Style and Utility Don't Inspire at National Museum

National Museum Singapore
93 Stamford Road,
Singapore
178897


http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/


Where is it?

Parking at Caning Walk take the back entrance heading over the footbridge. Once in the building proper see the mural – pictured – to your right and head left. The entrance to the toilets is on your left. Follow the arrow at the end and the toilets will be right there.


What’s it like?

You know this particular day had turned wet and was disappointingly cool for an otherwise pleasantly humid time of the year in the city. What do you do when the weather turns bad? OK you shop. But what do you do once you’ve looked at a whole mall full of computers and gadgets…? You find a museum of course!

I passed through the museum and took the opportunity to use the facilities as I was on an informal walking tour of the city highlights. It’s an impressive place and a great space for showing art and coping with the many visitors that must come here. There was also a exhibition of furniture on that showed some pretty innovative, funky furniture that was comfortable and utilitarian at the same time.

The toilets make a good first impression as well. You are greeted with sleek black counter white tile and steel fixtures. All perfectly utilitarian: all perfect robust for the many visitors. But…

These toilets were uninspiring and pretty uninviting. I wanted to take my time and rest my feet a little before the next stage of the walk but the fact was these toilets were uncomfortable and just wanted you to move on your way. Rather like McDonalds’ seats they were designed to allow you to do you stuff in comfort but ust at that point they become so uncomfortable.

That said they had clearly put the effort in to keeping these toilets clean with the rota up to date! a great automatic paper dispenser, but given we’re getting used to the Dyson hand driers in the UK that can’t save these toilets.

So, the designers of these toilets were skilled in meeting their brief. Shovel people through clean, functional, moderately stylish toilets as quickly as possible. That just doesn’t make for the best toilet experience. Maybe they should enlist the young designers to do a better job?


Marks out of 10:

8. Perfectly utilitarian but certainly not comfortable with it.


Comments to the management:

Clean but mean.

Copenhagen Airport: Spotless but Smokey

Copenhagen Airport
Lufthavnsboulevarden 6
DK-2770 Kastrup
Denmark

http://www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/MAIN/Facilities/Facility+Map/

Where is it?

Follow through the airport into the departure lounge of terminal 2. Head left until you come to the To:Go take away café and head right down the short flight of stairs and you’ll see the toilets across to the left.

What’s it like?

Sometimes you just rush. This was certainly one of those weekends. A Thursday of interviewing candidates, a mad dash to the airport, just catching my flight, arriving in Copenhagen at 10:30pm. A rush in a Taxi to the conference venue early the next morning, and on, and on. So getting to the airport early and having some time to wonder the shops, grab some sushi, and generally catch up with my body was more than a little welcome.

And Copenhagen Airport is a pretty funky as airports go. The shops are full of gadgets you’ll never use but are pretty cool to look at. Then there’s the most expensive deli store I’ve ever been in. Add to that the distinct lack of a McDonalds and the presence of much better quality fare and you have a pretty good all round experience.

I guess that most of the time the quality of the experience is also reflected in the toilets. Indeed, the toilets had just been reopened after cleaning when I headed over. And they were spotlessly clean but they suffered from one thing:

THE CECELIA EFFECT

What’s that you might ask. Well, whilst Cecelia had done a good job of cleaning, and had signed to that effect, she was also using the lack of cameras and the privacy of the male toilets in cleaning to have a quick smoke. What resulted was a stench of smoke that pervaded the place. Sorry, Cecilia but you’ve been caught!

There was also a sink out of order, but then you can’t really complain when you consider the care with which they deal with the problem. Clean plastic seals off the scene whilst clear labels in Danish and English warning you not to use it.

So overall a great place to pee.


Marks out of 10:

7 even with the smells!


Comments to the management:


Watch out for Cecelia – her smells are the worst thing about the place.

Light Sabres Found in Dutch McDonalds!

Mc Donalds,
Weselseweg 1 A,
VENLO.
5916 RD.
Holland.

http://www.mcdonalds.nl/templates/dispatcher.asp?page_id=1483


Where is it?

When you enter the restaurant turn directly right. Head down the corridor and you’ll find the toilets on the left.


What’s it like?

Every little boy in my generation will have imagined themselves with a light sabre. I saw my first Star Wars film aged six. I’m sure real world technology will catch up with film worlds by the time I’m 75. In the meantime I’ll have to make do with this McDonalds in Holland, which has definitely made the light sabre the centre of its design scheme. The green poles of light come out of the floor and you certainly think twice before putting your hand near them.

This place was fantastic, and must have been refurbished recently. Granite counter tops, and open stylish layout make this McDonalds one of the best I’ve met in a while. This was a pretty urgent stop on the way towards the German boarder and the service was slick and the hot chocolate pretty damned good.

So what about the toilet? Modern, different, clean and bright, and the urinal was unusual. But, overall compared to the rest of the place the toilets were a slight let down. Slightly too small as well as being plain. Still, given the need for a stop I was certainly not complaining!

So, if I haven’t said it before, be assured I will say it again. McDonalds have some of the most reliable toilets in the world. The generally high standard and the restaurant’s worldwide reach mean they have to be the traveller’s friend. So, what do I say to the critics of McDonalds? Well realise that you have never travelled further than your backyard in anything other than five star luxury. Consider you are pampered, whinging idiots who need to connect with reality.


Marks out of 10:

7 for a clean entertaining stop.



Comments to the management:

A great restaurant that needs the same touch in the toilets.

Another Surprising Success for McDonald's

McDonald's
Kingsditch Retail Park,
Kingsditch Lane,
Cheltenham.
Gloucestershire.
GL51 9PX.
United Kingdom

http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/


Where is it?

This is primarily a drive through on the edge of town, so you’ll have to fight to park up and use the main restaurant. From the entrance head straight and before you get to the counter head left. The toilets are in front of you.


What’s it like?

I think I must be good at helping people move house. I get to do it fairly often. Even in a weekend stop in Philadelphia the conversation went something like “hey I forgot to tell you we’re moving house this weekend. Hope you’ve got some scruffy stuff ‘cos you’re helping. So it was no surprise to me when I found myself in another transit van loaded with furniture. Other than the joy of playing with rental vans moving house is also a good excuse to hit a McDonalds for lunch.

This time it was in the UK and the local drive through. Chicken Premiere Sandwich ordered it was time to seek out the toilets. What I found was some of the cleanest, shiniest, warm, and clinically clean toilets I’ve come across in a fast food place. Honestly, they were absolutely spotless.

As this branch has been around for at least 10 years, and can only be called busy, even at quiet times, you have to be surprised. They were so clean I send in the home owner to be in to check out I wasn’t hallucinating. Nope, apparently not.

Bravo Ronald!

Marks out of 10:

9 for tip top toilets.


Comments to the management:

BRAVO INDEED.

Mc Café Has the Feel

McCafe,
Augsburger Strasse 75,
91781 Weissenburg.
Germany.

http://www.mcdonalds.de/flash.php

Where is it?

Well first a disclaimer on the address. The place we stopped at was certainly somewhere between Heidelberg and Munich. We took the back roads. We ended up stopping in somewhere beginning with a W after a really pretty stretch which continued for a long while afterwards. Without my notes (they’ve gone missing since I was there), but with a little help from the McDonalds’ finder thing this looks like it was the one.

Once there go from the entrance head towards the counter until you can head right. Go straight across the restaurant and you’ll see a corridor (more of an opening really). The toilets are down there on the left.


What’s it like?

The reality that many of us face when travelling for pleasure is inconsistent and sometimes downright disgusting toilets. Some of the worst toilets I can remember were at a truck stop near Arusha in Tanzania. I’ll not go in to the detail, but a score of –2 would probably have resulted. A trip around the newly opened eastern-bloc countries in 1991 also revealed a few basic toilets. The overnight train that headed east out of Munich had toilets that were particularly interesting. In fact it was on this trip that my love of McDonalds grew. Stumbling upon a McDonalds in Budapest meant not only could I have the first western food for 4 weeks, but also the best toilet facilities in that time too.

So it was good to continue the tradition in 2007 with a stop in a McCafe. A McCafe? This is McDonalds’ new concept for Germany. Part normal restaurant and part relaxed coffee place. And was it agreeable. Well it seemed to be going down well with the locals. People were not just rushing in and out with the kids as you might see elsewhere, but meeting their friends, reading the newspaper over a coffee and cake, and generally relaxing.

And the toilets? Well they were very new, very clean and well a little odd. These were high spec for Maccy D’s. Tile on the wall. Proper wooden doors. In fact I think they were themed to be toilets in a mountain cabin. At least that would tie in with the local area. Having said they were a little odd they were more than comfortable enough. In fact they were damned right entertaining. Add to that they were warm and cosy and all you can say is that they were a complete success. Well-done McDonalds!


Marks out of 10:

8 for a clean entertaining stop.


Comments to the management:

Mountain styling is a little odd, but these are not bad at all.

3 is the Magic Number

McDonald’s,
Carpenters Arms,
Old Botley,

Oxford.

OX2 0JR
United Kingdom

http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/


Where is it?

From the entrance head left. Follow through the chairs to the end of the restaurant and then to the right. There is a clearly signposted door through to the toilets.


What’s it like?

We’d eaten out and didn’t like the dessert menu too much and fell back on the trusty McDonald’s ice cream cone to finish things off. As we were approaching the restaurant I thought how the golden arches on their side would look like a number 3. And then remembered that De La Soul say three, that’s the magic number, yes it is! I’m not sure if it’s a pity that they didn’t use the golden arches on the single cover or not?

The whole theme continued in inside. Three staff, three sets of toilets (male / femal / disabled) and so on. I guess I’d have to say the staff seem to strike the same sort of happy tone from the De La Soul track too. This is one of the cleanest and friendliest McDonald’s that I know. Converted from the Carpenters Arms in 2002, it has worn well with the management obviously caring for the place in a way you rarely see in a fast food chain.

This is something that carries through to the toilets. They are on the basic side but well maintained. I’ve never seen a lock, door or soap dispenser out of order here. On this trip they had obviously been cleaned recently. Well done to the staff on that one. Still, some shit bag had managed to put toilet paper in one of the urinals, luckily not quite blocking it. I assume this is one of the ‘guests’ rather than one of the staff, but it still has to knock down the grading.


Marks out of 10:

A five, but I’d really have liked to give a 7.


Comments to the management:

Keep happy and slap the customers into line!