Firehouse Subs Bathroom Offers Few Surprises, Lots of Paper on Floor

Firehouse Subs
1455 Semoran Blvd., Suite 295
Casselberry, FL USA
www.firehousesubs.com

Where is it?

This location of the popular sub chain looks and feels just like the others I've been to: It's along, rectangular store with a sandwich-making counter on the left side (with your back to the entrance) that takes up about 1/3 of the floor space and a dining room filled with two-top and four-top tables filling up the remaining area.

In the very back, against the far wall, is a soda fountain. To the right of that, in the far right corner, is an opening to a short hallway. The bathrooms are down that hallway, with the entrances being on your left.

What's it like?

As far as sub chains go, I rank this one on the high end of the spectrum. The bread here is doughy and fresh-tasting, the fillings are tasty enough and don't taste over-processed, portions are substantially sized and prices are decent. Plus, I like that the place offers a wide variety of subs and also houses a number of designer hot sauces to try (the bottles are lined up on the half-wall separating the sandwich preparation line and the dining room), as well as a decent house brand made by the company itself.

The decor is, as the name indicates, firehouse-inspired. There's lots of reds, blacks and dalmatian-dog-inspired dots, stripes and patterns. Tables covered with back and white polka dot patters. Amusing firehouse-based art (old photos, etc.) and signs on the walls. Friendly enough, and a good, relaxing place to meet a friend for a cheap lunch (like I did on this occasion with my buddy and occasional Where's the Toilet contributor, Ayal Wolf.)

The bathroom is pretty much what you'd expect from a place having this kind of design: Kind of kitschy, based in the store's branding, and little else.

It's lower walls have red and white tiles on them, with a black border around the perimeter to separate lower wall from upper wall. Upper walls are just white drywall.

That standard faux-brick-tiled floor we've seen at so many other places -- like Rainforest Coffee Company, Columbia Restaurant in Celebration, Kolob Canyons Visitors Center in Utah, Toon Lagoon Toilet at Islands of Adventure and many more -- covers the ground here. In fact, even the red and white tile (in some variation) has been seen elsewhere, like at Big Boy Diner, Jack in the Box, and Pizoodles. Boorring!

The place also has a red door, though it's not as impressive as the one at Anmol, I should add.

There is a white porcelain urinal, toilet and sink -- none of it with automatic flushes or faucets (the paper towel dispenser is automatic though, but the soap is just a pump). An unframed mirror mounted above the sink and some parlor lights above that.

A photograph print of an old fire station (circa 1920s) hands to the right of the mirror. A novelty sign, badge-shaped, reading "Are you hungry? Call the Firehouse" hangs on the opposite wall. Yawn......

The room itself is well-sized, a standard one-bagger. Comfortable enough but nothing exquisite or memorable. It wasn't remarkably clean -- there was lots of pieces of paper towels strewn about the floor, as well as bits of wear and tear and mildew here and there -- but it wasn't the worst either. Straight forward, predictable, nothing more. On par with the one visited at Famous Phil's Cheesesteaks only with a smaller area.

Marks out of 10:

5. Clean it up a little more and it would be a 6, but nothing more than that.

Comments to the Management:

Needs a little more policing, so there isn't as much torn paper floating around. Also, a little more scrubbing would be good, just to keep the edges clean. Otherwise, it is what it is.

Restroom at Flame Tree Restaurant in Animal Kingdom is Wonderful, But Watch Out for the Birds On the Way Over

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park
Conservation Station Bathroom
660 W. Savannah Circle
Lake Buena Vista, FL USA
disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/animal-kingdom/

Where is it?

From the order counter, cross the main walkway in front of you and enter the restaurant's outdoor seating area, located across the way. Go through the sea of tables and gazebos there, walking all the while to the part of the dining room that's furthest away from the counter. (There are well-placed signs set up, leading you to the bathrooms, so it's not hard to find.)

Eventually you will veer around the back of a building and to the left, where you will see a bunch of Asian/Aztec-like ruins surrounding the entrance to the bathroom.

What's it like?

The smells of barbecue suckered me into this place.

Located in between the Dinoland U.S.A. area of Animal Kingdom and the Tree of Life, the park's central attraction, Flame Tree Grill is just a typical fast food counter-service dining spot serving barbecue, chicken and a small assortment of sandwiches.

But the park seems to pipe in the smell of BBQ into the area around the restaurant (or maybe the kitchen had fans coming out of it and pointed in our direction), making it all but impossible for anyone walking by to not think about sinking his or her teeth into some succulent BBQ.

Needless to say, I was one of its suckers. After a few hours of schlepping around the park, I found myself starving and the smells of the BBQ from this place seemed more like a beacon of joy than anything else when I passed. I gave in, ordered up a plate of ribs and chicken and took them to the outdoor seating area across the way, where I tucked in and -- ironically enough -- had to fend off a slew of birds (including ducks, gulls and a few other species) while eating. Apparently, the birds get fed so often by fellow diners that they are comfortable enough to come up to your table and snatch the food right from your plate. Talk about adventure! (And more on those birds later.....)

Anyway, what's annoying is that the BBQ isn't all that great. Not terrible (the chicken that came with the meal was pretty dry, the ribs okay, but the sauces were decent, especially their fruitier, less-spicy variety) but not nearly as good as what you think you'll be getting when you first smell it cooking from down the way. Perhaps it's because it's hard to eat it warm while you're finding a seat in the place's overcrowded dining area, or perhaps its because it's hard to eat when you're surrounded by birds. (I'll opt for the Texas-style 'cue at Cecil's next time.)

As you can imagine, after a heavy meal of BBQ and fixin's, you'll need to make some room in your gut -- especially if you plan on visiting the rest of the park (or going on any of its rides, many of which are very bumpy).

Thankfully, the restroom here is one of the best theme park bathrooms I've been to - quite a surprise, considering how crowded it is. It's right on par with the wonder toilets at the Lost Continent area of Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

This is a large facility, on par in size with the Lost Continent toilets or the United Kingdom Pavilion bathroom at Disney's EPCOT theme park. It's a roomy, rectangular space, with a row of about a dozen urinals on the left side, followed by a string of about eight toilet stalls that wrap around the back wall of the place (with the handicap stalls being on the back wall). On the left wall is a row of wash stations, as well as a baby-changing area. All the toilets, sinks and urinals have automatic flushes or faucets, but the soap dispensers are the standard side-of-the-basin variety.

The decor is very Indian (from Indian, not "Native American), with lots of turquoise, green and purple tiles on the floor and walls, as well as some basic mosaic patterns strewn about. Very playful (not as playful as the bathroom in Conservation Station, mind you, but this place is going for a different feel entirely so it's probably not right to compare the two) and inviting. A few traces of urine singed the air (which I found to be a little more comforting than having the aroma of BBQ wafting through the vents here, for some reason) but outside of that it was pretty clean here. Quite a feat, considering that it's pretty heavily visited and I'm sure I'm not the only one who had to run here in haste after eating Flame Tree Grill's BBQ ribs and chicken combo plate. A top notch theme park bathroom.

The only bad point is the trip there. Not only do you have to contend with the dozens of other people heading in the same direction but you also have to watch out for all the birds, both on the ground and in the air. At peak times, I can see this place being similar to a birdie bomb range, if you catch my drift.

Marks out of 10:

8. Almost a 9, were it not for the many birds I had to contend with on my way to the toilet here.

Comments to the Management:

Great job keeping the bathroom here in shape and clean. It's a wonderful experience once I'm inside, but outside there has to be a way to contend with the birds. A trip to the bathroom should not be there adventurous, both in terms of getting there and being there.

After receiving your food from the order counter, follow the signs to the outdoor seating area located across from the kitchen proper. Walk through the tables,

Best and Worst Toilets of 2008

2008 proved to be a landmark year for Where’s the Toilet?

We managed to review more than 150 bathrooms around the world, including some in some faraway and exotic locations as Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia and more, and also visited toilets in some famous settings, like the Grand Canyon, the Hermitage Museum, Universal Studios Orlando and Grand Central Station, to name a few. Sadly, despite many requests, we were unable to review the toilet in the Minneapolis airport where Sen. Larry Craig was charged with “disorderly conduct.” Maybe next year...

Now that the year is over, we’ve chosen to post our second annual Best and Worst Toilets of the Year list.

So without further delay....

The Top 5

1. Mansion at Forsyth Park (Savannah, GA)

Easily the best of the year -- nothing else came close, and this was the best restroom we visited since our stop at the Wynn Las Vegas bathrooms (which topped our Best Toilets of 2007 list). As we said in our review of the Mansion, this is "a regal, marble-filled environment filled with amazing architectural frills, top-notch cleanliness and peaceful feelings."

2. Barrier Island Sanctuary Management & Education Center (Melbourne Beach, FL)

The best environmentally conscious (or "green") bathroom we visited this year, with a relaxing beach theme woven into the experience. "This bathroom has a lot of ambition and wants to be both stylish and environmentally friendly, and it pulls it off," we said in our review, "putting other high-profile locations to shame, really."

3. Pan Pacific Hotel (Singapore)

Quality is the name of the game at this luxurious stopping point, which features such high-end flourishes as walnut and veneer toilet stall doors and granite walls. "I could spend plenty of time in this place any time," we said in our review. "I look forward to my next visit."

4. Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, NV)

We visited plenty of Las Vegas bathrooms this year, and while none matched the jaw-dropping wonder of the Wynn Las Vegas bathrooms, this one, with its art nouveau decor and European feel, came closest.

5. Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando (Lost Continent Toilets) (Orlando, FL)

The best theme park bathroom we experienced this year. Clean, quiet and practically kid-free -- the fact that it's somewhat tucked away from the park's major attractions certainly helps the quality factor, we thought.

Honorable Mentions:

Pearl Restaurant (Vero Beach, FL) -- A small one-bagger located in a homey restaurant on Florida's Atlantic coast. It takes the elegance of Vegas and brings it down to the everyday level, but doesn't lose the "wow" factor in doing so.

Bicester Outlet Shopping Village (Bicester, UK) -- The best UK bathroom we visited this year. Wood walls, Gilchrist and Soames hand soap, floor-to-ceiling toilet stall doors -- why couldn't the rest of the UK toilets we experienced have been this comfortable?

The Bottom 5

1. Southwest Indian Traders (Cortez, CO)

Not so much a bathroom but a collection of shoddy parts that have been put together without any care. The walls do nothing to protect you from the wind outside (and yes, the wind will catch you where the sun doesn't shine). The visible roof rafters above house dozens of cobwebs. And not all the plumbing works. As we said in our review, "Put an outhouse in the parking lot instead -- it would actually offer more comfort."

2. Kappy’s Submarine Sandwiches (Maitland, FL)

More the setting of a horror movie than a proper bathroom, this place features lights that grow dimmer the longer you stay and a used ketchup bottle containing watery, ineffective hand soap. "This is the stuff of nightmares," we said in our review.

3. Oxford Railway Station (Oxford, England)

The worst English toilet we experienced this year -- and there were some doozies! While it seems clean on the surface, the smell inside was overpowering and nearly every toilet was filled with excrement. Worse still, an attendant stood by the whole time, doing nothing. "Just a disgusting experience," we said in our review. "I wanted to shower after leaving."

4. CVS Pharmacy, HWY 80 (Savannah, GA)

The worst-smelling bathroom we visited all year -- with a smell so foul that you start smelling it from down the hall. A popular store like this should know better.

5. Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House (Savannah, GA)

Part of Paula Deen's restaurant empire and where the Southern food queen films her Paula's Party show. The place specializes in seafood you eat with your hands, like peel-and-eat shrimp and oysters, but the bathroom doesn't have soap to clean your hands with, or towels -- just Purell and a hand drier that doesn't work. As you can imagine, the fish odor here is pretty extreme.

Honorable Mentions:

Homebase (Oxford, England) -- A home repair store where almost everything in the bathroom is out of order and covered in filth. Word to the wise: Don't touch anything!

Waffle House (Walterboro, SC) -- A notch below the typical Waffle House bathroom, with plenty of grime-covered utilities and a not-so-heavenly aroma of trash and mildew in the air.

Old World Charm Gets Lost Inside Teutonic Bathroom at EPCOT's UK Pavilion

United Kingdom Pavilion Bathroom
EPCOT
Orlando, FL USA
www.epcot.com

Where is it?

This is pretty deep inside Disney's EPCOT theme park.

To get here, head to the United Kingdom Pavilion. Once there, look for the Rose and Crown pub, which is pretty much in the center of the pavilion. When you see it, look across the street, and you'll see a quaint little English garden set before a structure that looks a little like Windsor Castle.

There's a set of archways at the far end of the garden -- the bathrooms are inside those archways. (There's also a sign on the central street there, indicating which way the bathrooms are, as well as which way the Rose and Crown Pub is, in case you need to get back there and can't quite remember where it is.... for obvious reasons, of course.)

What's it like?

Like with the China Pavilion at EPCOT, the United Kingdom Pavilion houses a small array of structures that sum up traditional English experience for the non-initiated. There's the Tea Shoppe (notice the spelling of "Shoppe" -- doesn't that scream "English?"), the Rose and Crown Pub, a fish and chips place, some quaint gardens, windy streets reminiscent of a quaint Cotswolds village and architecture that looks like it was modeled after postcards of famous castles, like the aforementioned Windsor dwelling.

The pavilion itself makes for a nice diversion, but unlike China Pavilion, there isn't any attraction here (no movie; though there is a Beatle-mania-type show a few times a day) and no fine dining restaurant, unless you count the pub here as being fine dining. (It's got table service, and it charges $9 per beer, whereas the fish and chips place is just a fast food counter.)

The bathrooms look nice on the outside -- as said earlier, the architecture outside them is reminiscent of Windsor Castle and the like. Inside, however, they are just your standard mass market multi-person toilet -- nothing special. They're very hectic and busy too because they sit in the dead center of a busy thoroughfare between the France and Canada Pavilions, both of which have great fine dining restaurants and decent attractions to see.

Of course, given its bland interior, I can't complain on its lack of ambition as the bathroom at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in EPCOT's China Pavilion exhibited too much ambition and as a result created a somewhat unpleasant toilet environment. So there is something to be said for having a straightforward practical restroom on premises.

But at the same time you're letdown by the fact that the outside of the place has lots of personality and the inside doesn't.

Anyway, this is a long, rectangular environment. When you enter, you first face an area of sinks and counter spaces (for changing babies and such). Turn left from there and you see a long stretching room with a long row of urinals on one side and a long row of toilet stalls on the back, with the handicap stalls being in the back corner. (Why they are all the way back there, since it makes it hard to get to for anyone with disabilities, is anyone's guess?)

Regular stalls are average in size and are divided by beige metal stall walls; the urinals are separated by stainless steel dividers. Because of the shape of the place, and the fact that many people visit here, anyone in the stalls will have to endure lots of noise and activity. During my visit, I encountered lots of shouted conversations and many kids, who ran around frantically, bumping into things and having water fights. This was actually what I expected to experience at the Spiderman toilets in Super Hero Island in Islands of Adventure, to be honest -- just kind of a bathroom free for all, if you will.

The sinks, urinals and toilets all have autoflush (soap dispensers are manual, as is in all Disney parks bathrooms, it seems). This isn't a bad thing to have in such a frenetic environment. The place is brimming with spilled water and paper and other trash (even though it's frequently cleaned by the crew -- just too hard to keep tip top when this many people flush in, I guess) so the less I have to touch anything, the better.

The decor is pretty Teutonic, with an off-kilter brown and white-tile checkerboard pattern on the floor and white tiled walls with a black tile highlight. Again, nothing exciting -- pretty plain Jane, like what we saw at the Grand Canyon's Desert View bathroom or at TooJay's Original Gourmet Deli in Orlando. No bits of cozy English culture, no personality whatsoever. Soulless and bland and very hectic.

A little of that would have been great -- I'm not asking for something as eccentric as what we we saw in the bathrooms outside Westminster Abbey or Bleinhem Palace, or even something as high end classy as the majestic Lumley Castle Hotel, but at least some effort to mimic the decor of the Pavilion outside would have been nice.

Marks out of 10:

5. Would have been higher had the place not been so filled with frantic children, water, and trash and shown a little personality.

Comments to the Management:

Clearly, the cleaning schedule you've placed this place on isn't enough -- you need to double the crews here to ensure it stays clean, because it's a crowded mess as is. Also, adding some decor would soften the blow of overcrowding and messiness some. Look at what was done inside the bathrooms at the Paris Las Vegas for some inspiration, or the Lost Continent Toilet at Islands of Adventure.

Design Flaws and Offputting Colors Highlight Visit to Lotus Blossom Cafe Bathroom at Disney's EPCOT Them Park

Lotus Blossom Cafe
EPCOT
China Pavilion
Orlando, FL USA
www.epcot.com

Where is it?

Head to the China Pavilion so that you are passing the Norway Pavilion in the World Showcase instead of coming in from the other direction. Or, if you are coming from the other direction, just head to the part of the China Pavilion that borders on the Norway Pavilion.

Once in China, head to the side of the Pavilion that borders the Norway Pavilion (but you're still in China -- just the back border of it) and head towards the recreation of a mammoth Chinese temple there, which in itself is surrounded by a pretty pristine garden area.

Walk along that back pathway there. About 100 feet in, you'll see the semi-outdoor dining area to the Lotus Blossom Cafe. Keep going forward and you'll come to the entrance to the restaurant, . Go beyond that and you'll enter the area's shops and attractions, which are nice but not the focus here.

Once inside, go left, into the dining room, and head to the back wall of the place. Once there, you'll see a hallway opening with a blue sign above it reading, "Restrooms."

Go down that hallway (it's a pretty long one, to be honest). The first door you come to is the men's room, the second is the women's. Beyond that are supply closets and behind-the-scenes passageways for employees.

What's it like?

Design-wise, the China Pavilion is pretty impressive. The gardens are indeed immaculate, as is the faux architecture constructed here. It looks like you've stepped into a well-kept tourist site in mainland China.

The main attraction here is the CircleVision 360 movie showing the many shapes and spectacles of China's natural landscapes, which indeed is a wonderful show. Also worth seeing is the acrobatics demonstration put on here several times a day in the very front of the pavilion, which showcases some wonderful theatrics.

Each EPCOT World Showcase pavilion tends to have a casual dining spot and a high-end one. The Nine Dragons is the high end spot here, and the Lotus Blossom Cafe (as you can tell from the description above) is the casual eatery.

I should say that I did not eat here -- nor have I ever eaten here -- though the smells I walked through seemed pleasant enough. The menu, what I saw of it as I passed, appeared to be filled with the standard fast food Chinese dishes, as well as a couple of specialties. Can't say if it's any good though.

What I can say, however, is that the bathrooms are very unique. Unique in a way that reminded me of the bizarre design touches found at Bloomindale's Orlando, only just not as extreme. But like that place, the design here lacks a good deal of practicality.

Visitors here will find a decently sized square-shaped bathroom with two toilet stalls, two sinks and two urinals. Setup of those items is a bit strange, though, as it all seems to be built on a high/low principal of Feng Shui. (Note: I'm not expert in Feng Shui, but I do know it revolves around space and patterns used within that space.)

For example, it's got one urinal lowered for kiddie visitors and one up higher for adults. Perfectly normal if you think about it, because that's pretty common -- and surely not as extreme as IKEA Orlando, which has an entire corner of a bathroom lowered for kids

But then the same idea gets put on the sinks, which have one high sink and one low sink. And both sinks are part of the same counter. Again, not too bad, except that the lower one has a tendency to pool water because of its design. Double that with the fact that kids don't think about the mess they make and what you get is a near lagoon of spilled water found on the lower sink. Looks good, sure, but it's not practical. And the inclusion of automatic sinks didn't help either, if you think about it. (Many soap pumps, however.)

The toilet stalls don't follow the high/low principle, but they do adopt the large/small concept since one is a handicap stall and the other is regular. So, if you stretch the idea some, it fits as well. (Automatic flushes all around, by the way.)

Other strange design choices include a front atrium area, which like the one in Bloomindale's Orlando, just feels totally unnecessary, and the baby changing area, which has been crammed into the back corner (beside the paper towel dispenser) so that, if it's in use, it both corners the baby and parent using it (because of people coming to get towels to dry their hands -- and they'll need to after seeing that waterlogged sink) and blocks access for others to the paper towel dispenser, since no one will want to get close to the baby as its being changed. Seems like the baby changing station should be moved to the front atrium area, since that has no purpose as is.

A more dangerous design flaw can be found inside the toilet stalls themselves. The coat hook inside them has been placed next to the door lock. This means that if you're getting out, you have to avoid the coat hook otherwise you'll run right into it and hurt yourself. Not a big deal in the handicap stall, since there's more width there, but the regular stall is narrow and performing such a maneuver isn't as easy as it looks given the limited space.

And then, on top of those flaws, is the the color scheme, which sticks out quite pronouncedly here. In fact, it's so off color and clashing that you may find yourself squinting while you're inside. And it's especially bad because of the overly bright lighting used here.

Now, I should say that I'm not opposed to unique colors in a bathroom. Sometimes it even works to the bathroom's advantage, like at the Barrier Island Center in Melbourne Beach, FL or (in another direction) Bongo Java in Nashville, TN. Here, however, the desire to appear unique has backfired significantly.

The walls are covered in deep brown tiles, but the highlights are bright lime green. Very clashing. Makes it look like you stepped into an exhibition that was only partly done, if you know what I mean.

Now I know this might work in the restaurant's dining room -- and it does to an extent -- but in a more confined area, where you can't look beyond the tacky decor and onto something more worthwhile (like a garden surrounding a recreation of a Chinese temple), it feels nightmarish. (Perhaps if you'd done something unique with the lighting, like what Teremok in St. Petersburg, Russia did, it would have lifted the effect into cute novelty status, but that isn't the case, sadly.)

Odor-wise, the place isn't bad -- some urine in the air and some dankness from the water, but nothing too bad. It's kind of expected to have some stink in a theme park bathroom, after all -- that was the case with Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure, after all. Also, there was some trash on the floor, however, as well as a good amount of water around the sink area (as stated earlier).

Marks out of 10:

5. At its heart, a decent bathroom, but the design eccentricities have totally backfired here, making it somewhat unpleasant to experience.

Comments to the Management:

Change the color scheme, make the design more uniform, clean the place more regularly. Heck, if Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure can do it, why not Disney? Not sure what else can be said.

Hole in the Wall Keeps Lobby Toilets at the Venetian from Reaching Perfection

The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino
3355 Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV USA
www.venetian.com

Where is it?

Get to the main lobby first, which will require a bit of travel time depending on where you enter this mammoth hotel (rumored to be the second largest in the world). Following the signs to the lobby will help you get to this destination, however it will be hard for you to stay on track, considering the many elegant design distractions you'll come across along the way.

Once in the lobby, face the reception desk and make a complete about face, turning 180 degrees. When you do, you'll see a arched hallway there with the words "Restrooms - VIP Lounge" etched into the plaster (or is it marble?). Head down that hallway and you'll find the toilets.

What's it like?

The interior to this hotel has always been one of my favorites in Vegas -- right up there with the Wynn (which is the most ornate -- and has the best bathrooms in the world) and Caesar's Palace (review coming soon). I've always been wowed by the ornate ceilings of the main hall, which look like cleaned up versions of the Sistine Chapel, and the shopping mall here (which mimics the look and feel of St. Marks Square, only cleaner and filled with gondola drivers who speak perfect English) -- and those are just a few of the main attractions here (which also include great dining options and terrific rooms).

These bathrooms, at least on the surface, are top-notch. The floor is covered in an elegant marble pattern of black, maroon, white and beige tiles. The walls are covered with more beige tile that look like ancient building blocks found in ruins (something like what you'd see on the floor at the Luxor or the Lost Continent toilets at Islands of Adventure, believe it or not). The room is small for a lobby bathroom but is well spaced and always feels roomy.

The overall feel is elegant and modern with some ancient touches -- a lot like what you'd find at McCormick and Schmick's Orlando or Philadelphia's Davio's, just with a more cave-like and expensive feel to it.

There are four urinals (white porcelain) along the left wall, with the far one being the kiddie urinal. Opposite that are three spacious stalls with white porcelain toilets, with the one closest to the back wall being the handicap stall. Heavy, dark wood dividers separate the commode stalls and urinals, and while the dividers don't go to the floor (as they do at the Wynn), the material they are made of is thick enough to intimate a greater sense of privacy than what's actually achieved.

The vanity, at the front of the bathroom, features a sprawling green and white mix marble counter with gold-plated chrome automatic faucets and automatic soap dispensers and gold-plated chrome towel holders (they kind of look like elegant napkin holders, really) set in between the individual white porcelain sinks (three of them). A huge stretch mirror with gold frame is mounted behind the vanity.

As expected, it's immaculately cleaned and smelling of flowery perfume, making for an elegant visit indeed. The minimalistic framed paintings of various greenery mounted above the urinals and other spots on the walls add to that impression.

The only flaw I found was in one of the mount brackets for the urinal dividers. It looked like the bracket -- or the divider -- had fallen down at one point in the past, but instead of fixing the tile and mounting properly and setting the divider back up cleanly, the repair person seems to have taken a shortcut and just stuffed the screw back into the original hole and fortified it that way. As a result, anyone stepping to that side of the barrier will find himself facing a noticeable hole in the marble -- which certainly takes away from the high-end look and feel of the location. The whole thing reminds me of the falling wallpaper in the Caesar's Palace toilets I visited -- which also achieve a similar ill effect.

Marks out of 10:

8. Almost a 9, or even a 10, save for that shoddy repair job, which essentially drops it down to the quality of McCormick and Schmick's Orlando or Philadelphia's Davio's -- not that those are bad bathrooms to be compared to, mind you. Just expected more from the Venetian, considering how over-the-top the rest of the place is.

Comments to the Management:

Patch that hole up correctly please and perhaps we'll put you on par with some of the other great Vegas bathrooms after that.

Return Visit to Lexus of Orlando Toilets Shows Much Improvement

Lexus of Orlando
Service Department
305 N Semoran Blvd
Winter Park, FL USA
www.lexusoforlando.com

NOTE: This is our second review of this toilet. Earlier this year, a representative of the business contacted us and asked us to re-review this location, citing that during our "initial visit we [the dealership] were still working out the logistics of our new Service facility." This second review accommodates that request.

For those interested, our original review can be read here.

Where is it?

The location of the toilets has not moved since our last visit. To quote our previous review, the location of the toilets is as follows:

From the main entrance: Head in through the main doors, go around the cashier desk located in the center of the lobby, past the classy-looking cafe, and walk towards the drop-off entrance. Before you get to the doors, look left and you'll see the bathrooms.

From the drop-off entrance: Pass through the double doors leading to the customer lounge, cashier and cafe and look to your immediate right. The bathrooms are there.

What's it like?

While the setup hasn't change much since the last time we were here, all the amenities are now in tip-top working order and impressive to behold.

The service facility itself is top-notched, filled with wide spaces and plenty of distractions. Most notable are the three waiting rooms, which include a large TV lounge with two flat screen televisions, a waiting room for kids and a waiting room for people who prefer to wait for their cars in silence (which I found to be a nice touch, since I had to endure my visit with a bunch of Florida Gators fans, who were watching the game and cheering quite earnestly as their cars were being fixed....).

In addition, there are a handful of cars set out for exploration, as you would find in any dealership showroom (except the dealers aren't here, so it's not as pressure-filled) and a cafe at the center serving free coffee and tea, as well as slices of sandwich wraps to visitors (additional items can be ordered at a cost).

The bathrooms also have the same setup: To quote our earlier review of this location once again, "This is a classy, debonair-looking public bathroom that's covered in tan-colored marble tiles and understated decor like fake flowers that look real and framed pictures of landscapes and other serene scenes....

"The decor gives the place a feel of cool isolation and makes you feel miles away from the service area and garage, which are essentially right outside. The thick, black-metal stall dividers and doors further the fortress-like feel, and the stately automatic faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers are just icing on the cake."

That still applies this time around. Though, I must admit that on a scale of Lexus dealership bathroom extravagance, I still have to give Johnson Lexus of Raleigh, NC a leg up because its stall barriers were made of marble and wood -- it's just more elegant, I'm afraid. Though at the same time I do like the way the black barriers contrast with the beige marble around it surely adds a classy air that reminded me some of the touches found at the Bellagio toilets in Las Vegas, just on a smaller scale (strange how many toilets now remind me of that hotel's bathrooms...... like the recently reviewed toilet at Pearl, for example).

Last time there, we found one urinal and one toilet out of order and perhaps complained a little too aggressively on that remark for the sake of humor. This time around, everything's in tip top shape and looks brand new.

Other things I liked were the automatic faucets and soap pumps at the vanity (which is nice and wide and spacious) and the wicker baskets used for the keeping and disposing of its thick-ply paper towels (also seen at Pearl, coincidentally).

Cleanliness-wise: For the most part, I found the toilets here to be spotless and spot-on, save for the handicap stall. I'm not sure if it was the time of my visit or something else, but the stall (which sits at the very back of the bathroom) was a bit of a mess.

First of all, I found flecks of toilet paper on the floor beside the toilet. A common find in some bathrooms, as seen in our recent reviews of the Central Florida Zoo and some of the toilets at Islands of Adventure, though I must say that I didn't expect it here.

Secondly, I found a magazine stuffed into the crevasse between the support beam and the toilet paper holder -- clearly someone had just finished a long sit before my entrance. (Kudos on the clean air, by the way.) I don't mind reading material being in the bathroom, but it would be nicer if it were contained in a front area, like another wicker basket, so the visitor here doesn't get sloppy seconds, if you know what I mean.

Thirdly, and more distressing that the previous comments, was the tube of Fixodent I found sitting on the handicap stall's soap dispenser, by the stall's sink area. I guess I understand why it brought there in the first place, and certainly that's not a problem, but why was it left there and not moved to the lost and found? I must admit that this is the oddest tube finding I've seen in a bathroom since that tube of foot cream experience at Nile Ethiopian Restaurant in Orlando's I-Drive area.

Also an odd note: The handicap stall of this dealership's bathroom and the main vanity of the Johnson Lexus dealership bathroom both use the same type of soap dispenser -- those metal hard boxes fitted into the wall. Interested to know why, if anyone has any insights.

Finally, I was told by a companion that the women's bathroom (only the men's was reviewed here) was very impressive, with lounging seats and other luxury amenities. I'll try to see if she'll write a review for us, so we can give the full scoop, but until then we'll have to rely on her brief description to see us through.

Marks out of 10:

8. Would have been a 9 were it not for that handicap stall. Sorry.

Comments to the Management:

You're almost there, in my opinion. Just keep a watchful eye out for tubes of Fixodent and other mis-thrown items in that handicap stall and I think you've got it. (And thanks for giving us a chance to re-review your location.)