Very Eastern Bloc at Innsbruck Stop

A12 Eastbound
Innsbruck
Austria


Where is it?

Pull off the A12 at the information point. Park up and the toilets will be to your right, past the information board.


What’s it like?

If you drive into Austria from Munich and are heading for Italy as we were, you might just pass by Innsbruck and this stop. We wanted to take in the sights of Innsbruck on our way down south and stopped to look at the information board. Whilst we did that we also decided to use the toilets.

So bear in mind this is a toilet stop next to a busy motorway high up in the Alps. It’s not part of a service station. No fuel, no restaurant, not anything. So don’t expect much.

I guess the thing to say is that the views are the best thing about the place. And the views are pretty damned fantastic. But then when you enter the toilet the first thing to strike you is that whoever built them obviously built the local roads, and used the local road builders’ favourite material. CONCRETE. Concrete takes over the place.

These are the greyest toilets I think I’ve been in, and as a result these are also some of the coldest toilets I’ve been in. And the scale of the place! It’s huge. You could fit coach loads of people in there. So, you can’t argue with the proportions, or necessarily with the cleanliness, but these are some of the unfriendliest feeling toilets I’ve come across. More Eastern Bloc than Austrian Alps.


Marks out of 10:

3. At least they were serviceable.


Comments to the management:

Even if we shouldn’t expect much for this sort of stop, these toilets are the coldest I’ve come across.

Ghiradelli’s Christmas Wonderland Turns in to Toilet Nightmare

Ghiradelli Square – Ice Cream and Chocolate Store
900 North Point Street
San Francisco, CA USA 94109

http://www.ghirardelli.com/


Where is it?

No toilets in the store – you are expected to use the ones out in the square, which on this evening was one hell of a trek! Go out of the store entrance and head left into the square. Head towards the centre of the square and you’ll see some steps. Take them down to the courtyard and go straight. (There was a private function so we could not go through the night I was there – and the officious pompous git at the entrance wouldn’t give directions to a mere visitor – so I had to backtrack). You need to follow the step towards the street. I had to backtrack back to the store, left down the hill, left again on to Beach Street and then left to the base of the stairs where you will find the toilets on the left.


What’s it like?

Having eaten my main course elsewhere and deciding the desert menu wasn’t really up to much I decided to head toward Ghiradelli’s which I’d heard did great ice cream and deserts as well as having great chocolate. Seems that Ghiradelli is famous in the US for being the first chocolate factory in San Francisco. When Domingo Ghiradelli set up his factory in 1852 I’m sure he didn’t realize that the business would still be going over 150 years later, and have a reputation for high quality confectionery across the country.

I’d have to say the reputation is well deserved. As I sit here eating an egg-nog flavour special edition piece of chocolate I have the satisfaction of reporting that first hand. I can also say the ice cream with butterscotch source was pretty damned good too – the perfect desert. In fact if I was scoring this place on the ice cream it would be one of the best there is.

My visit also came far enough in November for it to be respectable to have your mind on Christmas and picking up a few gifts. And Ghiradelli square was on form in this department too. Decked out in Christmas lights it was easy to get into the festive spirit. The vibe about the place, the anticipation of great chocolate, the excitement of present giving, just everything about it is great. Indeed the square itself is fantastic for picking up upmarket oddities.

It’s a pity then that some pretty damned disgusting toilets spoiled the whole experience. Not only is there a great hike to the toilets, especially when it is hindered by some of the more unhelpful shop tenants (see above), but when you get there you have to wonder if it safe to enter especially at night. When you go in you have to question if they have been maintained at all. The fixtures are rusting away, there are gaping holes in the walls. The baby changing station is there, but you’d not want to go near it. In sum you would only use these toilets if you really, really had to.

Given these are the only toilets for the chocolate and ice cream shop, you want somewhere spotlessly clean, well maintained and safe. It needs to be the sort of place people will be happy to their kids, not the sort of place you suspect is used mainly for taking drugs.


Marks out of 10:

2. Pretty damned poor!


Comments to the management:

Given the quality of the other facilities here you obviously know what makes for a good customer experience, so the state of these toilets is unforgivable. Shame on you! Get some toilets in your store and give the kids somewhere safe to go. And whilst you are at it give your shop tenants a kicking for being so rude.

Despite Great Food and Service, Facilities at Hurricane Wings Won't Blow You Away

Hurricane Grill and Wings
700 W. Sand Lake Road
Orlando, FL USA 32809

www.hurricanewings.com

Where is it?

From the front entrance, go to the back right corner of the dining room and head down a long hallway filled with surfboards and other beach-inspired decor and paraphernalia. The bathrooms are about two thirds of the way down and on your left.

What's it like?

This unpretentious sports bar chain serves some of coldest and most refreshing beer in town, as well as some terrific sports bar fare. The wings alone, which are delicately fried and come coated in more than 30 sauce flavors (my favorites being Gold Rush, Fire & Ice and Garlic Parmesan), are worth the trip alone, as are the steak sandwiches and shrimp tenders.

The decor tries hard to make the place look like its a shack on the beach (bamboo mats cover the walls, as do murals depicting various beachfront views of the ocean), but that tropical feeling is muted by the friendly service, which is attentive and welcoming without being intrusive, and the fact that despite it's tourist sector address the place is visited mostly by locals. It's a place that tries to be something it isn't, but it also realizes that the facade can only extend so far, and it's okay with that.

The bathrooms follow the beach-inspired theme of the dining room, with the same mixed results. The walls are painted sandy brown, the floors a dark gray, and the entrance door is covered with painting of fence pickets (like it's trying to be a door to a beach cabana, right?). The stall doors are painted lime green, though, which kind of ruins the tropical feel, as do the smattering of beer ad posters found on the walls. The toilets and sinks are your standard white porcelain variety models. Still, like its restaurant, it's clean and comfortable, and its location, at the very back of the restaurant, adds to the privacy factor needed for longer visits.

The only major setback, really, is the soap used in the soap dispenser. Instead of having good-quality foam or gel, it spritzes this thin, translucent liquid on you that barely covers your hands. Even after three or four squirts, I felt like I didn't have enough soap on my hands to really get them clean -- and that's a bit of a problem when you're eating messy finger foods.

Marks out of 10:

7. It's a strip mall bathroom that tries to be more than the sum of its parts, and you appreciate that even if the transformation isn't entirely successful.

Comments to the Management:

Time for a different brand of soap. Also, lime green stall doors?

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.