Why can't hotels make showers easier?(wsj.com)
wsj.com
Why can't hotels make showers easier?
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/hotel-showers-nate-bargatze-0dc51c81
73 comments
https://archive.ph/HiA9V
I work at a medium-size hotel (~80 rooms), I can offer some insight. It's a combination of accessibility, cleaning, and maintenance.
Accessibility: a hobbed shower - the small ridge, step, plinth, etc., around the edge of the shower base, that keeps water in the shower - is quite simply a huge dealbreaker for guests with mobility issues. Tripping over a toe-height ledge and trying to regain your balance on wet tiles is dangerous. Most accessibility-friendly non-hob solutions are going to let water out of the shower and onto the rest of the bathroom floor somehow, which pushes you towards a single joined floor for the whole bathroom to avoid water damage.
Cleaning: Complicated surfaces, little pokey panels, extra seals, moving parts. All of it means cleaning takes longer (cleaning is by far the main cost for a given booking), and it also means cleaning is done less thoroughly (leading to poor reviews on cleanliness due to accumulating mould, grime, etc). Shower curtains in particular are brutal on your review score: they are hard to clean, so the cleaners don't do a great job, so they get mouldy quickly, and your guests hate this and give poor reviews for it.
Maintenance: The median guest is fine, but one in twenty guests is just a hurricane of destruction. Want a shower door? That means hinges, which will snap and drop the door when this guest slams the door open or shut. Want shower curtains? This guest will grab them like they're handles and tear down the curtain rod. They will twist off tap handles and somehow lose them, they will pull those shower mixer taps out of the wall trying to get more water pressure - just about anything you can think of, plus many things you can't. (If you don't have a "one joined floor" setup, you're relying on the shower door being closed to prevent water damage, and this guest will definitely shower with the door open.)
In the end, the main reason hotels can't make showers easier is fairly prosaic: they have to make showers robust towards all sorts of guests.
Accessibility: a hobbed shower - the small ridge, step, plinth, etc., around the edge of the shower base, that keeps water in the shower - is quite simply a huge dealbreaker for guests with mobility issues. Tripping over a toe-height ledge and trying to regain your balance on wet tiles is dangerous. Most accessibility-friendly non-hob solutions are going to let water out of the shower and onto the rest of the bathroom floor somehow, which pushes you towards a single joined floor for the whole bathroom to avoid water damage.
Cleaning: Complicated surfaces, little pokey panels, extra seals, moving parts. All of it means cleaning takes longer (cleaning is by far the main cost for a given booking), and it also means cleaning is done less thoroughly (leading to poor reviews on cleanliness due to accumulating mould, grime, etc). Shower curtains in particular are brutal on your review score: they are hard to clean, so the cleaners don't do a great job, so they get mouldy quickly, and your guests hate this and give poor reviews for it.
Maintenance: The median guest is fine, but one in twenty guests is just a hurricane of destruction. Want a shower door? That means hinges, which will snap and drop the door when this guest slams the door open or shut. Want shower curtains? This guest will grab them like they're handles and tear down the curtain rod. They will twist off tap handles and somehow lose them, they will pull those shower mixer taps out of the wall trying to get more water pressure - just about anything you can think of, plus many things you can't. (If you don't have a "one joined floor" setup, you're relying on the shower door being closed to prevent water damage, and this guest will definitely shower with the door open.)
In the end, the main reason hotels can't make showers easier is fairly prosaic: they have to make showers robust towards all sorts of guests.
The half door is not the root of the problem.
When I was building my house I very specifically did not want a door in my shower. I wanted a fixed glass wall that kind of looks like the first picture in the article.
We paid tremendous attention to make sure that the floor in the shower is sloped at a sufficient angle to provide drainage. We measured and did splash experiments to make sure that the fixed glass wall extended far enough to keep the rest of the bathroom dry.
The result is an elegant bathroom that is functional.
If someone just superficially copies the look without paying attention to the functional aspects, the result is a wet bathroom.
Cargo culting is everywhere.
When I was building my house I very specifically did not want a door in my shower. I wanted a fixed glass wall that kind of looks like the first picture in the article.
We paid tremendous attention to make sure that the floor in the shower is sloped at a sufficient angle to provide drainage. We measured and did splash experiments to make sure that the fixed glass wall extended far enough to keep the rest of the bathroom dry.
The result is an elegant bathroom that is functional.
If someone just superficially copies the look without paying attention to the functional aspects, the result is a wet bathroom.
Cargo culting is everywhere.
I also didn't want a door, so we've got a shower with no door, no threshold, no curtain. But the shower is around a corner. The rest of the bathroom stays dry because it's around the corner.
The floor slopes, but sometimes we do manage to flood the bathroom because the drain gets clogged with hair fairly easily. And my oldest son always manages to get everything wet anyway.
The floor slopes, but sometimes we do manage to flood the bathroom because the drain gets clogged with hair fairly easily. And my oldest son always manages to get everything wet anyway.
Years ago when I was traveling the states with friends it was always amusing to figure out the damn hotel shower. Sometimes some just gave up and showered with cold water. Our simple European minds were not ready for the complexity of US showers.
In Greece, we tend to have navy showers, which means that the water is only turned on when rinsing. I really hate US showers for not having a separate temperature control, forcing me to freeze every time I want to rinse.
I also can't figure out how to actually soap myself up with a bunch of water on me. Do you actually step out of the stream and leave the water running, wasting it all?
I also can't figure out how to actually soap myself up with a bunch of water on me. Do you actually step out of the stream and leave the water running, wasting it all?
I let the water hit the back of me as i soap up the front and spin and rinse while I soap up the rear.
Lucky you. My first shower in the US was sitting down in the tub splashing some water from the lower faucet.
It's not just the US. Many European hotel chains also have some weird ass showers.
Article says half door means half as much to clean, but I think the most important part for the hotel developer was that it was half the price, or even cheaper since there's no hinge either. Neither the developer nor the supplier are using the shower, so what do they care.
Hard to use controls probably also sold poorly and so were heavily discounted. What a deal! Again, no one would buy it for themselves.
One joined floor for the shower and rest of the bathroom is a weird non-North American thing that is absolutely wrong and I sure hope isn't catching on here.
Hard to use controls probably also sold poorly and so were heavily discounted. What a deal! Again, no one would buy it for themselves.
One joined floor for the shower and rest of the bathroom is a weird non-North American thing that is absolutely wrong and I sure hope isn't catching on here.
> One joined floor for the shower and rest of the bathroom is a weird non-North American thing that is absolutely wrong and I sure hope isn't catching on here.
Hah, funnily enough every time I’m in the US I reflect about what a weird design those low faux-bathtubs are. To each his own I guess
Hah, funnily enough every time I’m in the US I reflect about what a weird design those low faux-bathtubs are. To each his own I guess
Having spent weeks in countries with a single common wet bathroom, a separated wet and dry zone is much more friendly to use, but also less easy to clean.
If your bidet is just a hose attached to the toilet instead of a washelet, there's something to be said for it, but I still don't enjoy the single common wet zone.
A split zone design that separates the wet zone (like the shower or the tub) from the dry zone (toilet plus sink) is nice.
If your bidet is just a hose attached to the toilet instead of a washelet, there's something to be said for it, but I still don't enjoy the single common wet zone.
A split zone design that separates the wet zone (like the shower or the tub) from the dry zone (toilet plus sink) is nice.
Once you add kids to the equation the whole bathroom + a good portion of the connecting hall is now a wet zone.
Great thing about joint floor is accessibility with a wheelchair and its generally easier to use for older people due to no step.
Wow this is a great point.
They should at least put the tiniest of ridges though if that's the goal, or a gutter if that's better.
They should at least put the tiniest of ridges though if that's the goal, or a gutter if that's better.
> One joined floor for the shower and rest of the bathroom is a weird non-North American thing that is absolutely wrong and I sure hope isn't catching on here.
I live in Berlin. One of the two bathrooms in my new apartment (designed in 2016, completed in 2019) has that. It was designed for the half-door thing. I did a few experiments with it with a couple shower heads to see where the water ended up going, and decided you'd need a very large space for it to be workable without getting wet everywhere. My bathroom is only 150 cm wide, and allowing 50-60 cm for a space to walk out of the shower didn't leave enough space to keep water in the showering area. I put in a sliding glass door, and all's good.
I think the reason it works sometimes in North America is you more often have redonkulous sized bathrooms where you can have two meters of space behind your showering area.
I live in Berlin. One of the two bathrooms in my new apartment (designed in 2016, completed in 2019) has that. It was designed for the half-door thing. I did a few experiments with it with a couple shower heads to see where the water ended up going, and decided you'd need a very large space for it to be workable without getting wet everywhere. My bathroom is only 150 cm wide, and allowing 50-60 cm for a space to walk out of the shower didn't leave enough space to keep water in the showering area. I put in a sliding glass door, and all's good.
I think the reason it works sometimes in North America is you more often have redonkulous sized bathrooms where you can have two meters of space behind your showering area.
I have often joked that every hotel owner/manager should be forced to stay in their cheapest room for one week a year and experience what it would be like for a guest.
It would be the hotel equivalent of dog-fooding. You shouldn't be willing to sell a stay in a room that you wouldn't be willing to stay in yourself.
It would be the hotel equivalent of dog-fooding. You shouldn't be willing to sell a stay in a room that you wouldn't be willing to stay in yourself.
This would be a good thing for almost every type of service.
Dogfood your social media, the food you produce, the enterprise software you write etc.
Alas its not that easy
Dogfood your social media, the food you produce, the enterprise software you write etc.
Alas its not that easy
I've experienced a few. It always seems like a good idea: no worries about splashing water somewhere, no step etc. But when you use it, especially if there are multiple people using it and you're not first, you do wish there was just one place in the room that wasn't wet.
> One joined floor for the shower and rest of the bathroom is a weird non-North American thing that is absolutely wrong and I sure hope isn't catching on here.
It is easier to clean and doesn't get mold.
It is easier to clean and doesn't get mold.
I actually liked the joined floor (as an American). it is easy to ingress and egress and easier to clean the bathroom floor.
If I had the budget, I'd install one in my home.
If I had the budget, I'd install one in my home.
There are many more things hotels should get rid of:
- carpets,
- centrally controlled AC,
- checkout lines.
It baffles me how a cheap motel can get this right whereas the expensive chain hotel across the street can't.
- carpets,
- centrally controlled AC,
- checkout lines.
It baffles me how a cheap motel can get this right whereas the expensive chain hotel across the street can't.
In most hotels you can just drop the keycard at the front desk and leave. They know what to do.
There’s also a lot of people that set the A/C to 18 degrees and leave, which is terrible.
There’s also a lot of people that set the A/C to 18 degrees and leave, which is terrible.
This is why you see a number of hotels linking the A/C (and electricity etc) to keycards. If the keycard isn't in the slot, then the A/C isn't running.
..until someone finds out that whatever plasticky card you got in your purse doubles up as a keycard just fine - something just has to disengage the NC contact...
Edit to add: and also keeps the outlets on (charging your phone, ...) and the lights if you so desire...
Edit to add: and also keeps the outlets on (charging your phone, ...) and the lights if you so desire...
Business cards work as well.
You assume they haven’t.
AC I understand, but I would bet carpets and human service are part of the perceived added value (especially when the expensive hotel crowd would be older).
Also, most high end hotels I have been at have a key drop box at the front desk if you want to just go.
AC I understand, but I would bet carpets and human service are part of the perceived added value (especially when the expensive hotel crowd would be older).
Also, most high end hotels I have been at have a key drop box at the front desk if you want to just go.
Carpets are absolutely unhygienic tho, especially in an environment that sees many different individuals use them. They are much harder to properly clean than hard surfaces, and if they ever get wet due to a leak or spill the entire room will stink for a significant time thereafter.
I much prefer hotels with hard surface floors for that reason.
> Also, most high end hotels I have been at have a key drop box at the front desk if you want to just go.
Interestingly, I associate the key drop box mostly with cheap hotels.
I much prefer hotels with hard surface floors for that reason.
> Also, most high end hotels I have been at have a key drop box at the front desk if you want to just go.
Interestingly, I associate the key drop box mostly with cheap hotels.
Next subject: hotel toilets. I’ll ignore water usage, but the ADA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac...) is decades old, so why are they still so low, and why do you have to bend over so far to reach the flush handle? (if you’re somewhat tall like me, it’s often easier to do that with your foot, but that feels weird)
Could much of the low pressure complaints could be associated with required to use a flow restrictor in the showerhead?
Absolutely.
There’s a correlation between popular states and low flow regulation too.
If you are European and go on a regular trip to Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York like so very many do you will literally be in low flow states the entire time. Isn’t that something?
https://www.wilmar.com/info/low-flow-legislation
There’s a correlation between popular states and low flow regulation too.
If you are European and go on a regular trip to Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York like so very many do you will literally be in low flow states the entire time. Isn’t that something?
https://www.wilmar.com/info/low-flow-legislation
I didn't know so many states require them, great info. Would be really interesting to hear from the hotel industry perspective what amount of customer complaints are largely due to regulatory decisions?
Thanks!
I have no objective data but there are lots of unintended consequences to well meaning regulation.
Lots of good examples in the Law of Unintended Concequences:
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2381/economics/law-of-uni...
There are a lot of hotel issues that make it difficult for customers requiring accessibility. They can be fully in compliance with the ADA and the like, and consider themselves “accessible,” but the reality is far different. Lends some credence to the question of unintended side effects because they are meeting or exceeding the law’s standard but still not serving accessibility adequately.
https://destinationsinternational.org/blog/seven-unintended-...
I have no objective data but there are lots of unintended consequences to well meaning regulation.
Lots of good examples in the Law of Unintended Concequences:
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2381/economics/law-of-uni...
There are a lot of hotel issues that make it difficult for customers requiring accessibility. They can be fully in compliance with the ADA and the like, and consider themselves “accessible,” but the reality is far different. Lends some credence to the question of unintended side effects because they are meeting or exceeding the law’s standard but still not serving accessibility adequately.
https://destinationsinternational.org/blog/seven-unintended-...
I've seen talk on some forums of guests doing "restrictor deletes" where they stay. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it's a lot harder on newer fixtures, but on the older ones it's just a piece that is easily removed.
My Leatherman has come in handy for this exact reason. I have removed the low flow restrictor from a number of hotel showerheads.
The best hotel showers i used had a lower level than the floor, a glass door and the door handle was at the wall with the regulatorso i was able to enter the shower without beeing hit with cold water. Tge only thing i dislike are the heavy perfumed soaps.
My guess: it cuts into margins to make the showers better. And only at a certain point of luxury does it make a difference (i.e. I didn't pay for a Hyatt to get a cold shower...)
If you'd like to go deeper into the subject of confusing shower water controls, I recommend the book The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman.
The problem is not new. The study of human factors is fascinating. Don Norman is something of an authority on this subject.
While the book is largely about faucets and doorhandles, it helped fuel my passion for building functional software.
The problem is not new. The study of human factors is fascinating. Don Norman is something of an authority on this subject.
While the book is largely about faucets and doorhandles, it helped fuel my passion for building functional software.
Showers are well and good, but bucket baths are underrated. Sit on a nice stool, with the bucket by you, a mug and a nice sponge if you feel like that.
Any hotel that lets me have the option of a nice comfortable bucket bath is a winner in the bathing department.
Any hotel that lets me have the option of a nice comfortable bucket bath is a winner in the bathing department.
Did that in indonesia. Place had a washroom with a large basin of water, a sort of tall bathtub looking thing. Sat on a stool and used a bucket to dump water on myself.
It was... not my favorite thing.
It was... not my favorite thing.
Ouch, I wouldn't like that either. A bucket and a mug is where it's at. Size matters you see.
I still love a hotel with a clean bathtub to soak in after a long day, but those appear to be fading away. Since you seem to be based in India, I have to say a lot of nice Indian hotels have the best giant bathtubs.
Yeah, I've stayed in some of those, but I never could bring myself to fill up the bath owing to having grown up in a culture of water rationing (for good reason). One learns to have a hearty, satisfying bath using a little to maybe a little more. You could say I bathe in my conditioning.
Good old summer cottage bath. Ours must be the luxury version since two buckets and a large scoop is the norm though.
> “Unless you’re staying [overnight] in the model room, you’re not showering. You’re not flushing the toilet,” he says
Wait, who pays for a hotel to not stay overnight? 100% of the use I make of a hotel room is for sleeping in.
Wait, who pays for a hotel to not stay overnight? 100% of the use I make of a hotel room is for sleeping in.
Showers I can deal with, but a glass door and/or wall into the bathroom itself is just madness.
I would like some privacy in the bathroom please.
I would like some privacy in the bathroom please.
Perhaps that's how they force more people to book separate rooms?
The flooding issue is related to a general problem that seems hard to solve: when something breaks in the room and is not easily spotted by the cleaning person (like the shower drain being partly clogged), how do they find out? Do they rely on guests telling them?
Good cleaning checklists are set up to test quite a few of these things. Turn TV on/off to make sure remote works, turn AC on/off for the same, flush the toilet, run the shower, open the windows when you enter and close the windows when you leave, etc. Stocking the minifridge also functions as a check that the fridge is working, and so on. The maintenance team has an even more thorough checklist for preventative maintenance. But yes, guest reports are critical as well. You can elicit feedback with a simple "how was your stay? / how did you find the room?".
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The low flow showerheads in most hotels absolutely suck. It takes twice as long to shower, and not nearly enjoyable.
I hate US hotel showers with a vengeance. Water pressure and temperature are orthogonal, you should be able to independently adjust each instead of cramming both into a single crank!
Agreed. Pressure Balance valves are terrible. Instead get a Thermostatic valve, with a separate volume control.
It costs more, but a much better experience, and better temperature control "set and forget".
It costs more, but a much better experience, and better temperature control "set and forget".
It's strange that thermostatic valves aren't more common. They're pretty much standard here in Norway (and also in Japan as far as I've seen) but barely anywhere else for some strange reason.
They're just downright better than anything else.
They're just downright better than anything else.
They're also available in most of the EU, but no hotel actually uses them. My parents got them for their own bathroom and it's just so much better.
Plenty of hotels I've been throughout Europe uses them, it's also easy to spot in the room pictures before booking usually. The most pleasant system I've tried is Grohe Smartcontrol which I've promptly installed in my house after trying, too bad they charge an arm and a leg for colored options, but plain chrome finish can be had for reasonable prices.
When I first discovered those, I wouldn't have anything else anymore. It solves so many issues.
This was a very pleasant surprise for me when I moved to Norway.
US showers and faucets in general are atrocious. I've been in houses with multiple showers, and each shower would have a different control scheme requiring a PhD in engineering to figure out.
And don't forget the fixed shower heads
And don't forget the fixed shower heads
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Article is behind a paywall, so I did not read it.
But here in Finland, most showers at homes and in hotels have traditionally used a Finnish brand which had a nice, simple design with two controls: one for both temperature and water volume (up and down is water volume, left and right is the temperature), and another for choosing the shower head (over the head or the hand held one), if the shower had two heads.
But apparently that is changing now as well, and even the showers from that company are becoming more complex. The biggest change is that the now the control for choosing the shower head has been combined with water volume control. Temperature has another control. Also, instead of red and blue colors, plus and minus are used as symbol. They are often not as visible as red and blue. I guess that is "innovation".
My 7 year old daughter sometimes has problems with these newer showers, as they work slightly differently depending on the model.
But here in Finland, most showers at homes and in hotels have traditionally used a Finnish brand which had a nice, simple design with two controls: one for both temperature and water volume (up and down is water volume, left and right is the temperature), and another for choosing the shower head (over the head or the hand held one), if the shower had two heads.
But apparently that is changing now as well, and even the showers from that company are becoming more complex. The biggest change is that the now the control for choosing the shower head has been combined with water volume control. Temperature has another control. Also, instead of red and blue colors, plus and minus are used as symbol. They are often not as visible as red and blue. I guess that is "innovation".
My 7 year old daughter sometimes has problems with these newer showers, as they work slightly differently depending on the model.
The worst showers I’ve found are the ones installed in the 70s and 80s here in New Zealand. There’s no pressure control, only temperature control with off after full cold. The shower head is fixed and has the control integrated so you have to reach up to turn the shower on or adjust the temperature.
This guarantees you get blasted with freezing water every time, and the shower head has to be set low enough so everyone can reach it. If you’re over 178cm / 5’10 (I think, I don’t do feetses) you’ll have to bend down to wash your hair.
This guarantees you get blasted with freezing water every time, and the shower head has to be set low enough so everyone can reach it. If you’re over 178cm / 5’10 (I think, I don’t do feetses) you’ll have to bend down to wash your hair.
I used one of these last weekend at the place I was staying. It also only had 2 temperatures: too hot and cold.
> one for both temperature and water volume (up and down is water volume, left and right is the temperature)
Sounds inferior to having two controls. IMO the best designs have them separate. If you live alone, you set the temperature once and from then on only use the volume one.
The magic that allows that is the thermostatic mixing valve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostatic_mixing_valve)
Sounds inferior to having two controls. IMO the best designs have them separate. If you live alone, you set the temperature once and from then on only use the volume one.
The magic that allows that is the thermostatic mixing valve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostatic_mixing_valve)
I've replaced so many those thermostatic mixing valve shower controls, they absolutely suck. The build quality, even for the high end, is terrible.
They don't deal well with hard water, high levels of lime in the water. Technically you're suppose to let cold water run through them after each shower to avoid it, but that means adjusting the knob every time you use it, and most of them are plastic, gripping a brass valve and that breaks the plastic over time (like 6 months to a year).
I've given up and just buy the cheapest single control fitting I can find. The ones I've installed last have lasted 5 years so far without issue. You can't beat simplicity, $500 fixture breaks within a year, a $40 one will last a lifetime.
They don't deal well with hard water, high levels of lime in the water. Technically you're suppose to let cold water run through them after each shower to avoid it, but that means adjusting the knob every time you use it, and most of them are plastic, gripping a brass valve and that breaks the plastic over time (like 6 months to a year).
I've given up and just buy the cheapest single control fitting I can find. The ones I've installed last have lasted 5 years so far without issue. You can't beat simplicity, $500 fixture breaks within a year, a $40 one will last a lifetime.
My experience is similar, that most of the thermostatic mixing valves suck.
But the one thermostatic mixing valve that has been very common in Finland (link below) works really well in my experience. I am just surprised that inferior products are becoming more common. Maybe people think that the good design is too common.
https://www.talotarvike.com/media/catalog/product/o/r/oras_1...
But the one thermostatic mixing valve that has been very common in Finland (link below) works really well in my experience. I am just surprised that inferior products are becoming more common. Maybe people think that the good design is too common.
https://www.talotarvike.com/media/catalog/product/o/r/oras_1...
Yeah, as pointed out, not a thermostat, but that is one of the models I've used to replace thermostats. They work really well.
That's a single lever mixer, not a thermostat.
Good that you corrected my vocabulary.
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