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Itsy-Bitsy LES Hotel Rooms Feature See-All Showers

September 1, 2009 at 9:13 AM | by Jennifer Kester | 5 Comments

To prevent the 10-foot-6-inch-wide rooms at the Bowery's new Lower East Side Hotel from looking cramped, the Office for Design & Architecture, the folks behind the Grand Street Hotel, got rid of the bathrooms. Instead of having a private place to do your business, the hotel puts the glass flash-all-your-bits shower in the middle of the room and the toilet sits in the corner for all to see.

The architects' mission was accomplished, since the shower, which looks like a Voss water bottle—you know, those tall fancy glass bottles of water that clubs sell for, like, $10—is the main focus. Here's what the architects said about the design:

"With the skin of the bathroom removed, the guts of the fixtures were exposed and celebrated. The guest could now experience the entire room from the door threshold."

The hotel, which will be built somewhere between the Lower East Side and SoHo, will have 220 of the tiny minimalist white-and-glass rooms. We're not sure how much we'll enjoy the experience once we enter the door threshold, especially if we're staying with one of our parents, or anyone for that matter, since we'd be giving a free show every time we'd shower. And how to handle the potty issue? Some thing should just stay private.

How do you feel about having your hotel toilet and shower activities out in the open for all to see? Let us know in comments below.

[Photo: Office for Design & Architecture]

5 Comments

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  1. juliana

    HotelChatter Editor

    that shower

    looks like a giant Voss water bottle. im not totally opposed to this though. it could be fun for a night! however, i'd probably want to go on a diet before staying here just to insure there will be no difficulties in fitting into that shower capsule.
    September 1, 2009 at 9:29 AM
  1. AboutHotels

    HotelChatter Member

    I stayed in a similar room last week

    I just had the same "non-bathroom" in my room at the CitizenM in Amsterdam. That room had a curtain you could pull closed to divide the room into two, for privacy. The toilet, at least, also had its own Voss wrapper, this one opaque.

    Still wouldn't want to share the room with my parents - but who would want to share a 10'6" room with anyone with whom they weren't really, really friendly?

    September 1, 2009 at 9:31 AM
  1. JetSetCD

    HotelChatter Contributing Editor

    Voss

    Totally a Voss Bottle. Looks like it should have a stripper pole inside of it, but then there would be no room for you to shower. Beam me up, Scotty!
    September 1, 2009 at 9:38 AM
  1. AboutHotels

    HotelChatter Member

    Wake-up call

    Ah and here's the fun part about the Voss water bottle: the shower doesn't turn on until you have the capsule completely closed, to avoid drenching the entire room. So your morning wake-up call consists of being enclosed in a tiny capsule, hit with a blast of cold water, with nowhere to escape. Even if the water heats up in record time - say, 30 seconds - it will still seem like an eternity. My advice: let your roommate shower first, and jump in immediately after.
    September 1, 2009 at 9:38 AM
  1. juliana

    HotelChatter Editor

    totally citizen m!

    i was just thinking about that. hmm..it doesn't sound fun or very functional. like, i would not feel comfortable shaving in there. btw speaking of amsterdam hotels, the lloyd hotel has a room with a shower head coming out of the wall, a drain in the middle of the floor and a squeegee mop for you to wipe up excess water. it's crazy! here's my picture of it here
    September 1, 2009 at 10:00 AM

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