Greatest Hits of '07: The Great Public Restroom Debate

As we near year's end, we're re-posting a few heavily commented-upon posts from earlier in 2007. Here's one of our favorites, from September. This post also inspired my all-time favorite negative comment (#12).

I've never been in a great public restroom. I was under the impression they were all basically disgusting, with varying levels of nastiness.

Apparently, I've been going in all the wrong places.

Cintas, a company that sells corporate restroom supplies, has been naming America's Best Restrooms since 2001. This year's winner: Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio.

Considering my grocery store does not have public restrooms, I'm impressed. And that's just the outside.

Here are some other bathrooms you'd be lucky to find across the country.

Waffle House of AmericaLawrence, Michigan Fifth Place, 2004"Guests are greeted with soothing piano music and your eyes are quickly drawn to the focal point of the room, a beautiful hand-painted vanity. The bathroom stalls have a crackled paint finish and even the toilet seats are hand painted with roses. A panoramic mural of painted clouds surrounds the stalls to complete the outdoor garden atmosphere. No expensive contractors of decorators turned this bathroom into such a treasure. It was lovingly created with help from craft magazines, Mom and ideas from the Discovery Channel."

Wall City Toilet Boston, Massachusetts Third Place, 2004 "During ten years of development and engineering, Wall's team took onto consideration comfort, hygiene, accessibility, cleanliness and security, as well as quality and design. The result: the world's smallest footprint for a self-cleaning, fully automatic toilet. The ergonomic design and technological conveniences of Wall's automatic public toilet create and amenity that allows all individuals, regardless of disability, to meet their needs in an easy and efficient manner."

Yavneh Day School Cincinnati, OhioFourth Place, 2003 "We used a picket fence/bird house theme. All items were donated by employees. A selection of potpourri , sprays and lotions are arranged on a charming shelf. The idea for the bathroom was from our elementary school principal, Dr. Susan Moore. It has picket fence wallpaper, a shelf with bird houses, a green mirror, flowers, and even a bird house light switch cover!"

Art ChicksLouisville, Nebraska Second Place, 2004 "The Art Chicks bathroom is always super-dooper clean and has all the things a 'chick' would need - great soap, hand lotion, double ply Charmin Bath tissue, feminine hygiene supplies, hairspray and, of course, a great mirror."

Lee Davis TexacoMechanicsville, Virginia Fifth Place, 2001-02 "Both the men's and women's restrooms are decorated with a touch of warmth from home. Different from being the gas station type restrooms with plain walls, a sink and a toilet, we want people to feel at home and welcome. There are pictures on the walls and rugs on the floor. The women's bathroom has flowers and the men's bathroom has plants to make them more decorated."

University of Notre Dame, Main BuildingSouth Bend, Indiana First Place, 2002"The restrooms in the Main Building have Stovax Victorian tile floors (imported from England). The main door to all restrooms is refinished in their original glory of stained wood. Interior partition doors are finished solid oak mounted to marble finished partitions. Drinking fountains are inside a partitioned portion of the restroom. Faucets on sinks are designer accented with chrome and brass. Counters are built in for diaper changing and/or for luggage/bags. The lighting is classical 1800s style lighting suspended from the ceiling in reflector bowls."

(Any Notre Dame students or alums care to weigh in? Should the bathrooms be on the campus tour?)

This might be a loaded question in light of the Larry Craig scandal, but have you ever had a great experience in a public restroom? Tell us about it, or nominate that john for next year's trophy.