Hotels are ditching bathroom doors as guests scream 'put them back' - but would it ruin your stay?
You've checked in to your hotel and, with your travel partner, head straight to your room to take a refreshing shower after a long flight. But, you unlock your room and discover the hotel has fallen victim to one particular interior design trend - involving the bathroom door. Many establishments are opting for alternatives to the classic, solid wooden door that has served buildings well for centuries. Instead, some hotels are choosing to install sliding barn doors for the bathroom, or even whole glass doors, sometimes frosted, sometimes not. In other cases, curtains or other questionable methods are being used to partition off bathrooms from the rest of the room, The Wall Street Journal reports. Although it might be an aesthetically pleasing design choice for some guests, many have taken issue with the lack of privacy these door choices bring, as well as unsuitability for keeping unpleasant smells, or even sounds, away.One person fumed on Reddit, 'I don't know who keeps approving this c**p. NO ONE wants a transparent/frosted bathroom window so my partner sees me using the bathroom.'They went on to highlight problems with the design letting light in when their partner uses the toilet in the evenings. Many establishments are opting for alternatives to the classic, solid wooden door that has served buildings well for centuries'Or a barn door with a massive gap in the door so they hear and smell everything. Even as a couple travelling together, it's uncomfortable,' the holidaymaker continued.'I don't know what hotel chain needs to hear this, but put the bathroom doors back. Put the bathroom doors back!' another tourist, who goes by @wyettsworld on TikTok, insists in a video. He continues, 'Not a curtain, not a sliding door, not a barn door, I don't know if they think it's a Gen Z, trendy thing, no we want doors on the bathroom!'Meanwhile Kathi found herself in a nightmare situation when she checked in to a hotel with her boyfriend and discovered the bathroom door was completely see-through glass.She shared a video of the room on TikTok, @lifeofkaethe, and penned, 'Someone didn’t think this through'.Unsuitable bathroom doors in hotels have become such a problem that a campaign in the form of a website, 'bringbackdoors.com' has even formed. 'You deserve privacy when you travel. You deserve real bathroom doors,' the site reads. Instead, some hotels are choosing to install sliding barn doors for the bathroom, or even whole glass doors, sometimes frosted, sometimes notIt even features a list of 'doorless hotels' as well as 'hotels with doors' for travellers who really value their bathroom privacy. 'I don't know about you, but I refuse to accept these open concept glass door bathrooms that the hotel industry is falling in love with,' the creator of bringbackdoors.com, Sadie Lowell, quips in a TikTok video. 'They're on every continent in every country, in all price points,' she adds.But there are several reasons hotels around the world are leaning into alternative bathroom doors. Interior designer Jon de la Cruz, who has worked on restaurants and hotels amongst other properties, tells House Beautiful why hotels might ditch the traditional bathroom door. He says, 'From a design perspective, there can be practical reasons why hotels choose glass doors or barn-style doors for bathroom or water closets, primarily related to space efficiency.'What's more, bathroom doors can be used to add to the overall feel or appearance of the room, such as increasing the amount of light. Although it might be an aesthetically pleasing design choice for some guests, many have taken issue with the lack of privacy these door choices bring, as well as unsuitability for keeping any unpleasant smells, or even sounds, awayDesigner Sarah Stacey explains how this might work in older buildings.She says, 'It also comes up in historic buildings, where you may not be able to add the kind of lighting, ventilation, or electrical you would ideally want inside a fully enclosed bathroom, so the design borrows light from the bedroom area to keep the bathroom from feeling like a dark box.'Simple door types, like a barn or glass door, are easier and more cost-effective to produce in large quantities too, helping hotels to save money.
