Design Don’t: Hotel faucet
4 January 2009 4 Comments
This faucet graced a granite countertop in a Hannibal, Missouri hotel.
The handles are poorly designed. They are very difficult to turn on and off, and they aren’t very attractive. Don’t design functional objects like this, and don’t purchase them either.
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Yes, the handles are ugly. In fact, there are no handles.
And can we also see the end of utterly useless shallow sinks? The ones that are so shallow the water from the faucet comes spraying back up, onto the counter and your clothes.
And I know the spring-loaded faucets aren’t in much abundance, but you still find them here and there. The ones you have to hold on to with one hand while cleaning the other hand; then switching. Ridiculous and useless, especially if there is dirt and germs on the faucet.
And what about that foaming soap; it gets all over too. And I really don’t like, in public restrooms, air dryers. They might save paper (which can be recycled and is biodegradable) but they are loud, un-fast and not as sanitary as paper — assuming there’s a door in and out of the restroom.
So I didn’t mean for this to become a whiny post, but your comment made me think of these other not-quite-thought-through gripes I have about travel and restrooms . . .
Oh, don’t get me started on foaming soap and air dryers.
It should be law for all restrooms: Only strong citrus-smelling soap (none of that pink stuff), with the exfoliating sand in it. Like the kind used in auto-mechanic garages. Deep, old school tub sinks (this may mean there will be no counter top for some restrooms, which to me would be fine) with those high overarching faucets and long lever handles. The faucets must give hot water under certain timing conditions (say, no later than 10 seconds). No air-dryers.
On a positive note (the whining is all mine), I do like the sensor-dispensing paper towel machines in some restrooms. The ones where you just hold your hands in front of the dispenser and it pushes out a determined length of sheet. Nice. It’s a good use of technology. No touching the dispenser that hundreds of others have touched.
The automatic towel dispensers are OK, although most I’ve used are too slow and dispense too little paper. I’ve encountered two exceptions that were fast enough and papery enough for my needs.
However, the very old fashioned dispensers with stacked brown towels are fine and almost as sanitary IMO, as are stacks in baskets on the counter, though this latter option only seems to appear in ritzier restaurants.
And I’m all for the graceful (and functional) faucets you describe!