What Was Actually Wrong with the Bathroom

Jeanne Marie Hoffman November 5, 2015 Experiences 9 Comments

So yesterday I posted this picture and asked everyone for their guesses as to what’s wrong with the bathroom.

For context, this picture was taken at the Grand Hyatt in NYC.

And here are the guesses:

(the answer will be revealed after them)

Ron Korte	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 8:09 pm Even for a smaller person, rather tight fit sitting on the toilette.
Michael	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 5:39 pm Iâ€™m going to guess that the door to the bathroom was not able to be closed without having to step into the shower or atop the toilet â€“ the Sheraton La Jolla replaced the pocket doors with swinging doors that went inward, would be difficult if you had a roommate.
NOM NOM Boris	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 4:44 pm toilet paper location is very strange
Sue	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 2:13 pm The toilet is too close to the vanity!
DaninMCI	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 11:57 am Too close to the counter. Seat is not on straight, which is typical. Cant reach the tp. No liner in trash can. Toilet appears to be too low to be comfortable, but that could just be the photo angle. There is no bidet next to it.
Susan	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 4:12 am I hope that is your trash in the trash canâ€¦. or else the bathroom has not been cleaned. And I agree with everyone else about the tight quarters, as it were. Obviously someone has banged themselves getting upâ€¦ the edge of the vanity/towel/toilet paper place is marred. And if that triangle is the wallâ€¦. you must have to be a tiny tiny person to be able to use this room!
Charles	Submitted on 2015/11/05 at 12:22 am I am not a big guy but that offers less shoulder room than 9 across on a 787
Carl P	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 10:48 pm I think FreeTravelGuys is on the right track. I think on the left thatâ€™s a glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom.
FreeTravelGuys	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 10:41 pm Depends. If the foggy glass on the left is next to the shower itâ€™s fine. But if itâ€™s right next to the bedroom then thatâ€™s the problem.
DavidB	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 9:47 pm The location of the commode suggests to me that, even given my gender, there are many problems undertaking the functions one performs on/into a toilet.

Carl P	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 9:09 pm The panel above the toilet probably has the button(s) for the flush. Thatâ€™s where it is on some Toto tank-in-the wall toilets.
Karen H.	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 8:40 pm \| In reply to Karen H.. More on #6 â€“ it looks like there is a perfectly good toilet paper-sized opening on the side of the vanity that the TP dispenser should have been mounted to, making it much more convenient (though still not terrific b/c youâ€™d have to reach across your own body that youâ€™ve somehow managed to wedge into that space).
Karen H.	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 8:33 pm 1 â€“ Thereâ€™s no liner in the wastebasket (one of my huge pet peeves) 2 â€“ The toilet paper is over, my preference is UNDER 3 â€“ Anyone with an ample bottom will have difficulty sitting on that toilet, evidenced by the slightly skewed toilet seat 4 â€“ If that is indeed a counter or a door in the right hand corner, how the heck to you enter this bathroom? 5 â€“ How do you flush that toilet? I do not see a lever or an automatic sensor 6 â€“ More on the TP â€“ it would require a double-jointed elbow to reach the TP or some pre-planning.
kamal	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 8:11 pm Flush missing ?
AlohaDaveKennedy	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 7:50 pm Looks like there might be a seating issue for many folks, but I also have my eye on the triangle in the lower right corner. Hope it is not a wall or a door,
Bonnie	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 7:44 pm Itâ€™s got one of those doofy seats with the openingâ€¦
Tyler	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 7:09 pm The obvious problem would be how close the toilet is to the sink. So I guess you have to sit a little sideways. I guess then the problem becomes you have to make an acrobatic move to grab some TP. Stretching and exercise are important when traveling.
Tiff	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 7:05 pm It looks like many things, but the first that comes to mind is, how do you flush the toilet?
Christian	Submitted on 2015/11/04 at 7:04 pm It looks like youâ€™d need some serious agility to get to the tp.

So the guesses are in and I was surprised at how many things people found. Â It was like one of those hidden picture games they have inÂ Highlights magazine.

Some commenters mentioned there might be a problem for those with an “ample bottom”. Â In this case, I’d say it was anyone with a bottom.

Here’s a photo of the same space, but with me sitting on the toilet.

I’ve been aspiring to do travel blogging so that I could one day take a picture of me on a toilet. Â Hi, Mom!

Given where the sink is, and the size of the bowl, I could not literally sit forward on this toilet. Â And despite all the squats I do, a Kim Kardasian, I do not have.

So my rear did not fit on the toilet. Â And if I tried to fit it… what I needed to do did not, uh… aim properly into the toilet?

So my solution was to sit completely sideways with my feet in the shower. Â #class

Unluckily, I had an aspiring consumer advocate on my side. Â Check out the Devil’s Advocate’s attempt to solve my case over here (definitely worth a read).

But to some of the other concerns–

Yes, that is the corner of the door in the photo.

Yes, reaching the toilet paper took an advanced stage of yoga.

Yes, that was my own trash in the waste bin.

And the toilet did, in fact, flush.

So, why didn’t I ask to switch rooms? Â (Other than because I was relying on the Devil’s Advocate)

I didn’t have that much time before I had to leave the room. Â And honestly, sitting sideways was unusual, but once I had a solution, I knew what I needed to do.

So I figured, why change when I knew how to roll with it?

If other people were in the room with me, of course I’d change so they didn’t have to. Â But for me, it was no big deal. Â But still, thanks to Devil’s advocate for, uh, successfully working on the situation.Â

9 comments

Bonnie Weber Glod
November 5, 2015 at 10:52 pm

After doing some research, I found out why the split seat. And. You can slip socks on those “arms” so the seat isn’t cold!

Gene
November 6, 2015 at 12:02 am

Not so Grand after all….

NOM NOM Boris
November 6, 2015 at 12:14 am

this is too funny!!!

AlohaDaveKennedy
November 6, 2015 at 12:55 am

After seeing your picture, I’m not sure that pot would be legal in Colorado! Not too impressed with the new head of Hyatt.

Ryan
November 6, 2015 at 3:00 am

There’s a special layer of hell for people who design a bathroom layout like that!

- DavidB
  November 7, 2015 at 10:24 pm
  
  Surprised this was at the Grsnd Hyatt NYC. Certainly doesn’t look as chic as any Hyatt I’ve stayed at. BTW the original conversion of the Vanderbilt Hotel (adjacent to Grand Central Station) into the Grand Hyatt was Donald Trump’s first major development project. One expects that he has learned something about bathroom design since then?
  
Fay
November 6, 2015 at 1:43 pm

Julian’s writing is hilarious – thanks for suggesting and linking it.

- Jeanne Marie Hoffman
  November 6, 2015 at 6:03 pm
  
  No problem, I agree! I knew the story of what happened and what he did, but I still couldn’t stop laughing when I read it.
  
Brian Cohen
November 6, 2015 at 5:37 pm

I am glad I am a guy.