Here Are The Contenders For America’s Best Public Restroom In 2020

If the words “public restroom” make your nose scrunch and your heart sink, an annual competition may open your mind to what’s possible. Through smart technologies and innovative design, some public restrooms are clearly rising above their dubious stereotype.

Public restroom renovations are having a moment. In Tokyo, the non-profit Nippon Foundation recently launched “The Tokyo Toilet Project,” tasking 16 well-known architects to renovate 17 public toilets located in the public parks of Shibuya, one of the city’s busiest commercial areas.

MORE FROM FORBESWhy Tokyo's New Transparent Public Restrooms Are A Stroke Of GeniusBy Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

In the United States, Cintas hosts the annual America’s Best Restroom Contest to celebrate innovative and hygienic public restrooms at airports, train stations, public parks, hotels and restaurants across the country. The public is invited to vote for their favorite finalist in the 19th annual competition through October 19, 2020.

Last year, the America’s Best Restroom award went to the Nashville Zoo for displaying two innovative animal exhibits through floor-to-ceiling viewing windows. The men’s Entry Village restroom displays a Boelen’s python, while the women’s restroom in Expedition Peru shows off a family of cotton-top tamarins, a critically endangered primate species from South America.

This year, the contest’s 10 finalists were selected based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements. Here they are:

Bancroft Park – Colorado Springs, Colorado

Just how smart can a smart public restroom get? The TikTok-famous, $300,000 self-cleaning public restrooms in Bancroft Park, in the Old Colorado City neighborhood of Colorado Springs, are some of most high-tech facilities you’ll find on either side of the Rockies. Green, red and yellow lights show when the three restrooms are available, and visitors are treated to an audio greeting and music upon entering. The entire experience is completely touch-free — toilet paper, soap and water, and the hand dryer are all activated with the wave of a hand. The toilets self-clean after every 30 uses and a park maintenance supervisor is alerted via an app when toilet paper and other supplies are running low.

Greeley Square Park – New York, New York

“Is this New York City’s nicest public bathroom?” mused The New York Times rhetorically. With rotating seat covers, classical music and a full-time attendant, the curbside kiosk restroom in Manhattan’s Greeley Square Park, a stone’s throw from the Empire State Building, lifts outdoor urban facilities to a new standard. Decked out in Italian tile, black-and-white historic photographs and even fresh flowers, this public restroom even features an HVAC system for seasonal climate control. It’s a feat to remain clean and welcoming while hosting hundreds of visitors daily, including local workers, tourists and shoppers, especially given its prime location on Broadway between 32nd and 33rd Streets, near a major subway hub and the New York terminus of the PATH train connecting Manhattan to New Jersey.

Kimpton Muse Hotel – New York City, New York

In the heart of midtown Manhattan on West 46th Street, the Kimpton Muse Hotel allows guests and diners at the acclaimed Muse Bar (temporarily closed due to Covid-19 restrictions) to choose a stall according to their personality or mood. Six “sin-inspired” unisex stalls, each with a completely different theme and design — glam, vain, rebel, passion, macho and envy — open off a white common area meant to represent purgatory.

DFW Airport – DFW Airport, Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport recently rolled out a slew of features that help social distancing efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic and help the cleaning staff efficiently manage the facilities. All gate-side restrooms now integrate smart restroom technology to include touch-free dispensing and consumable tracking, allowing staff to make sure the bathrooms are always cleaned and well stocked. A lot of thought has gone into managing queues and needless crowding. Outside each restroom, digital signage displays how many stalls are open and when cleaning is in progress. Inside, green lights above each stall make it easy for visitors to know which stalls are available.

Portland Japanese Garden – Portland, Oregon

Described by the ambassador to Japan as “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan,” the Portland Japanese Garden’s zen vibe continues seemlessly into its pubic restrooms, where Japanese minimalist design strikes a balance between practical and beautiful. The understated shaped and forms of elements are aligned with the qualities of a Japanese garden, which are meant to help the mind and body feel serene and tranquil. Located in the Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center, all materials in the bathroom – from the texture of the tiles to the design of the fixtures – are functional works of art.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts – Scottsdale, Arizona

The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is accustomed to standing ovations for the world-class artists who grace its stage, but its restrooms also earn rave reviews. Designed by award-winning Scottsdale architect John Douglas, the restrooms are sleek and modern with terrazzo flooring, glass-tiled walls and a generous number of spacious, stainless-steel stalls. But the most unique feature is the ingenious color-changeable lighting system, which can be programmed for different holidays or performances aimed at specific audience demographics, such as for LGBTQ events. Mindful of Scottsdale’s desert setting, the facility includes environmentally friendly, low-flow faucets and toilets to conserve water.

AirTrain JFK’S Jamaica Station – New York, NY

JFK AirTrain is the fastest and easiest way to move around John F. Kennedy International Airport, connecting all passenger terminals to airport parking lots, the hotel shuttle pick-up area, rental car center, and NYC’s public transportation network at its terminus in Jamaica, Queens. With a new modern look and stalls that are three times larger than the previous restrooms, the new facility at AirTrain’s Jamaica station was designed with travelers in mind, offering much more space for folks with luggage in tow. Both men’s and women’s rooms are equipped with changing tables for those traveling with babies and toddlers, and there’s also a family-friendly restroom.

Swift’s Attic – Austin, Texas

Located the second floor of the Swift's Premium Food Co. building where an erstwhile grocery store once stood on Congress Avenue in Austin, Swift’s Attic is a hipster restaurant and bar serving up eclectic farm-to-table small plates and craft cocktails. The Gothic-style restrooms play upon the history of the building and feature floral-patterned sinks, Claddagh-inspired mirrors, antique light fixtures and gold-and-black striped wallpaper. During the pandemic, the restaurant is open for private dinners, curbside pickup and delivery.

The Guild Hotel – San Diego, California

The Guild Hotel, part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio collection, opened last year in what was a century-old YMCA in downtown San Diego that is convenient to the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park and Seaport Village. In keeping with the hotel’s overall design combining historic and modern elements, the restrooms located off the lobby feature marble sinks, globe lights and subway tile for an end result that is both nostalgic and contemporary.

Gaslight Bar & Grill – Cincinnati, OH

Housed in what was a library for 60 years, the tall-windowed Clifton Bar & Grill offers a rooftop terrace where you can come for a meal and to enjoy a drink. The renovated bathrooms nod to the building’s historic roots with classic Bianco Onion marble tile, beveled glass mirrors, old-world sconces and custom wood partitions and doors, while touchless faucets and trash cans are both hygienic and of this moment.

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