Toilet at New Orlando Whole Foods: Is this a Super Market or an HGTV Case Study?

Whole Foods Market
8003 Turkey Lake Rd
Orlando, FL USA
www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Where is it?

From the front entrance, head to the store's cafe seating area (which doesn't serve food but offers a sitting area for people who've bought food from the store's hot bar or grill and want to sit and eat it then and there instead of waiting to get home).

Once there, you'll see a sink area surrounded by two gray brick columns. The toilets are to either side of those columns: Men's room behind the left column (when facing the sink area between the columns) and the women's room is behind the right column.

What's it like?

This mammoth high-end grocery chain has been offering gourmet food fans a place to buy top produce and other high-quality and hard-to-find items for two decades now. This one merely ups the ante on the business model, offering an extensive meat counter and prepared food area, including a pizza baking area, hot bars featuring everything from middle eastern stews to BBQ and mammoth fresh meats section where you can tell the guy behind the counter how you want your burger cooked.

The food on the whole isn't bad but it is also not as great as it sounds or even smells, particularly the ethnic concoctions, which often taste bland or overly Americanized. The vindaloo pork they had on one visit looked luscious and creamy but lacked the character or vinegary bite you would expect. Similarly, the arroz con pollo they had on the line was serviceable but lacking the the home-cooking character you'd get from one of the city's better Latino restaurants.

On the plus side, all food is priced by the pound, so if you want to try just a spoon of the chickpea stew or the roasted eggplant rollitini, for example, it's a fine place to pick just a bit of it up, clump it together buffet style in a container and pay about $10 for the whole thing. Which isn't bad these days for lunch or even dinner.

A better option is the grill area. For about $6 (a good deal, burger-wise), you can have a freshly ground patty grilled to order. The patty is huge (usually 8 - 10 oz) and grilled decently enough (though my medium came out surprisingly rarer than I would have liked). Not the best burger I've had in town (that honor at the moment is split between the Fillin' Station and Fuddruckers, though my most recent visit to the former was disappointing) but not far off, especially considering the quality and variety (you can get buffalo, cowboy burgers, etc.).

The store itself is stylish and multi-zoned, with the cheese, bakery and wine areas lit a little more dimly to (so I'm guessing) increase their sense of classiness and produce and food aisles are well lit to accentuate the freshness of the items on their shelves. Shrewd design but effective.

Bottom line: It's a fun place to shop, especially if you like food and know what to do with all the unique ingredients (organic millet seed, for example?). Though it's a hard place if you're hungry, because the place is filled with temptations (and a decent gelato bar).

As for the bathrooms: It's also very stylish, so much so that when I stepped in I felt like I was watching one of those HGTV shows on how to stylishly rebuild your bathroom. It's attractive, slick, hip, functional -- everything that channel seems to support, idealistically.

In addition to the gray brick columns outside, which also make up the walls here, you'll find lots of shiny stainless steel (the lone toilet stall's dividers are made of it, as is the urinal dividers, the fold-down baby changing counter and the toilet paper and towel fixtures) and a beige tile floor.

Generally speaking, the design itself looks a lot like the restaurant design at Sensi in Vegas, except that that place had more flowing water over its brick facades. (The bathroom here has no similarities with Sensi's bathroom, however, it should be noted.)

The high point here is the vanity, which contains a counter made of polished wood and is set before a stretch mirror. It has two sink stations, each made of single pieces of granite and shaped as shallow, rectangular fountains with free-flowing drains. Chrome faucets (automatic) and automatic soap dispensers stick out from the gray brick behind them and hang over the sinks, creating an elegant modernist fountain effect that truly is one of the classiest sink experiences I've had since visiting the bathrooms at Wynn Las Vegas. Not quite as overwhelmingly elegant as that, but not far off.

One hitch with the sinks, however, is that they are long and you have to stretch a little bit more than you'd like to reach the water flow. So those who are height challenged may have a bit of trouble with them. (Thankfully, the lone stall doubles as a handicap stall and has a more manageable sink -- standard white porcelain -- there. But then you'll have to wait to use it if someone's in there.)

The toilet is white porcelain, as is the urinal, though the urinals (it should be mentioned) are those new environmentally safe no flush models, like what we found in Nona Sushi.

It's a clean environment for the most part, though they're also busy (making it a touch place to enjoy some peace and quiet) and sometimes they're not well policed.

My first visit here revealed a place filled with water and the stench of urine, as well as a toilet stall that was covered in paper and pee and was borderline unusable. My second visit revealed the place as clean and perfect and hip as should be, spotless, friendly and stylish. Of all the gourmet market bathrooms I've visited (which includes Laurenzo's in North Miami Beach, Harris Teeter Raleigh and Fresh Market Orlando, this is by far the best of the lot.

The store itself has only been open a couple of months and is still very obviously working out some operational kinks (on both my visits, I found outdated dairy still on the shelves, for example), so I'm actually willing to forgo the memory of that first visit for the second, for now. Will keep you updated on the progress in the future -- if it continues to slip, it will be noted, believe me.

Marks out of 10:

8. Clean, stylish and fun to visit.

Comments to the Management:

Assuming you'll get the cleaning schedule under control, I would say the next step is to make it it a touch more personable. A few decorations or posting showing upcoming store events would be a good start.

Strollo's Upscale Toilet Mixes Traditional Design with Appealling Modern Flourishes

Strollo's Cucina Due
200 W Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL USA
www.cucinadue.com

Where is it?

This is a wide, thin place. So in finding the bathroom, it's best to situate yourself here in that regard: There's a large kitchen in the back, with a sprawling deli case filled with various meats, cheeses and prepared dishes separating the dining room/shopping area (which takes up the back half of the place) from the kitchen. A deli/cafe area sits to the far right, when facing the deli case, and a small teaching kitchen (where the place's cooking classes are held) to the left. There's also an upper level dining room, though that was closed on my visit.

To find the bathrooms, head towards the teaching kitchen. Just before reaching it, and just past the cashier at the far end of the deli case, you'll see a small hallway open up on your right (while facing the teaching kitchen). Go down that hallway to find the toilets.

What's it like?

This mammoth storefront may be the closest thing the greater Orlando area has at the moment to a traditional Italian meat store and deli. The design here is decidedly modern, featuring plenty of woods and brick work, along with wood tables for diners to sit at (not many though, making it a bit difficult to find a seat during peak periods) and metal racks and various shelves spread out over the dining area, holding a smattering specialty foods, most of them imported from Italy or France. Not exactly a great gourmet market -- it's more of an eatery with some specialty foods spread out -- but you can see the place evolving and I imagine in the coming year or two it will offer a great deal more than what is there now, and I can't wait for that.

The kitchen and deli produce some delicious breads as well as several enticing prepared dishes, most of them upscale spins on Italian classics. It also peddles a modest array of Italian-based meats and cheeses. The far right end of the counter (when facing it) serves as an upscale deli, churning out fanciful soup and sandwich creations, as well as a la carte servings of the foods found in the deli case. The P.L.T. (prosciutto, lettuce and tomato, with fresh mozz as a binder) was a favorite of mine, as was the ricotta pie. Also, the in-house coffees prepared here are wonderful, featuring a very robust Italian roast as its espresso base.

The toilets are one-baggers and like the dining room they feature a modern spin on traditional design. They are roomy and clean and offer much privacy, thanks to being located away from the main action of the place.

You'll find an off-white toilet here set atop gray brick floor tiles that are reminiscent of stones found on brick roads. The walls are deep beige and clean-looking but without any decoration on it -- which in turn makes the place feel more modern and minimalistic.

The vanity houses a single sink that looks European-inspired. Upon seeing it, immediately thought of the sinks I saw at Club Quarters Philadelphia or at Petro Palace lobby or the SkyBar in St. Petersburg, in that they are small, yet stylish, and with a single old-fashioned spigot controlling water temperature and such. Only, unlike those, the small sink here isn't placed to conserve space -- here it's done for style, and it works.

An elegant mirror that looks like something taken from a diva's dressing room hangs above the sink, adding some elegance to the proceedings, and a small counter jets out to its right, holding a tall but thin vase with fake flowers in it.

The soap dispenser, paper towel dispenser and toilet paper dispenser are all boxed in matted stainless steel, which looks very slick -- and really is the second straight bathroom visited where traditional stainless fixtures like these are presented in a slightly different manner (I'm referring to McCormick & Schmick's Orlando, of course). Only, I found a little flaw in the design with these: The area where you grab the paper goods or receive the soap is covered by a lip, and as a result you can't see where the item you're getting (soap, paper, etc.) is and as a result it makes getting that stuff cleanly a bit of a chore.

On a different note: This is also the second Italian market bathroom to post very specific instructions on how to wash one's hands -- the other being Laurenzo's in North Miami Beach. Is this a trend or something?

Marks out of 10:

8. Very nice, private and clean, and the design touches certainly make it more interesting than a standard one-bagger. I rank this experience up there with other one-bagger wonders, like La Brazas Chicken and Shiki at the Beach.

Comments to the Management:

It's a great experience. And although I like the look of those fixtures holding the soap, paper towels and toilet paper, their functionality is a bit questionable. Is it possible to modify them some so you can get what you're looking for? If not, you may want to consider alternative fixtures.

Toilets at James Cook Pub & Cafe Cozy But Tight-Fitting

James Cook Pub and Cafe
Shvedskii Pereulok, 2
St. Petersburg, Russia

Where is it?

Go through the main entrance and you'll immediately come face to face with a coat check station. Behind that station, and a little to the right, is a small hallway leading to the toilets. The men's room, it should be noted, had a poster on it displaying a poem devoted to beer.

What's it like?

This cozy establishment, located in the courtyard blocks between the Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum, works two distinct angles: Cafe and restaurant (and in Russia, there is a thick line dividing the two). Step through the front door and you must choose which direction to take: The left leads you to a modest cafe filled with a variety of sandwiches, pastries and coffees -- perfect for a person wanting a quick bite before hitting the streets again. The right takes you to a homey, brick-filled tavern boasting a full menu and dozens of beer on tap, as well as an assortment of other drinks.

I opted for the restaurant end on my visit, since I'd been touring the city extensively that day and wanted to rest a while. The menu here is pretty extensive, offering everything from traditional Russian dishes to classic bar fair like burgers and steaks. I went with beef stroganoff and a soup course (solianka) -- both were superb renditions of the dishes, particularly the stroganoff which was creamy, meaty and placed over delicate noodle dumplings.

The bathrooms are reminiscent of the ones experienced in the Petro Palace's SkyBar. They accommodatie only one person, they are tight-fitting, small, a bit crammed, but they are not as tight as the Petro Palace lobby toilets or the SkyBar. Not to say they are roomy either: There is just enough room here to move around and position yourself properly without feeling like you're going to bump into all the fixtures.

It's cozy here, to say the least, and the effect is rather closet like, and after a big meal at the restaurant here, a little more spacious surroundings feels in order. You want to come in here feeling large but leave feeling small, if you catch my drift, and the place just isn't large enough for that, not unless you've got no other choice. (Great for a quick pee, like the SkyBar, but that's about it.)

On the flip side, it's very clean here. Even the wall-mounted plastic trash can, which was half-full, seemed spotless. Quite impressive. Design-wise, the walls are covered with sandy-colored tile and the floor is covered with that deep brick tile we've seen in countless places, like at Maurice's BBQ in South Carolina. Not bad choices -- certainly a bit more Western than what we found at the European-inspired Petro Palace or SkyBar.

Fixture wise, the place has your standard white toilets and sink, along with plastic add-ons attached to the walls, like a toilet paper sheet dispenser, paper towel dispenser, soap dispenser and more. Many of these add-ons, it should be said, were within a foot of one another and could all be easily grabbed while sitting on the commode. Yes, it's a small place.

Marks out of 10:

8. Very clean and comfy, though like the Petro Palace lobby toilets they are just a bit tight as well. Not as tight as they are, though, so I put it on equal footing with SkyBar.

Comments to the Management:

Because this is a full-service restaurant, people visiting the bathroom here will tend to take more time in their visits than they would at, say, SkyBar. I realize space availability makes expanding this area hard, so perhaps you want to position a mirror or perform a similar tactic to make it look like you have more space than you really do.

Toilets at Las Brazas Chicken Showcase Restaurant's Elegant Latin Charms

Las Brazas Chicken
4797 S. Orange Ave.
Orlando, FL USA

Where is it?

This is a small place, so there aren't many places to roam around and get lost.

From the front entrance: Enter and you will face the restaurant's bar. To the left is the modest dining room. Enter that and then take a right, so that you're heading towards the back wall. There, you will find a doorway. Go through it and you will find the bathrooms, along with a supply area and lots of ornate artwork on the walls.

What's it like?

From the outside, this cozy Peruvian eatery is practically indiscernible from the other businesses located in this outdated-looking strip mall just south of Orlando's downtown. Inside, however, is a different story.

This is a quaint restaurant filled with cozy cafe tables, brick tiles, soft lighting, and enough Latin decor to impart a sense of foreignness without making it too in your face. It's friendly, family styled and fun, but also elegant and a little uppity, making it a perfect place to bring a big group or meet someone for a date. The service is down to earth and very affable.

Better still is the food and its house specialty, Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, which is slow roasted to perfection in garlic and spices. This place may just serve the best chicken in all of Orlando. Moist, succulent, flavorful -- and at $8.95 (with two sides) it's a bargain! Also worth having is the Papas A La Huancaina, a rich, decadent Peruvian potato salad that coats large potato halves in a creamy dressing made of mayonnaise, huancaina chili, a pepper native to Peru that is a touch hot but both tart and sweet. Couple it with homemade chimichurri and you've got a great meal ahead of you.

While the dining room is nice, the bathrooms here are even better at evoking the restaurant's Latin charm and elegance. These are roomy one-baggers, with drywall coated walls and red-brick tile on the floor. The drywall is painted deep sandstone red to match the color of the floors. The toilet and sink, both white porcelain and ordinary, meld cleanly with the red-heavy colors around it, almost like a counterpoint.

A few pieces of art, all of it impressively framed, hangs on the walls and serves as a great compliment to the artwork hanging the hallway outside (clearly the owners want people to feel welcome in their restaurant no matter where they are), as does the simply framed mirror, which is positioned over the sink. Like the dining room, the art here isn't overbearing or in your face -- it's simply there to make the environment more comforting and welcoming while imparting a touch of upper-class Latino sophistication. It's like the bathrooms at Tacos El Rancho, Hershey's Ice Cream Vista Lakes and American Signature Furniture South Orlando had a baby and produced this offspring, which manages to take their best qualities and produce something entirely familiar yet new from them.

Marks out of 10:

9. Great job here, especially in making the place look ornate and old-fashioned, elegant and restrained and sophisticated.

Comments to the Management:

Wouldn't change a thing. A great experience through and through. Many other businesses can learn a thing or two from your restroom design.

Monsoon Restaurant Bathroom Has Lots (and I Mean Lots) of Pink Toilet Paper

The Monsoon Restaurant
78 Brick Lane
London, United Kingdom

Where is it?

This is one of those places that is much longer than its narrow width store front. Like Angelo's in New York City, the restaurant stretches back some from the main street and it's dining room is split into multiple parts, including a bar area in the back, a casual cafe up front and another dining room upstairs.

To get to the toilets from the front entrance, walk in and head towards the bar. With the bar on your left, look for doors on your right leading to the toilets. Pretty simple, really.

What's it like?

This is a friendly, unassuming little Indian restaurant (I learned later that it's specialties are Bangladeshi cuisine) with friendly service and decent food. A bit crammed inside, mostly because it is such a narrow place, but still good nonetheless. Not the best Indian food I had while in London, but certainly not the worst either. I found the curries here to be sweeter than expected, which I wasn't quite prepared for.

We went in because we were walking along Brick Lane, searching for a place to eat, and one of the proprietors came out and coaxed us in -- which, I learned later, is the custom on this block -- and also because the place's front window had lots of accolades from local papers, which, seeing that I was a tourist, carries some weight. I have a feeling that if I'd ordered more traditional Bangladeshi dishes instead of more standard UK-inspired Indian food, I would have enjoyed it more. Still, I thought the food wasn't bad at all, though my companion was hoping for something less sweet and Thai-influenced.

The dining room here, as stated earlier, is tight, but it's clean and the service is friendly and welcoming. The men's bathroom is equally tight (my companion said the women's toilet was very spacious and comfortable), mostly because it's a standard European-sized toilet, made smaller because of a somewhat low ceiling. Not as low as say Pizoodles but still low enough to make you feel like you're auditioning for a role in a Marcel Marceau picture. This was one of the smallest bathrooms I've been in since my trip to Russia, where I experienced such confining places as at the Petro Palace lobby or the SkyBar.

The place doesn't offer much to look at. Beige tile covers the floor and walls. The toilet is set in the back of the closet, with a small glass shelf hanging overhead. The sink, a small one with separate hot and cold faucets, jets out from the wall near the entrance, with an air drier fixed above it and a soap dispenser hanging nearby. The grout connecting the sink is pretty worn down but nothing ghastly. It's a clean little place, and not smelly at all, which surprised me because of the cave-like atmosphere here. (Note: The small exhaust fan set up above the door really did the trick. Couldn't see the model, however.)

The highlight is the massive amounts of pink toilet paper found here, especially on the back of the commode tank. There were six roles here, as well as a few more on the paper holder, which made me a bit curious. Also, all the rolls were used to some degree, some nearing the end, some just starting, some halfway finished. Why?

Furthermore, why didn't people just use the rolls hanging on the holder and use those up before reaching for the one's on the toilet tank? Very strange.

Also strange was that the glass shelf above the toilet held two bottles of generic hand soap, even though there was a dispenser next to the sink. Was the hand soap not as good as these? Why have the hand soap there at all, if that's the idea.

Or maybe the concept here is to offset the small space available here with a surplus of strangely colorful items?

Marks out of 10:

6. It's clean and small and has lots of pink toilet paper. That's about it.

Comments to the Management:

I'm imagining that because the building is somewhat old you cannot do much to make the bathroom larger in size -- like the supposed size of the women's room. Given that, you can add some more mirrors to increase the lighting to the place, which could help make it seem bigger. Also, consider storing stuff elsewhere. Finally, lose the pink toilet paper -- that's just weird.

Toilets at Historic Angelo's on Mulberry Street Beautifully Blend Old World Charm with New World Style

Angelo's of Mulberry Street
146 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10013
www.angelomulberry.com

Where is it?

From the front entrance, head to the back of the place. You'll pass through a narrow dining room along the way, as well as the entrance to the kitchen, which will be on your left.

About halfway down, you'll also notice a waiter station. Behind that, the restaurant opens up some to reveal it's back-of-store dining room. Just past the waiter station is a twisting staircase heading to to the basement. Take those stairs downward and you'll come to a small lobby, off of which are the bathrooms.

What's it like?

This establishment, located in the ever-shrinking neighborhood of Manhattan's Little Italy, has been serving high-end Italian and Italian-American cuisine for more than 100 years. The interior extends that sense of history, especially in its aged woodwork, hand-painted murals, dim lighting and friendly-yet-professional wait staff, many of which are from the Old Country.

The menu itself consists of dozens of well-prepared dishes, from fresh salads, breads and antipastos to pasta dishes to meats and desserts. Portions are enormous and a bit on the pricey side, but the quality of the food is so high and the ingredients so fresh that you feel like you're getting your money's worth.

I had a wonderful, flavor-packed pasta dish filled with big chunks of garlic, tomato and crab. My companion had a special of squid ink pasta with various cheeses in it. Both were otherworldly, as was the incredibly fresh Antipasto all' Italiana, assorted cold cuts and cheese that featured some of the freshest, creamiest fresh buffalo mozzarella I'd ever had in my life.

Given the Old World charms exuding from the dining room, you would expect the bathroom to be a throwback to the past, or at least a clever spin on the place's turn-of-the-century roots, a la Bennigan's or Macaroni Grill, if you will.

(And no, I'm not trying to imply that Angelo's and those chain restaurants have anything to do with one another, just that I was expecting the toilets to possibly have that kind of design.)

But, of course, they didn't. Though the dining room is very traditional, the toilets here are decidedly modern in design and very clean -- a surprise considering its age and NYC location. (You never know with this city, you know?) Granted, there were some cigarette buts in the urinal -- strange since NYC no longer allows smoking in places that serve food -- but otherwise the place was spotless and fresh smelling.

Sleek, gray, sandstone-inspired tile covers the walls, the grout line all but invisible, and light sandstone-colored tile covers the floor (in a way that isn't at all like the other red-brick-floored places we've visited), creating an almost futurist vibe in the place. The pedestal sink, toilet and urinals (two of them) are all white porcelain, but like at Sensi and Okada in Las Vegas, the sleek, futuristic-albeit-minimalistic wall design somehow makes the fixtures seem less plain, almost like pieces of art.

On the flip side, the toilets are a bit small for multi-person facilities. Not as small as what I experienced at the Petro Palace Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia, mind you, or even Club Quarters Philadelphia and Marathon Grill in Philly (they were more the size of, say, Sharky's in St. Augustine), but they were somewhat small for multi-person facilities. I ended up sharing the space with a person on my first visit here (I made two in all) and it felt crammed with two people in there. I could see how this might make things uncomfortable if someone were there for a longer visit and another person came in.

Still, the cozy lobby just outside the toilets, featuring a well-worn padded bench and some homey artwork, makes for a good place to wait out any delays and give other attendees some privacy until it becomes your turn to go inside.

Marks out of 10:

8. Classy, sleek and small -- not what I expected in the least.

Comments to the Management:

It's a small space and you've done your best to cover it up. Just make sure the cigarette butts stay out of the urinals and you're golden.

Boogers Found on Wall of Bathroom at Cinemark Festival Bay Movie Theater

Cinemark Festival Bay Mall
5150 International Drive
Orlando, FL USA
www.cinemark.com

Where is it?

There are several bathrooms located inside this movie theater. This one is located in the far right (eastbound?) wing of the theater itself.

To get there, enter through the lobby and, after handing your ticket to the usher, veer off to the right and down the main hallway there leading to the theaters in that end of the establishment.

As you go, you'll immediately pass the main concession stand on your left, as well as the entrances to one of the the theater's larger stadiums (there's another, similar one on the other end of the concession stand) then a small hallway leading to three or four smaller theaters (which will be on your right). Keep going straight, until you hit the back wall (you'll pass a smaller concession stand on your left as you walk, though this one is often closed), which itself places you dead center in another longer hallway, which has six or so theaters to each side.

Go left and you'll see the restroom sign hanging from the ceiling. Turn left when you reach the sign and go right for the men's room and left for the women's.

What's it like?

This is a decent, standard multiplex theater slapped at the very end of Orlando's International Drive, the city's primary non-Disney-based tourism strip. The theater itself is one of the cornerstone businesses in the Festival Bay Mall, which has several worthwhile stores and eateries (my favorite in the mall being Fuddruckers) but also houses a number of empty storefronts, which makes shopping there a touch on the unsettling side. (The mall itself is across the street from Texas de Brazil and Orlando's Prime Outlets -- formerly the Belz Outlets -- which covers several blocks of real estate with various stores.)

The theater complex itself is dimly lit and filled with golden hues and old-movie-parlor touches, even though you can tell it's a very new building in every respect. Seats are comfortable (though have a shorter back than what I would prefer) and all theaters themselves are setup with stadium seating, so you don't have to contend much with people blocking your view. Picture and sound quality are pretty good, and usually matinees are not very crowded (unless it's the opening weekend of a major release). It's also a good place to while away a few hours if you're in the area and don't feel like shopping but your friends, out-of-town visitors or guests do.

The bathrooms, upon first impression, seem pretty classy -- though that impression is ruined upon closer inspection.

At first, they are classy looking, with beige tile covering the lower wall, a wavy, textured off-white tile covering the upper wall and an ornately carved bronze-like tile forming a mid-wall divider between the two. A large-squared contrasting off-white tile covers the floor.

It's a large environment, long and stretching but not too narrow, and well-spaced. About eight or so urinals hang along the left wall (if facing the back wall), and a stretch of four or so toilet stalls stand opposite them in the far corner of the place. Brown metal dividers separate the stalls but the urinals have no privacy barriers between them, which leaves you a bit open to peepers if you're standing at them and someone comes in.

There is a multi-station vanity, with a bland brick-colored granite counter and some white porcelain embedded sinks, in the front right of the room. Three automatic hand dryers hang on the wall opposite the vanity. The vanity itself is nothing special, the same sort of setup as I've seen (most recently) at places like Animal Kingdom (at the bathrooms near the Flame Tree Restaurant, for example) and (on a smaller scale) Whole Foods Winter Park. This one has manual faucets and soap pumps though.

Spend a little time at the vanity and that classy first impression starts to waver. While I didn't find it waterlogged (perhaps because I attended the first screening of the day on my visit and seemed to be one of the first to enter the facility), I did find that one of the soap dispensers had become unglued from the stretch mirror behind the vanity and was laying dead on the counter, alongside bits of plastic that had broken off in the fall. Certainly this needs to be fixed.

The toilet stalls were clean, but the walls of the stall I entered were speckled with bits of goo, which I can only assume are boogers flicked on the wall from a previous visitor. Pretty gross.

If that weren't enough, the latches to the stall door I found myself behind was pretty greasy on the edges, as if years of finger grease has accumulated on it from people sliding it back and forth so many times.

These little things, I'm sorry to say, made the experience less than savory and made me hurry with my business, for fear of what other items the cleaning crew had overlooked might appear here.

Marks out of 10:

6. Would be an 8 if it were not for the greasy latch, felled soup dispenser and boogers on the wall.

Comments to the Management:

The soap dispenser is an easy fix -- just mount it right and move on. But the greasy latch and boogers make me think that your cleaning crew just focuses on the main target items (toilets, vanity, floor) and not the rest of the place. Time to do a head-to-toe scrubbing of the place.