Are Hotels Ditching the Bathtub?
When is the last time you took a bath in a hotel room? Not a shower, but a real down-in-the-tub bath? I appreciate a good soak as much as anybody, but with the busy schedules we all have, showers just make more sense. And when you're traveling, something most people don't have is all kinds of time to waste in the bathroom. The statistics agree, saying that for whatever reason, only 2% of people ever use the tub in hotels.
Now resorts are another story altogether, but I totally get why many hotels (the Hilton is one in particular) are looking at doing away with the bathtub altogether. What do you think, should high-end hotels continue to offer them just in case, or is it reasonable that they do away with them?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andy Nov 7th 2007 4:27PM
WTF? I love to travel and have taken many a bath in hotels like the Ritz in Paris to the Chateau in Los Angeles. What are you talking about? Does this writer even travel?
Tammy Green Nov 7th 2007 5:02PM
Excuse me, but you need to credit the photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zesmerelda/1429949196/
Creative Commons rules can be found here:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
That's uncool. Fix it now.
Tammy Green Nov 7th 2007 5:13PM
Thank you.
boulderhorn Nov 8th 2007 9:31AM
As a fairly frequent traveler, and an architect, I'd prefer to see nice steam showers instead of tubs. A high quality steam shower with multiple jets (ceiling, wall, rain head, etc), to me, is more relaxing and less time consuming than a bath. That being said, suites still need to have tubs, but standard rooms could probably get away with removing them.
just me Nov 8th 2007 11:54AM
I love baths in hotels, or anywhere actually. And often take a bath in hotels--it's one time when I have time to do so.
K Nov 8th 2007 2:08PM
When is the last time I took a bath in my hotel room? How about EVERY time?!
That's the BEST time to take a bath. Foreign bed, foreign room. Automatically removed from your own environment at home. LUxury bath amenities frequently available (I pack my own in case they are not provided). Sometimes a bigger, better tub is available. No kids are fighting, no dogs are barking. Your phone isn't going to ring. You can really relax after an arduous day of travel.
I love hotel baths and in fact I'm known for buying new pajames and a new robe to save for a upcoming travel, I buy bath products which I save for travel, and, I've been known to demand a room with a cleaner, better bathrub. There better not be any rust, broken stoppers, or peeling, discolored anti-slip stickers in my tub. My hotel baths are important.
Elsewhere Nov 8th 2007 5:41PM
Every time. Every single time. Every blessed single time. Sometimes twice a day, and one of those a good long soak. If the hotel doesn't have a tub, they don't get my business.
Oh, and size counts, too.
William Nov 8th 2007 7:13PM
I always mean to...but I never get around to it. While it's nice to have that option, I always end up choosing the shower. And if I'm really tired, I appreciate a shower with great water pressure more than a soak in a tub. I can definitely see both sides of the potential argument here though.
Danny Nov 9th 2007 12:44PM
Well apparently the 2% of folks who actually DO use the bathtub in a hotel room are quite vocal! And there ARE some great arguments in favor of taking a super relaxing bath in a super nice hotel room. But I still prefer to take a bath at home. Something about knowing who has been in my tub before and how well I keep my tub cleaned really really REALLY does it for me...
Don Nov 12th 2007 3:38PM
Never really thought about it until I was at a Holiday Inn in British Columbia in a room with a jetted tub. I'm usually a shower fan, but as soon as I saw jets, I filled the thing up and jumped in. Maybe we should look at making THAT standard in hotels.
E. Nov 17th 2007 1:02AM
as a frequent hotel user , and especially when amenities are being so importnat, how cold they decide to leave the tub out of the room
it is the ultimate luxury to take a relaxing bath after a long day ...
Blair Dec 4th 2007 9:29AM
I stay in hotels often and am a germ-a-phob. I wear flip flops in either the tub or the shower. I prefer a shower, though, because it allows for so much more foot print space. Thanks to a recent building code change, can now easily retrofit a 60x30 shower receptor in place of tubs in remodels. I would have thought more king-sized bed rooms would turn tubs into showers (with steam? That'd be perfect sans any wallpaper)...
RN1Business Dec 28th 2007 11:49PM
Ultra-jetted jacuzzi tub WITH steam shower, sleep concierge and Quiet Cold room: that is where I bring my e$pen$e account. No jetted tub? No check-in! Hotel time is the Only time with no kids, dogs, dirty kitchen or laundry. Loooove me some clean quiet luxurious spa tub soak with bath oils, fluffy towels, face mask, skin scrub, deep hair conditioning treatment and then slather up with body butter after drying off. Snuggle up with those fresh 500-count cotton sheets & a book...... ZZZZzzzzzzz......MMMMmmmmmmm.......zzzzzzzzz
raven Dec 29th 2007 12:06AM
On the other side of the coin, as a physically handicapped person who ends up fighting with hotels about rooms with flat accessed showers, this is a good sign for me. I can't tell you how many times I've requested a handicapped accessed room and found one with a tub instead of a shower and that tub has no way for a person in a chair to get into the tub, much less out of it without help. The last hotel I stayed in had thier tub access cut in half by their 'handicapped accessible' sink and there was no way I could get into the tub. Not to mention that they never have any grab bars on the *OUTSIDE* of the tub.
What about the growing number of people who are physically handicapped who travel alone. Yes, we do exist and the idea of not having to battle hotels about a shower I can get into is important.
mallthus Jan 4th 2008 5:05PM
Very, very, occasionally (like at a resort), I'll take a bath if the tub is truly special...jets, a view, etc.
If I'm at a hotel for a single night, on business, that's not something special (i.e. Courtyard, Four Points, etc), the idea of taking a bath wouldn't even enter my mind.
The only luxury I expect in these cases is a limitless supply of hot water and no spouse waiting her turn.