(Bath)rooms With A View

Just when you thought you had a firm handle on all the things to
check on before booking a client into a hotel comes this news:
"From the chic boutiques of London and Los Angeles to hot new
hotels in more exotic locales like India and China, exposed bathrooms
are a growing trend," reports the New York Times, "whether in the
form of transparent glass walls and shower stalls or bathtubs set in
the middle of the bedroom like free-standing sculptures."

That last reference is to London's Sanctum Hotel, where bathtubs
sit in the middle of the room on a bed of "backlit black pebbles."
The experience is supposed to be "glamorous and otherworldly."
Hmmm. Then why does the dictionary define "sanctum" as "a
private room where one is not to be disturbed" (or, presumably,
spied upon)? Maybe they should call it the Flasher Hotel.

Exposed bathrooms, also called "open bathrooms," have a number of
rationales, according to their defenders. Some say they are "sexy."
Designers say they save space and create a "sense of added luxury."
One says that they allow visitors to "multitask" by watching TV in
the other room.

The best justification cited by the Times comes from designer Alicia
Loo (I'm not making that name up) who says her exposed bathrooms
serve as a "design ambassador" for Renaissance Capitol Hotel Beijing.
"Exposed toilets may strike some as a rather literal interpretation of
China's open door policy," she explains.

Michael Attenborough, who heads up interior design at Radisson
Edwardian Hotels, is equally enthusiastic. "All our friends who've
seen it say, 'Oh, my god, that's so fantastic," he gushes. "Some
people are very prudey," he sniffs at those who disagree. Prudey
may be current Brit-speak for normal.

Now I'm a big believer in travel as an opportunity to (ahem) expose
yourself to new ideas, but I tend to agree with seasoned traveler
Lisa Feder-Feitel, who is given the last word in the Times piece:
"This is the design equivalent of 'too much information.'"

Travel agents may also be interested to know that Ms. Feder-Feitel,
having surveyed her exposed bathroom with its equally exposed toilet,
immediately decamped for another hotel.