Monday 29 January 2007

Keep walking.... it's just a little further.....

Famas Pizza and Pasta
5474 Central Florida Pkwy
Orlando, FL USA 32821

Where is it?

Not behind the saloon doors in the dining room, even though that's where you think the toilet will be. (There's just an office there.) No, you've got to go back into the lobby and deli area, turn right of the cashier counter, go down a hallway adjacent to the kitchen, past ovens, sinks, refrigerators and more until you get to the little restroom area.

The journey actually remind me a little of the scene in Goodfellas, where Robert DeNiro asks Lorraine Braco to go into the alley to look at some stolen dresses, only -- you know -- there weren't any dresses there...... Just a little further.... Pay no attention to the hired goons waiting there to kill you....

What's it like?

There aren't any dresses there either, if that's what you're wondering.

Actually, the restroom isn't much to look at.
Beat up tile. Chipped porceline. Frameless mirror. Shabby walls. Like many mom-and-pop places, it's functional but also a bit run-down. Not exactly comfortable, but certainly not disgusting either.

A funny sidenote: There's a sink outside the restrooms, which seems to exist solely for people who want to wash their hands without actually going into the loo. However, there are no towels available beside the sink, so you still have to go inside to wash your hands. What gives?


Marks out of 10:

6. Serviceable, nothing more.

Comments to the Management:

The place serves great food that's filled with tradition and history. But the bathrooms certainly need some restoration.

Wednesday 24 January 2007

Sit-Com Paradise!






Montpellier Wine Bar, Bayshill Lodge,
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. GL50 1SY
United Kingdom

http://www.montpellierwinebar.com/


Where is it?

From the front door head directly left and down the stairs (from the bar to the restaurant). There is a doorway to the left; head through it and the toilets are ahead. Alternatively, go through to the back of the bar and go around to the left. There is a doorway that leads down some (steep) stairs. Go down them and the toilets are to the right at the bottom.

This bar/restaurant is the one shown regularly in the 1970’s sit-com Butterflies. The outside of the bar has hardly changed since then. Friendly staff, good food, and – dare I say it – a stylish clientele make this a cool place to visit.

What’s it like?

Clean and sparkly this time around! (At the weekends heavy usage can lead to a grubbier environment). Brown ‘mosaic’ tiles give a stylish feel. The sink and mirror have an element of luxury, added to by the designer soap provided. The only problem is that these toilets are cramped. Even with only one other person in there it felt overly busy.

Marks out of 10:

7. A nice place to visit.

Comments to the management:

Cool when you’re clean.

Tuesday 23 January 2007

How about a little privacy, senor?

Don Pablo's
8717 International Dr.
Orlando FL USA 32819

Where is it?


In the lounge, beside the bar. Just look for the neon restroom sign beside the other neon sign offering margaritas.

What's it like?

Rust-colored paint, weathered-looking tile -- while the restaurant's dining room looks like a warehouse, just with a bunch of South of the Border decor (it's clean, noisy and very spacious) the bathrooms seems to be aiming for the authentic Mexican decor of a run-down Tijuana tavern that should have been knocked to the ground long ago.

Worse still, the urinals are placed dangerously close to the vanity mirror, and even with the dividers sitting between them you get the impression that anyone coming into the restroom can grab a look at your goods while you're peeing. The stalls aren't much of an improvement in terms of cleanliness or privacy. No me gusta.

Marks out of 10:

5. South of the border indeed.

Comments to the Management:

A greater chance of privacy would be nice.

Monday 22 January 2007

Someone lock the door!!!

Jax 5th Avenue Deli and Alehouse
11 South Court Avenue
Orlando, FL USA 32801


Where is it?

A little tricky. If you're facing the bar from the entrance, look to the far left wall for a small hallway there along the north side of the building. Go down that hallway to find the bathroom.

What's it like?

It's a bar bathroom, so you expect it to be kind of shoddy. But not this bad. Dirty walls and tiles. Sink that needs scrubbing. There's no lock on the bathroom door -- kind of strange seeing that this is a bar specializing in beer and sandwiches (if you get my drift). Also, the soap dispenser has fallen from the wall mount and now sits on the sink basin (hard to get the soap out that way). There are no paper towels, just a hand blower, and it's positioned over the trash can so that when the air blows it shuffles the bag around, causing some very loud rustling noises to occur.

Marks out of 10:

4. Serviceable, but only for peeing.

Comments to the Management:

Sandwiches and beer available are great, as is the atmosphere. But the bathrooms need a good scrubbing and the door needs a lock.

Monday 15 January 2007

Rat pack meets 7-11

The 14th Avenue Steakhouse
2023 14th Ave.
Vero Beach, FL USA 32967

Where is it?

In the hallway leading to and from the restaurant's rear entrance -- the door coming from the alley, not from 14th Avenue. Essentially, it's the first sign of life you see when you come in the restaurant's back way.

What was it like?

Clean and tiled, but also a run down and drab -- moreso than expected. The restaurant itself is very lounge-like in decor, with vinyl books, wood-panel walls, 1940s and 1950s movie posters and the like. You'd expect the bathroom to be similar, but instead it looked like something found at a 7-11 or Texaco, and about as well kept as those latter places.

Bonus points for putting the urinal in its own set of full-length stall walls -- now that's private peeing!

Marks out of 10:

6. I just expected more.....

Comments to the Management:

Might be time to consider a remodeling. Some new tile and counters would spruce it up nicely. I was expecting more from the bathroom than this, given the laid-back coolness of the restaurant's decor.

Sunday 14 January 2007

Possibly the Best Toilets in THE Hotel




THE Hotel, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA

Where are they?

Can't remember, but in the posh bit beyond the lobby.

What were they like?

We didn't have a pass, but looking at the outside we have to ask if they are the best toilets in the world.

Marks out of 10:

? ... But, hell, let's give them a ten for shiny tiles and ultimate cool alone.

Coments to the management:

Please let us in.

Squeaky Clean in Orlando Airport

Orlando Airport Terminal B – Gates 80 to 92
Orlando, FL USA

Where is it?

Having passed gate 81 go to the right. You really shouldn’t need our help on this one!

What was it like?

The first thing to say is that the smell of a rest room can be a winner or a looser before you even enter. The perfume in these toilets invited you in. The toilets are spotless. Clean, clean, clean! Automatic flush (for us males at least) makes it better.

The only things that stop a ten out of ten is the lack of an automatic dispenser for the hand towel and the overly busy brown tiles that make you feel dizzy.

Marks out of 10:

An 8 makes room for the real luxury.

Comments to the Management:

Only if you could make the planes run on time….

Rusty's is Clean and Mean (And has Some Great Food)

Rusty's Seafood & Oyster Bar
628 Glen Cheek Drive
Port
Canaveral, FL USA 32920


Where is it?

Entering from main entrance go straight through and follow the bar around to the right. Just past the bar the rest rooms are on the right. Women (gulls) go left. Men (bouys) go straight.


What was it like?

Clean and functional like the rest of the place, the facilities here are not luxurious by any means, but anything more would be out of character with the place. A cool place to eat - with a funky edge added by the industrial, dockside setting. Excellent food.


Marks out of 10:

6 for the rest room
10 for the food.


Comments to the management:

Keep clean and mean.

AY! Jalisco or Ay HELL!

AY Jalisco
1814 US Highway 1
Sebastian, FL USA 32958.


Where is it?

Entering from the main car park (south of the restaurant) turn immediately to the right. The rest rooms are at the end on the right.

Entering through the north entrance, go straight to the opposite side and turn left. Follow to the end and they are on the right.

What was it like?

An important stop at the male toilet was spoilt by a pause to find the light switch and the, quite frankly, disgusting state of the toilets. Urine and paper towels do not make good carpeting. Tiles only please!

Marks out of 10:

2 – at least there was soap and hot water.

Comments to the management:

If Macdonalds can do it you should set to it.