The garden-variety urinals at the revamped Royalton
photo: Ryan Charles
In 1988, the brand-new men’s room in the Royalton Hotel – replete with a notorious waterfall-***-urinal designed by Philippe Starck – arguably introduced the cool loo to NYC's annals of dining and drinking. The once lowly bathroom had arrived, and the Royalton's facility was soon joined by other conversation-starting loos tricked up with self-fogging doors (Bar 89), state-of-the-art commodes (Bette, Ono), one-way mirrors (Dusk, Glass, Peep) and witty photomurals (QT Hotel Bar).
Recent developments, however, suggest that the cool loo may be all washed up. Several months ago, the Royalton closed for renovations and it's now back – with its signature men's room waterwall replaced by two garden-variety urinals. Along the same lines, Little Italy's M Bar, once celebrated for its X-rated bathroom wallpaper, has been replaced by a new watering hole with wallpaperless loos. Even Keith McNally, who brought you the droll restrooms at Schiller's (with separate doors for the ladies and gents that open to the same communal room) has resorted to chic but unremarkable stalls at his latest venture, Morandi.
Will going to the bathroom become less hip than it once was? Maybe, but there's still hope. One of the coolest loos in recent memory, fashioned out of an aged elevator cab and outfitted with a fold-up railroad car sink, surfaced this summer at the TriBeCa bar Smith & Mills.
– Curt Gathje