Well, the down side of blogging on bathrooms is that suddenly, everyone's got a potty story. The stories I've heard. Yuck. Well, it does go the other way, as well. I've learned, for example, that there is an annual award for the best public restrooms -- and there is even a Hall of Fame. Included in the top five of the all stars is none other than the amazing Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. On the Cintas Web site, a company that makes bathroom supplies, you can even see pictures of the best ones.
No place in Fresno made the list but it was pretty funny the other night when one of the dinner conversations was actually the bathroom. This is no reflection on the company or the food. We were eating dinner at Edo-Ya -- a delicious teppanyaki splurge with some visiting teenagers. The ladies room suddenly became the conversation piece. It seems they've invested in a heated toilet seat with push-button spray and bidet options on the side panel. All the girls had to try it even if it wasn't -- um -- necessary. I looked on the Internet and found an amazing array of these things, which are essentially $500 toilet seats.
The top public restroom for the year is a sports-themed restroom in a restaurant called Wendell's in Westerville, Ohio. But the top public restroom in the Hall of Fame is the Ft. Smith Regional Airport in Fort Smith Ark.
One thing I've noticed in traveling is that the airport restrooms are very well kept, despite hordes of people from around the world and who-knows-what kind of bathroom customs. Fresno Yosemite International's are generally very nice when we've been there. The restrooms at Chicago O'Hare were so clean the day I was there that I hunted down the woman keeping them and tipped her.
The Poynter Institute's Morning Meeting blog had a long item citing a recent USA Today story explaining that airports around the country are investing in improving their restrooms. In Charlotte, N.C., for example, they hand out towels, mints, mouthwash and feminine products. Technology is helping, too. Touchless sinks and toilets are becoming quite common. If you're in charge of maintenance for any building, the story also includes a chart on how often the best restrooms are maintained.
When going to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo it was a given that you didn't go as a group to Madonna Inn on weekends or for their brunch as the tourist groups took over the restrooms and more so the men's to see the, buttons and whistles so to speak. Not surprised it made the list, or 1st place.
I find it funny that in the Hall of Records or Plaza building downtown they have the 'automatic-eye' for water and other things too. The paper towel dispensers are auto dispensed too, so not to touch germ ridden handles or knobs, but yet everyone has to grab the handle to exit the area.
Also they've left the handicapped bathrooms on the 'even' number floors in the Plaza Building. Just curious how much of a handicap is that for those handicapped on the 'odd' floors. Wondering if they're going to make up a list of their own as to most 'accessible.
Whatever the case, kind of a strange idea as to topic of conversation or blogs. Guilty on this end for such conversations, but still, that would be something to be known for? "The Community was boring, rude, and there was nothing to do, but wow check out their paper towel dispensers!!"