Public Toilets of the World: A Benchmark of Civilisation

[MOBIUS]

Seeing as we've had a few toilet related threads and posts lately, I thought I'd make a thread about what a nation's public toilets says about it as a civilisation - purely from anecdotal experience of course! What we're looking at is an average sort of establishment, not necessarily a 5* hotel where you'd expect an excellent quality (unless it wasn't, of course), or some disgusting roadside shack - unless these are the prevalent forms of public toilets in the nations in question.

If we use UK public toilets as the median, as I think they are fairly average compared to other countries I have visited, and place accordingly from there...

UK public toilets:

Paper: 8/10 (probably an 80% chance of paper in any stalls on average - this is an upwardly trending improvement)

Smelliness: 6 (probably a 40% chance of fairly strong unpleasant odours. While many are pristine, some are downright stinky, like the Vue Cinema toilets here in Cardiff! This seems to be stuck or even slightly downwardly trending - I miss all those urinal cubes they never seem to use any more. Instead they seem to cover up the smell with those sickly fragrance circulators - which don't help when you're 'at the coal face')

Cleanliness: 6 (probably a 40% chance of piss (or worse!) on the toilet seat, or **** stains, paper etc. Definitely downward trending! Is this more to do with a public that doesn't seem to be toilet trained at a young age these days and doesn't see a problem with pissing all over the toilet seat...!? Or those that leave nasty **** stains and/or plug up the toilet with excess amounts of paper!? Some are still excellent, though some of the worst are surprising IMO: UK universities in general!!!)

Appearance: 8 (Generally speaking, UK bogs are pretty attractive to look at from an architectural POV, all things considered. Perhaps we have JD Wetherspoons to thank for that?

Overall: 7/10

[MOBIUS]

Hmmm, forgot another category:

Prevalence & Cost: 9/10 In the UK it is pretty easy to 'spend a penny' without actually spending any money as they're virtually all free! Public toilet provision by councils can sometimes be pretty patchy, though Cardiff is pretty well served. After that, favourites for a free 'tinkle' include shopping centres, museums (again free), bus/train stations. After that you can usually get away with visiting pubs, coffeeshops, though it is usually polite to buy a drink first (thus setting in train a future visit to the loo!) etc. In fact, the UK is, IMO, very well served by public toilets and you shouldn't really ever be caught short...

[MikeH]

This is the worst thread we've ever had on here.

[SlowwHand]

Don't forget to rate.

[DaShi]

I know that I couldn't even walk into the public bathroom at Grand Central Station it was so bad. And I've used public toilets in China!

[MOBIUS]

Don't forget to rate.

I seem to remember Texan toilets weren't particularly great. I took a sh1t at the Alamo though, which was kind of apt.

[BeBMan]

This is the worst thread we've ever had on here.

[rah]

The ones in Union Station in Chicago are fine during the day. At night the quality slides a touch since they're not being cleaned every hour.
Generally the cleanest bathrooms are found at large airports. Airports have a better class of clients then say, bus stations. The bathrooms are also behind security screenings so the local riff raff do not have access. And most large airports have around the clock contracts for keeping them clean.

[Lorizael]

I've found the bathrooms in other countries to be pretty terrible because they're almost always several thousand miles away from where I am. America

[Al B. Sure!]

There's too much variability... I've been in a Wendy's bathroom and seen a heroine addict shooting up in there but then another bathroom across the street might be pristine.

[MOBIUS]

But the question is, was there any toilet paper in the heroin addict's stall...?

I guess we need to have a risk of serious assault/sodomy and/or death category too, come to think of it, thanks for bringing that up, Al.

As for variability, you have to consider the average likelihoods of each category and rate accordingly. I'd say instances of running into heroin addicts shooting up, even in Philly, are pretty rare. Er, hopefully...

[MikeH]

If a bathroom has UV lights it's to stop people shooting up. Can't find a vein in UV.

[MOBIUS]

Is this a common practice in Reading then...?

[MikeH]

Well, not for me. I only know of one that had it, the Burger King on Friar St.

If you think there aren't people taking Heroin in Cardiff...

[MOBIUS]

I'm not that naive, just not come across them before...