Monday, February 06, 2012

did you ever wonder --


who designs bathrooms in expensive hotels?

You know the places I mean.  You spend $500 a night for a place to sleep.  You would think hotel designers would spend most of their time working out the best sleep formula for weary travelers.

Then you wander into the bathroom.  And it looks as if a Japanese artist with a good deal of taste and an advanced case of OCD was turned loose in there.

Little bottles of lotions are lined up like backup singers with a bevy of soloists -- the pleather ice bucket, the hair dryer in a canvas bag, the plant being tortured in near Arctic midnight conditions.

But those little bottles always catch my attention.  So tiny.  So artistic.  And so dysfunctional.

Nancy tells me that the unprofessional French-sounding brand of lotions I have been offered are very high quality.  I wouldn’t know.

The bottles look pretty.  But they are made of such hard plastic that it is possible to get only little one drop of shampoo out during a full shower cycle.  Physics is apparently a course not taught in designer school. 

Trying to squeeze thick honey through a pin hole simply does not work.  I found myself looking for the artfully-designed ballpeen hammer.

Here’s a suggestion.  Why not just have a big bottle of Head and Shoulders in the shower?  And just leave it there.  Like most people’s bathrooms.

And let the artists get back to designing women’s shoes. 

28 comments:

Tafreeburn said...

so is the plant in the vase with the stones? i hav one just like it with sand and shells. i have lots of plants but all are in soil.

so when do you leave for china? i didn't know you'd be spending much time in s.f.

Andean said...

Always thought, must be a 'way' I hadn't mastered to get the shampoo out. After shaking, hammerin' a dot finally comes out which is never enough for long hair so on to the next dot... Its good to hear there are others with similar thoughts.
I now bring my own and showering is a lot more relaxing! 

jennifer rose said...

Yuck! Who would want to touch a bottle of Head and Shoulders in a hotel shower after strangers have fondled it? One more E. coli gathering spot. Even a liquid container of shampoo on the wall is a host for bacteria.  

Can't you just enjoy the L'Occitane? Don't you realize that there are people in this world who would rip those little bottles of L'Occitane from your ungrateful hands if given the chance? Do you have any idea how the hotel maid had to scurry to your room to posit those in the bathroom, dodging hotel soap thieves along the way? Do you know that there are people in countries like Mexico who crave L'Occitane? Do you have any idea how much that stuff costs in stores? 

I can get 3 shampoos from a single hotel L'Occitane bottle, and so can you. There is no need to use the entire bottle. It's concentrated, and just a few drops will do the trick. Be patient. 

tancho said...

My Wife would kill for those......

Kim G said...

I'm with you on the bottles, at the least. Why can't they make the plastic soft enough to squeeze?  As someone who has done more business traveling than I care to think about, I've always found those little bottles of shampoo to be extremely frustrating, not to mention a minor environmental menace.

I'd much rather see something on the wall akin to the soap dispensers in public bathrooms. As for germs? They're already all over the place. Germophobes shouldn't stay in hotel rooms.

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where it seems I still need to be "moderated."

Felipe Zapata said...

I know the places you mean? Hotels that charge $500 a night? Actually, I do not know those places. I do know Motel 6.

Don Cuevas said...

I must have missed an episode, as I don't have a clue who Nancy is.

I was in some hotel some time ago, but I don't remember where, and the shower stall had a big jug of body wash soap. Seems like an idea whose time has arrived.

Saludos,Don Cuevas 

Babsofsanmiguel said...

I'm with Jennifer on this post.  Those ARE concentrated shampoos and only a drop or two is needed.  Anything I don't use when I stay in places like that I bring home and take them to the old folk's home for their use.
Trust me as a former hotel designer, a lot of meetings, testing and decisions go into each and every detail in a hotel setting.  Sometimes to the point of ad nauseum...........glad I'm NOT doing that anymore

Don Cuevas said...

I'm with you, Felipe. Our latest favorite hotel in Colonia Roma Norte, México, DF costs $300 pesos a night for a darn nice room. 

Saludos,Don Cuevas 

John Calypso said...

Never have spent 500 US on a hotel room - 500 pesos yes (usually under protest because I prefer the 300 peso suites that Tancho mentions ;-)

Laurie Matherne said...

$500 dollar hotel rooms are beyond my budget. But I like the little bottles in the $79 dollar rooms. I use them. And I take the pretty little soaps back to Honduras for friends. 

Steve Cotton said...

Approve.

Penny said...

Where art thou Steve?  I'm getting mexpatriate withdrawals.

Seriously though, I hope you're having a great time.

Kim G said...

I guess we now know the answer to the rhetorical question posed at the top of the post: it was you!  LOL...

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we enjoy your blog too, but can't comment anonymously.

Abandou said...

what I am currently wondering is if either your new computer or you are lost.  Hoping neither.

Steve Cotton said...

I am back. China's government bans blogs. But the posts are about to start.

Steve Cotton said...

We enjoy our open forum. Something I missed in China.

Steve Cotton said...

I am back. China posts to follow.

Steve Cotton said...

 But you know how I love the good life.

Steve Cotton said...

 Nancy is Roy's wife.  My friend who is on this trip with me.  More anon.

Steve Cotton said...

 There is a bit of splurge left in me.

Steve Cotton said...

 I left on the 5th.  And I am now back.

Steve Cotton said...

 I caved in and brought my own as well.  But the shampoos in China worked as they should.

Steve Cotton said...

 At the rate I was getting shampoo, I could have had 29 shampoos from that one bottle.

Steve Cotton said...

 She will have to stand in line because I will be killing the designer.

Steve Cotton said...

 At least they are not as hard to open as those fancy little sap packs.

For some reason, Disqus keeps dropping you from the whitelist.  Just think of it as savoring your work.

Tafreeburn said...

no, i never have wondered about that. however, i keep wondering why this old post keeps popping up. it's happened with a few other bloggers as well.

take care,

teresa in nagoya

Steve Cotton said...

 No idea.  Disqus has been acting up.  But I doubt that would be the cause.