All Nippon Airways To Offer Women Only Restroom

Women flying Japan’s All Nippon Airways will have a toilet all to themselves from next month, with the airline designating one restroom on most international routes as female-only.

The airline said in a statement it was responding to “numerous requests for this service,” adding that the toilet would be located in the rear of the plane and be available to women passengers from all classes.

An airline official told Kyodo news agency that ANA decided to designate women-only lavatories based on a 2007 online survey in which 90 percent of the women polled said they found the idea attractive.

The official also said women do not like using shared toilets as men sometimes leave the seat up. She said demand for women-only toilets was especially high among passengers taking long flights.

Men would be allowed to use the lavatory only in emergencies or when there were very few female passengers on the flight, the ANA statement said.

South Korea’s Korean Air has been offering similar facilities and ANA rival Japan Airlines designates lavatories for priority use by women, the ANA official told Kyodo.

Toilet etiquette appears to be an important part of ANA’s policy — the airline had previously asked passengers to use the lavatories before they board flights so as to reduce the overall weight of the plane, which would ultimately be better for the environment as it would mean less fuel usage.

Camera Found In Bathroom Of Christian Bookstore

A 28-year-old clerk at a Christian bookstore in Simi Valley has been arrested on charges of peeping at customers in the restroom with a video camera.

Police said the man was cited and released on suspicion of peeping by means of an electronic device after a customer spotted the device hidden among boxes in the corner of the bathroom of the Family Christian Book Store.

The 40-year-old woman and her husband called police to report the suspiciously placed camera.

Sgt. Dwight Thompson said the recording shows the suspect hiding the video camera in the bathroom because it was taping as he positioned it.

Thompson says investigators believe the incident was isolated because the victim and the suspect are the only people seen on the video.

Where Have All The Towels Gone?

The recent discovery of some 60 hotel towels in a police raid on a Netanya, Israel home seems to have caught everyone by surprise – except hotel managers, that is. 

Israelis, one Eilat hotel manager told the Israeli newspaper Ynet, “Simply love taking souvenirs from hotels. That way, they feel they got a little something extra for the money they spent.”

The difference between the Israeli vacationer and the foreign tourists is easy to spot, he said, thanks to the “towel-meter”: “When we have many foreign tourists in the hotel we do a lot of laundry. When Israelis are staying with us we do a lot of unpacking, to replace missing towels.”

According to hotels’ data, between 300,000 and 400,000 towels are stolen from hotels every year, amounting to millions of shekels in losses.

Other hotel items ranking high on the pilfering list are bathrobes, bathmats, shampoo bottles, linens and cutlery.

“People try and take anything that isn’t bolted down and sometimes even that doesn’t stop them,” another Eilat hotel manager said.

A third hotel manager had guests who dismantled the bathroom mirror and another found the pictures in the room missing.

Some hotels, like those belonging to the Isrotel Chain, are trying to fight the ugly phenomenon by placing security tags on towels – similar to those stores use on clothes – and informing their guests the their luggage may be subject to a search before they check out.

“If a buzzer goes off, the hotel security officer will take the guest aside, so not to create a scene, and try to find the cause,” Lior Raviv, vice president of Isrotel, told Ynet.

“We are willing to do anything to spare our guests any embarrassment or discomfort, but one must remember we’re talking about huge financial damages to the hotels.” 

America’s Best Restroom Is In Nashville

The Hermitage Hotel has afternoon tea in the grand lobby. Down-filled duvets (that’s a fancy word for comforters).  A presidential suite with 2,000 square feet.  And a really nice toilet.

So nice, in fact, that it’s been voted (drum roll please) America’s best restroom.

Flush in the middle of downtown Nashville, the luxury hotel and its ground-floor men’s bathroom are definitely the head (so to speak) of the class.

The redoubtable restroom is art-deco style with gleaming lime-green-and-black leaded glass tiles, lime-green fixtures, terrazzo floor and a two-seat shoeshine station.

“You just can’t find anything like it anywhere else,” says Janet Kurtz, director of sales and marketing at the hotel.

The restroom won the honor in online voting sponsored by Cincinnati-based Cintas Corp., which supplies restroom hygiene products and services. The company says “tens of thousands” of people voted over two months last summer. Precise numbers are kept, well, private.

Criteria were hygiene, style and access to the public. The highfalutin honor has earned the restroom entry to “America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame.”

“People see it and fall in love with it,” Kurtz said.

It has four stools, three urinals, four sinks, spotless mirrors and a Sultan telephone that connects to the front desk.