Porcelain

For the last 5 days I've had both my meals out in the city. Since I like to drink water or some sort of libation with my meal, I tend to visit the bathrooms at restaurants (a not-to-complex input-output kinda deal here). I also relised that a restaurant with a good bathroom leaves a lasting impression. I still remember going to the bathroom at Planet Hollywood in Orlando when I was around 5 years old and being amazed. I don't remember what I ate, but I do remember where I urinated. It makes that much of an impression.

So anyway, using the facilities at all these restaurants got me thinking about a few things that can really set apart one loo from another:

1. Cleanliness and a lack of a pee/fecal matter smell
This goes without saying. I know I'm peeing but I'd much rather pee in a clean place. I also don't particularly enjoy gagging from the smell, when I enter a bathroom.

2. Music
Music in the bathroom makes the experience so much more fulfilling. If you want to know why, it's probably because you haven't peed to music before. If you have and still don't understand, shame on you. Also, at loud restaurants that play good music, the bathroom is a great place to shazam a song since it isn't drowned out by all the talking.

3. Cloth napkins or the linen-like paper napkins
Wiping my hands (yes, I do wash my hands after I go to the bathroom) on soft cloth napkins makes me happy. Those linen-like paper napkins are also pretty cool but I sometimes feel bad using them because they probably use more trees than regular paper napkins. I hate hand-dryers...they just make my hands super dry, and then I find myself hoping for condensation on my water glass to temporarily hydrate my skin.

4. Proper lighting
I know interior designers have their restaurant concepts and some of these include low lighting, but dude, I like to see where I pee (I also like to rhyme apparently). Shooting in the dark is definitely not a good thing in a bathroom.

5. Good soap
I like it when my hands smell good. Soap that smells and feels good is great. Added bonus: good lotion and/or mouthwash (with disposable cups) and/or toothpicks.

There's the list...might be more later, but that's all I can think of for now. I just want to add one thing I don't like: bathroom attendants. I'm referring to the places that have a person standing in the bathroom with a bunch of cologne bottles, cigarettes, chewing gum etc. This person also proceeds to open the tap and give you soap when you wash your hands. I'd much rather just open the tap on my own and not be surrounded by lollipops and mints that I want but feel guilty to take. Also, I feel obligated to tip this chap but don't because I never take any of the goodies he has sitting there and refuse when he tries to give me soap and water. This whole deal just makes me uncomfortable and goes against the basic principle that any bathroom designer should be cognizant of: relief.