The hotel trend that's making travelers cringe is here to stay, and it's all about the bathroom!
Imagine this: you're sharing a hotel room with a friend, aiming to save some cash. All you really need are two beds, a bathroom, and decent Wi-Fi. Sounds straightforward, right? Well, it was, until you step into your room and realize the only thing separating the beds from the toilet is a sliding glass door, with a rather generous gap at the top.
Thankfully, if you're with a close friend, you can probably laugh it off and agree to blast music if anyone needs to use the facilities. But let's be honest, this isn't a solution that works for everyone.
If you've been feeling like hotel bathrooms have been getting a bit... exposed lately, you're not imagining things. Those traditional bathroom doors with hinges, handles, and latches? They're becoming a rarity. Instead, hotel designers are opting for frosted glass walls, sliding barn doors, and even curtains to create a separation (or lack thereof) between the sleeping area and the bathroom.
But here's where it gets controversial... While this might be perfectly fine if you're traveling solo, it's a whole different story when you're sharing a room. Not everyone is comfortable with their travel companion being privy to, well, everything that goes on in the bathroom.
So, why this drastic shift? According to reports, there are several compelling reasons why those trusty old doors are disappearing.
The number one driver? Money. In the post-pandemic era, with business and group travel still recovering and the costs of materials and labor on the rise, hotels are looking for ways to cut expenses. As one reporter put it, "In the eyes of a chief financial officer, the humble door can look like a money pit." It's simply cheaper and easier to install a pocket sliding door or hang a curtain.
Beyond the initial cost, these alternatives also require less ongoing maintenance. Hinges can get squeaky, handles can loosen, and wooden doors can be damaged by luggage or warped by steam from the shower.
Another factor influencing this trend is disability accessibility laws. In many places, these laws mandate specific door widths. In compact hotel rooms, there often isn't enough floor space for a traditional door to swing open and shut. Sliding doors, in this context, offer a practical solution.
And this is the part most people miss... While these solutions address accessibility, they rarely provide a proper seal. This is precisely why guests often complain about noise and odor issues.
Some high-end resorts and hotels have even embraced this 'no door' trend, marketing it as "modern" or "European-chic." They present the open-plan bathroom as contributing to a spa-like ambiance, transforming the bathroom from a private utility space into an integral design feature of the suite.
Frequent traveler Sadie Lowell, fed up with this trend, launched an online campaign called "Bring Back Doors." After a particularly awkward experience sharing a room with her dad in London, where a glass door was the only barrier between the shower and toilet, she began emailing hotels. Her mission? To collect data on bathroom door privacy, categorizing hotels based on whether their doors fully close and if they are made of glass. She's even created lists: one for hotels with proper bathroom doors and another for those without, further subdivided by privacy levels.
Sadie's message to the hotel industry is clear: "Maybe the hotel industry will finally start paying attention and realize they can't commodify privacy, because people will just take their money and their travel budget to hotels that still have bathroom doors."
What do you think? Are you a fan of the open-plan bathroom trend, or do you believe privacy should always be a top priority in hotel rooms? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below – do you agree with Sadie, or do you see the practical benefits?
