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This Might Be The Best Part of the Hotel Bel-Air's New Rooms

Where: 701 Stone Canyon Road [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90077

Usually we save our hotel bathroom escapades for Bathroom Tuesdays but we just had to share this loo story from the recently reopened Hotel Bel-Air.

Inside of all the guestrooms, not just the fancy suites, are the finest thrones you could hope for--Neorest 500 automatic toilets, complete with remote controls. Do you hear bells ringing? We do!

While it's not as advanced as the cans at the Peninsula Tokyo, the Neorest still rises to greet you (see video below) and is heated at all times. Plus, when you're done you can look at the remote for all sorts of other "activities" to do.

One of the reasons we love luxury hotels so much is that we get to live in the lap of luxury for a little bit and the Hotel Bel-Air is certainly giving its guests that chance with their new bathrooms. Not only are there La Prairie amenities but in addition to a shower, there's a deep soaking tub with a TV appropriately positioned above. Heaven.

But if you plan on taking the Neorest home with you, it will cost upwards of $3,000 and no, the hotel does not sell it in its boutique store.

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OpenThread / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel Phones / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

OpenThread: Do You Use the Phone in Your Hotel Bathroom?

We noticed that having a phone right next to the toilet has become standard at a number of hotels, which made us wonder: Does anyone actually use those telephones? On the one hand, we guess they can be, um, convenient. But on the other hand, they are probably infested with germs and the thought of touching one gives us the heebie-jeebies.

Also, toilet telephones always have cords—maybe so there's no danger of them falling in the bowl? So it's not like you can take the phone into other rooms. And we've previously declared corded phones one of the most useless hotel amenities.

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Hotel Toilets / Chicago Hotels / Hipster Hotels / Snapshot / → All Tags

The Simplest Toilet Paper Holder We've Ever Seen in a Hotel

Where: 2657 N. Kedzie Ave [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60647

What's up with the lynched roll of toilet paper at this hotel? Well, it's in the bathroom of one of the few rooms at Chicago's newest little hotel plaything, Longman & Eagle. L&E isn't your typical hotel, as you can probably tell just from this roll of TP; it's of the restaurant and rooms concept, where the anchor of the property is really a (Michelin-starred!) restaurant and bar, with a topper bonus of rooms for let.

This hotel isn't downtown, nor is it near Lincoln Park, Michigan Avenue or any other tourist hotspot. It's actually out in the hipster-rific neighborhood Logan Square, where the sidewalk scene is more locals walking dogs or locking up their fixies. It's also conveniently across the street from an L Blue Line stop to O'Hare Airport, and thus we found ourselves staying for one night recently before flying out.

It's a curious place, one which will breed at least a few wannabes in other US cities, despite this kinda annoying toilet paper holder (which winds up when you unroll some paper and then maniacally unwinds). We'll take you inside and all around the rooms and the food early next week. Stay tuned!

[Photo: HotelChatter]

Celebrity Scoop / Hotel Toilets / Hotel Amenities / Ashton Kutcher / → All Tags

Which Japanese Hotel Bathroom Is Ashton Kutcher Hot For?

Ashton Kutcher grossed out America when he appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently and went all TMI, saying that he enjoyed peeing in his backyard, but we're more interested in another one of his bathroom habits. Demi Moore's hubby revealed that he and the Mrs. were inspired by a Japanese hotel lavatory.

He didn't name the hotel, but its cool high-tech toilet prompted the Kutcher clan to buy one, albeit one not as fancy, for their home. Kutcher said the Japanese john does so much, "It’ll pick up the phone for you." "The seat goes up and down, it knows that you're there," he said. "It's like magical. I'm not kidding—it says, 'Thank you,' after you go."

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Guess the Hotel / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

Guess the Hotel with the Luxury Techie Toilet

GUESS THE HOTEL REVEALED!

Are you ready for super special Guess the Hotel? We're coming at you from half the world away with this one! Oops—that's a hint right there! Well, suffice it to say that this is the control panel for a hotel room toilet, only one piece of the technology puzzle for this hotel, much of which is patented by them.

Do you think you know the hotel already? Here's a few more clues to help:

· Their toiletries are an exclusive line made by the grandson of winemaker Robert Mondavi.
· Someday hopefully soon, guests will have the option of making their arrival by helicopter.
· Other in-room technology includes panels displaying the outside temperature and wind speed, and even the room's humidity.
· Although relatively new on the scene, this hotel has quickly become the one to which all the others compare themselves

Only the best will get this one! Drop your best guesses in the comments below!

[Photo: HotelChatter]

Hotel Bathrooms / OpenThread / Punta Cana Hotels / Dominican Republic Hotels / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

Flowers in the Hotel Toilet: Cute or Gross?

Where: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

You know how it is when you check into a hotel and you're so tired, so desperate to just have a private place to lay down and relax? You do a quick little look around the room and the bathroom, and perhaps there's a couple cute little flowers placed on the freshly folded towels, but you never expect flowers to also be floating in the toilet, do you?

This is something we encountered for the first time ever last week, at the Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic. We lifted up the toilet lid and saw something in the toilet bowl, but happily they were only the little pink flowers you see pictured above. A cute gesture...or is it?

Have you ever been greeted by flowers in the hotel room's toilet? What hotel had them? Perhaps it's just an island thing, but we're curious to see just how widespread this practice is, and if it grosses out anyone else. Let us know in the comments!

Full Disclosure: We were in the DR thanks to Jetblue and the Dominican Republic Board of Tourism. But rest assured that we worked more than swam, and all views expressed here are our own.

[Photo: HotelChatter]

Hotel Toilets / Hotel Contests / Los Angeles Hotels / → All Tags

The Miyako Hybrid Hotel is Giving Away a High-Tech Toilet (Seriously)

Where: 21381 South Western Ave [map], Torrance, CA, United States, 90501

Are you fascinated by Japanese toilets such as this one? Do you want one for your own personal use? It's ok, there's no shame in admitting that!

At the Miyako Hybrid Hotel in Torrance, Calif., where we stayed back in December, they are giving away one of these HI-3001 WT "Feel Fresh" Bidet n' Wash Hygiene Systems to a lucky Facebook fan. The toilet, which retails for about $600, features a push button control panel, warm water wash, twin spray nozzles, and comfortable heated seat. (Hee hee.)

All you have to do is become a fan of the hotel on Facebook and you are automatically entered in the contest. No purchase is necessary and the winner will be chosen at random. The contest runs from now until 8pm on April 15 (Tax Day!) so become a fan now. Doesn't your tush deserve the very best?

We'll have more non-toilet related news from the Miyako Hybrid Hotel next week so stay tuned!

Hotel Technology / Park Hyatt Hotels / Shanghai Hotels / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

Park Hyatt Shanghai Is Serious About Its Service and Its Toilet Lids

Where: 100 Century Avenue, Shanghai, China, 200120

Allegedly the highest hotel in the world, the Park Hyatt Shanghai (which takes up the 79th to 93rd floors of the Shanghai World Financial Center) isn't just amazing for its high views and dizzying heights. It's also one of those hotels that's found all kinds of small and not-so-small ways to make it stand out from the crowd.

For one, the service is intense. And we mean intense in a good way — as in, there's a lot of it. Every floor has a 24-hour housekeeper and they'll greet you when you arrive, help you unpack and get your first cup of Chinese tea brewing. Apparently there are 750 employees for the hotels 174 rooms. Yep — quite the ratio.

According to a recent review by Toronto's Globe and Mail, the Park Hyatt Shanghai is also good at including technology and gadgets that are actually useful and not impossible to use. There's free WiFi (just as there should be), cordless phones, a DVD player and heated flooring in the bathroom. But there's one piece of technology that the reviewer thought was going too far, and in fact got listed as the only negative of their whole hotel experience:

A toilet lid that lifts of its own accord may be more service than is needed.

More than we need? Actually, we're thinking that could be a great way to avoid leaning over and lifting up the toilet lid, although we're wondering what kind of command we have to use so that it does actually lift. We love technology for lazy people.

[Photo: LitteMay]

Santa Monica Hotels / Green Hotels / Hotel Delays / Eco-Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Openings / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

The Shangri-La Might Be Actually Green, Not Just Gimmick Green

Where: 1301 Ocean Avenue [map], Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90401

It's hip to be green. And when something is hip, marketers jump all over it promising that everything they do is green. Usually they're not lying, but they are creatively explaining their budget cuts. Green gimmicks like one-page menus instead of four, or no more bottled water, are examples of hotels cutting costs rather than actively helping the environment.

We can't help but frown on this sort of behavior, so we're super excited that the newly renovated Hotel Shangri-La is bragging greenness with actual green evidence:

· dual flush toilets
· amenities are all natural and come in bio-degradable packaging
· bottled water is in glass bottles which will be sanitized and re-used
· men's restrooms will have waterless urinals (don't worry, they still get cleaned, just differently)
· restaurant food will be from local vedors and purveyors
· wine list will feature AMerican wines to help lower carbon impact
· pool will be solar heated (which might be code for unheated, we're not sure)

In addition to the above, they have all the standard green stuff: newspapers will only be delivered by request, sheets will only be washed by request, windows are double layered to prevent loss of heat/air, non-toxic, organic cleaning products will be used, all paper is recycled, and other easy green moves.

We're hoping for a mid-November opening, but don't have a confirmed date yet. It looks like they have a pretty good reason for that delayed opening.

Hotel Toilets / Green Hotels / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags

Starwood Exec Perpetuates Fear of Dual-Flush Toilets in Hotels

If you've ever been to Europe, you've seen the toilets that have two buttons for flushing: one for a 0.8-gallon flush for liquid waste and another for a 1.6-gallon release of water for--ahem--solids.

A recent New York Times article, "Will Americans Accept Greener Hotel Rooms?" asks why so few American hotels have adopted the dual-flush toilet when such water-salvaging and more eco-friendly loos are standard in hotel rooms around much of the world.

Poor Brian McGuinness, a vice president with Starwood Hotels and Resorts who is responsible for Starwood's eco-friendly Element brand, bears the burden of answering this question on behalf of the American public: Because consumers expressed concern that the dual-flush toilets would not work, the Times quotes him as saying.

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Hotel Technology / Four Seasons Hotels / Peninsula Hotels / Park Hyatt Hotels / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel Toilets / → All Tags

Mood Lighting or Hi-Tech Toilets: What Kind of Hotel Geek Are You?

On a day when every hotel you're looking at booking starts to sound the same, a bit of out-there technology can help you make your mind up. Travel + Leisure Australia recently put together a list of their favorite hotel gadgets and gizmos, and there are a few hotels on their list that we would book just to check out their new technology.

They've got the Peninsula Tokyo on their list, not just for the nail dryer and ultra-portable phone but also for the three mood lighting settings; speaking of lighting, the Tarraleah Lodge in Tasmania has "chromatherapy" lighting in the bathtub so the water will glow the color of your mood.

There's more than just cool lighting to be had, though: the T+L story mentions Tokyo's Four Seasons at Marunouchi because of its hi-tech warm toilet seats with multiple spraying functions to take the place of toilet paper, for example. There's also the Park Hyatt Seoul in South Korea which has gadgety non-fog mirrors inside their rain showers. Yes, we admit it: we're hotel geeks who would choose a hotel just for the non-fog mirror. Sorry.

[Photo: Tarraleah Media]