REVIEW

The Ace Hotel on Shoreditch High Street in London’s East End, is a buzzing hub for Advertising peoples, Fashionistas and the most loyally bearded Hipsters.

In the public area there is a long communal desk for daytime admin tasks, you can buy an independently grown and meticulously barista’d east end coffee or you can lounge in the moody, muted green, grey and gold, tepidly (anti)social areas on a slightly 70’s Dallas style comfy chair.

I had high expectations of the toilets in this hotel, it’s reputation is notorious and there is a good vibe throughout with strong attention to detail. The public loo’s however, are a bit of a let down.

The fact that they exist and are actually public is great as it’s nigh impossible to find toilets when you’re wandering around London without having to find 30p, (who on earth regularly has 30p lying around); and with the amount of strong coffee one can consume in east London it’s not unusual to need the restroom in a flash.

But considering that it is THE “Ace Hotel”, one would hope to find a clean and fully functioning bathroom that doesn’t feel like a tiny closet.

The men’s, only has one cubicle and two urinals and considering the large footfall in this hotel that is a somewhat impractical setup. When the cubicle is free it is almost always smelly, dirty and lacking paper. This appears to me as a customer as lazy and negligent. It is not uncommon to understand the importance of a clean and pleasant toilet. Particularly in a busy part of London where that could really win customers over as a venue. A bite of serenity while you offload your baggage can make a sincere difference to a persons day.

The overall size of the bathroom is also disappointing. It is uncomfortable to awkwardly wait to use the toilet when you are too close the the other people using the urinals. Unless you are actively cruising, which, when you are in need of a number two, is equally awkward and uncomfortable.

There are some good points about these toilets. The mirrors are a great size, the decor is inoffensive and works with the hotel theme, the dryers fulfil their purpose by actually working, and as previously mentioned, it is a good toilet in an emergency due to the lack of toilets in the surrounding area.

But if there’s no paper and you can’t sit on the seat because it’s splattered in someone else’s bodily delicacies then we have missed the point in a toilet. Especially one which comes with expectations due to the hotel it is situated within.

Ace Hotel Shoreditch… we really want to spend time in you and enjoy what you have to offer; but your toilets are putting a unimpressed “grr” on our faces.

Please can we work to improve this.

Love Artpornblog

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Written by Ted Rogers “Artpornblog”