Bettie: Top 10 Las Vegas Bathrooms - Really!

[Bettie]

I read this in the Review-Journal the other day, but now I can't find the direct link, so I apologize for reposting in full. It's just really funny and pretty interesting, too.

This week, yet another Travel Channel documentary visits Las Vegas, focusing on a restful subject indeed: "Las Vegas' Top 10 Bathrooms."

The hourlong special, produced by Southern California-based Van Ness Films, will explore a wide variety of Las Vegas lavatories, from gas station outposts to high-roller retreats.

"Last year, our company did a show on best bathrooms of the world, and people just loved it," according to M. Scott Martin, the show's executive producer. (The world's No. 1 bathroom? An all-gold "Midas Flush" in a Hong Kong jewelry store that visitors pay $200 to use, Martin notes.)

For the follow-up, airing in 2003, producers opted for a Sin City spin, where visitors can find plush flush facilities as well as unique retreats.

A countdown-style ranking won't be determined until after the taping, when Travel Channel officials and bathroom experts can check out the footage and judge the results.

But the show's scheduled stops have been set.

And the winners are ...

Liberace's villa, where Mr. Showmanship once greeted TV viewers from a tub full of bubbles. Complete with a chandelier and fountain, "it's Las Vegas history," Martin says of the bathroom suite. "You can't pass that one up."

Mandalay Bay's rumjungle gets a look in part because of its unusual unisex lounge, where "men and women mix," Martin says. "It's the cruisiest bathroom in town."

The Main Street Station's men's room -- complete with a piece of the Berlin Wall -- earns the "best historic bathroom" designation, while Caesars Magical Empire scares up a "best haunted bathroom" nod with its catacomblike setting and ghostly images appearing in the mirrors.

The Hilton's SpaceQuest casino wins the "best themed bathroom" competition with its high-tech "Star Trek" look, Martin notes, while the Rio claims the "best high-roller bathroom" title, thanks to a luxurious penthouse suite's panoramic Strip view, bathroom butler service and other amenities. And, just across Flamingo Road, the Palms boasts the "most secretive bathroom" in a suite where the bathroom jacuzzi is concealed directly behind the bedroom headboard.

The Viva Las Vegas Villa's Gothic suite makes the cut with its Dracula-like atmosphere, right down to the coffin-shaped bathtub. ESPN Zone wins the "best sports bathroom" pennant with TV monitors that enable fans to keep up with the action even when nature calls. Planet Hollywood claims "best bathroom mirrors" with a biting "Jaws" motif, while Paris Las Vegas earns an honorable mention for the elegant luxury of its public toilettes.

Activity Planners' headquarters, a subterranean mansion built for Avon's former chairman, earns the "best underground bathroom" designation, Martin notes. (The highlight: a pink bathtub lit from below.)

As for the humble gas station winner, it's the Chevron at Ann and Drexel roads, on the east side of U.S. Highway 95, which features "real marble walls and counters," along with decorative, high-end fixtures, Martin explains. To say nothing of the fact that "they keep it impeccably clean," he adds. "It's one gas station bathroom you don't have to be afraid of."

[Kasey]

It talks!

Last time, the urinal said, "Detecting fluid imbalance, powers of concentration may be affected."

[Bettie]

> It talks!

> Last time, the urinal said, "Detecting
> fluid imbalance, powers of concentration may
> be affected."

You're kidding, right? I haven't been there, but the next time I'm at the Hilton, I'll be sure to stop in. I'm also going to have to get someone to let me in the Main Street Station men's room, because I really want to see that piece of the Berlin Wall.

Reminds me of the wall against which the St. Valentine's Day massacre happened - it ended up in a men's room in a nightclub in Canada!

The honorable mention for the Paris public bathrooms is right on the nose. It has to be the most beautiful bathroom in all of LV. My mom thought I was nuts for wanting to show it to her the first time she visited me! I'm a little wacky that way, I guess.

Bettie

[FiveMan]

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