Picture the last time you checked-in to a hotel. Chances are you arrived late in the day, stumbling into a darkened room with an armful of luggage. And, when you or a family member got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, given your unfamiliarity with the space, you likely bumped your way in there in the dark. From suitcases to disoriented travelers, repeated high humidity from guest use of the showers, and housekeeping taking cleaning carts in and out—day after day—the walls in hotel bathrooms must be built to withstand abuse.
Bathroom design and quality is one of the key drivers of hotel guest satisfaction. As New York Times travel reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom says, for guests, “the hotel bathroom is more than a place to freshen up. It’s considered an indicator of how upscale, current and clean a hotel is, an extension of its identity.”