Hotel bathtubs are one of my favorite parts of traveling. For me, there are few things more enjoyable after a long day flight delay and luggage problems rather than a soak. The larger and more complex the tub, the better.
So imagine my disappointment when I visit a new or recently renovated hotel only to find that my beloved bathtub has been replaced with a beautiful but infrequent shower. comfortable.
It’s not just my imagination. Bathtubs are rapidly disappearing from hotel rooms.
“Hotels are increasingly focused on being a destination for guests and locals and embracing the communities around them,” says Kellie Sirna, co-founder of the award-winning hotel design firm. . Design Studio 11. “With so much to explore on site and in the vicinity, you don’t have to offer a long and luxurious shower experience.”
In fact, many hotels are phasing out their bath and shower combinations and replacing them with more modern shower-only setups.
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Rise of the hotel shower
Having a private bathroom for every hotel room wasn’t really a practice until the late 1800s. Even then, they were considered a luxury amenity.
Before hotel guests have access to a private bathroom, they can expect to find shared amenities and a basin of water for washing. However, the idea of a private bathroom began to take hold, and by the 1920s, many hotels were providing private bathrooms. bathroom.
Like the move to create a private bathroom decades ago, the current trend towards tub-free spaces comes from guest preferences. According to Sirna, guests are increasingly concerned with more space, more sustainable hotel options and, above all, cleanliness when they travel.
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Is the tub scrubbed?
There are several factors that have led to the decline of hotel baths, although changing customer preferences appear to be a growing reason behind the trend. And as we’ve learned more than ever during the pandemic, cleanliness is key.
In a quick survey of TPG readers in the TPG Facebook group, we found that more than half of respondents preferred showers to baths – often very vigorously. For most readers, concern about the cleanliness of the bathtub is the main reason for their preference. Many people did not mince words about their reasoning.
“The bathtub is used by anyone other than my family [are] so gross,” Denise Jordan from Philadelphia said in TPG Lounge.
But hotel bathtubs aren’t the only bathroom feature TPG readers hesitate to use because of cleanliness. Hotel bathrooms are also considered an area of concern, to the point that some people say they choose hotel shower shoes because of it.
Overall, it seems that TPG readers, and perhaps hotel guests in general, are concerned that the level of cleanliness in the hotel may not be in line with what they are comfortable with, especially because The amount of cleaning done by hotel staff is huge.
“Employees have 100 percent more work than any human can do,” says Drew Powers of Illinois at TPG Lounge. “There’s no way that much of that room gets cleaned to the point it really needs to be.”
With many hotels still short of housekeeping and other staff, shower-only bathrooms have the potential to cut down on cleaning time. A move that both saves the hotel money and helps ensure that housekeeping staff have more time to properly clean rooms.
But we reported earlier, Hotel housekeeping is still very often overlookedwith many hotels still skipping daily cleaning — even at some luxury hotels. While a lot of the changes to housekeeping are due to labor shortages, major hotel companies have also cut services for sustainability reasons, another factor that could be driving the trend. hotel bath tub.
Is sustainability happening?
The average standard-sized tub takes up about 13 square feet, while the standard shower-only option requires only about 9 square feet. But studies vary on the question of which shower option uses more water (long hot showers can actually use more water than the average shower).
Either way, according to Sirna, travelers are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint – and hotels can capitalize on that by getting rid of expensive bathtubs and replacing them with showers, some are small and basic while others are more luxurious.
Related: 8 sustainable travel tips from green travel experts
As a result, there have been some exciting innovations when it comes to hotel showers, including low-flow showerheads that reduce water waste and the use of natural materials like stone to evoke outdoor spaces. God. Hotels are also evoking more spa-like bathroom experiences with rainfall showerheads or even double showers, and tile work is increasingly complex and unique.
Some new hotels like Hilton’s motto New York City Chelsea, open without a tub. Others, like hollywood dream in Los Angeles, only tubs are available in their higher-end rooms.
But if there really isn’t any solid evidence that showers are more sustainable, then the question is: Is removing bathtubs from hotel rooms really about sustainability, or is it a way for companies to get their hands on it? Hotel companies shrink profits by using sustainability as a ploy?
One way we know that hotel companies are really taking sustainability seriously is to remove small disposable shampoo, conditioner and soap bottles from rooms and replace them with attached dispenser boxes. on which the housekeeper can refill.
Hotel bath tubs will disappear?
What bathroom amenities are available in a hotel still depends largely on its target market.
“If hotels in the city have the space, offering bathtubs is an opportunity to tap into your local apartment market who may not have a bathtub of their own,” says Sirna. “Romantic travelers are kind of a mixed bag — while the sensual, unexpected showering experience has its own merits, the traditional, visual aesthetic of a beautiful bathtub remains. has a strong attraction. Business travelers will be more than impressed with a highly engineered shower experience that seamlessly fits into their daily routine.”
Paige Harris, design and development director at Valor Hotel Partneragrees and adds that she thinks hotel baths are “in fact outdated,” except in very specific cases.
“Some luxury, resort hotels are keeping bathtubs, but only in suites, not in regular guest rooms,” says Harris.
So despite the ongoing and ever-expanding trend of shower use, bathtubs are unlikely to disappear entirely. As long as there are heavy-duty tub lovers like myself and Carolyn Spencer Brown in Maryland around who are willing to splurge a bit for access to a tub, the tub will survive.
“Take a shower with the team,” Brown said in the TPG Lounge. “I would choose this hotel over another.”
Featured photo of Catherine Falls Commercial Image / Getty
