The Bathroom Makeover: Contemporary Hotel Bathroom Designs

The next time you check in at a luxury hotel or resort, you may notice a bathroom makeover when entering your room. Hotel bathrooms are getting bigger, bolder and more luxurious than ever before.

Life Goes Strong spoke to architect Gene Kaufman about trends in hotel bathroom designs. Kaufman is the founder of NYC-based Gene Kaufman Architect (GKA) and principal of Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman + Associates Architects (GSKA). His firms are currently working on an extensive portfolio of boutique and international brand hotels as well as the restoration of two of New York City's landmark hotels – The Hotel Chelsea and The Hotel Bossert. Mr. Kaufman is an expert on hotel architecture and has written about hotel bathroom design for Hotels Magazine.

What are some of the changing trends in hotel bathroom design?

Bathrooms are changing shape and integrating with bedrooms through the addition of glass walls, inset windows and other features. They have become part of the overall room rather than the small, private, functional spaces they once were.

Glass showers have been accepted as stylish, liberating, romantic and a way to simply make small spaces feel larger. The hotel room is evolving toward making the night's stay an experience one doesn't have at home, and the open bathroom is part of that, something you might enjoy as a diversion as opposed to the every day.

Has bathroom size changed relative to the size of bedrooms?

Bathrooms are big. Literally. Bathrooms used to occupy 15% of the guest room and have now grown to 20%, 25%, 30% and even more. They are beginning to shrink back a bit, but they remain considerably larger than in the past.

What are the big changes in terms of bathroom fixtures (sinks, tubs, etc.)?

Stall showers with glass walls are replacing tubs in most guest rooms visually connecting them with the bathroom and often the guest room. Lavatories, which were for a long time shielded from the rest of the space, are reemerging and sometimes in the open area of the guest room. Only toilets have not really changed, and are in some cases becoming more private, being set behind walls or enclosed completely.

What have been some of the nicest hotel bathrooms you have visited?

Among many others, my favorites include: Hotel Armani Milan (modern), George V (traditional), and Royal Monceau (unusual) in Paris.

What do you think of the automatic toilets like those made by Toto showing up in some upscale hotels in the States?

We worked on a budget Japanese hotel, where automatic toilets were considered necessary, but they are still very uncommon here, and seem likely to remain that way. It is not often a topic of conversation in our society.

Are hotel bathrooms going green?

Green bathrooms are easily achievable with low-flow fixtures, especially shower heads. But guests want that luxury experience of high volume water in the shower. More often than not, the accent on luxury prevails.