Bathroom Blogfest – luxury loos from around the world

  London’s first superloo opened in the West End last year – with a price tag of £5.

The superloo, a multi-million pound powder room on Oxford Street, is aimed at women who want to relax as well as use the toilet. The powder room features oversized, air-conditioned toilet cubicles for changing, deep seating, large mirrors, as well as ambient lounge music. Toilets are sterilised and sealed after every use and each cubicle comes with towels, soaps and hand creams.                                                                                            

WC1 is the place where stressed out shoppers and women on their way to a meeting or to dinner can relax, revive and be pampered.

Interestingly, it looks like the concept is spreading around the globe: Angelbe, which opened in December 2006, is a powder room operated by the West Japan Railway Company and located in Osaka’s main railway station. Like WC1, the space was designed to resemble a lounge, with chandeliers, soft curves and gentle lighting. Besides spotless bathroom facilities, Angelbe features make-up booths with comfortable chairs and well-lit mirrors, changing rooms and a separate smoking room. Since this is a perfect setting for relevant tryvertising, it’s no surprise that several companies have their products on offer in Angelbe: women can sample Shiseido cosmetics and use an array of hair dryers and straightening irons by Matsushita.

Point WC on the Champs Elysees in Paris are the first “luxury” public toilets featuring a toiletries boutique and “wellbeing” services. Disinfected by staff after every visit, they guarantee optimum cleanliness. Each cubicle is different: in “design”, “ethnic” or “chic” styles.

There’s no doubt that women across the world would welcome an inviting place to recharge while on the go, and they’re likely to take notice of brands providing the service.

 WC1 (London)                      Angelbe (Japan)                Point WC (Paris)