles pushing out 2.5 gallons per minute, the second piece is an innovative removable water-resistant wireless speaker section that pops in and out of the showerhead for mobile positioning or recharging, rated for up to 7 hours of wireless playback from smartphones, tablets, or computers from up to 32 feet away. The down-side is that those grand singing in the shower concerts can unnecessarily waste water.

New technology has resulted in faucets with proximity sensors rather than the traditional infrared sensors. Proximity sensors when it detects the presence of your hands, activates the flow of water instantly. The technology uses the entire faucet to detect the hands thus displaying a greater superiority over the dated infrared sensors – which can be unreliable in low-lighting or when dark clothing is worn.

HSL

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