A few years go in Simonstown, South Africa we came across a new look room in a B and B. Spacious and comfortable, it was truly en suite. The toilet stood fair and rounded in the middle of the room not far from the bed. It was truly the centrepiece and it's occupant could chat to anyone present. All rather Louis XIV.
We dismissed this as some sort of quirky abberation and moved to another with a more conventional layout, thinking we were never likely to encounter similar again.
We were wrong. More and more writeups in travel magazines talk admiringly of luxurious bath and ablution arrangements of all sorts situated right there in the room along with what used to be the main reason for staying in a hotel- the bed. Some are lightly and certainly not sound proof curtained off. Some are just open plan. A writeup of a recently opened Swire owned boutique hotel in the UK says that the entrance is through the bathing area. Even in Royal Windsor a few weeks ago in a pleasant hotel overlooking the castle walls, we were proudly shown our room complete with all facilities open plan albeit with some partial glass screening. The throne itself in its glass cubicle was visible from the whole room bar a few blind spots where mirrors were thoughtfully provided to ensure that nothing was missed.
Can we expect hotels to now start offering the old airline option in the days of central IFE screens,- "Viewing or non viewing?".For those of us who like to select a hotel for the comfort of the sleeping and lounging about arrangements the notion that some choose the best place for a public bath and pee is a little bit strange . Personally we won't be booking on the basis of bath nights. We prefer hotels which stick with bed nights. Are we alone?
