New technology is changing the way hotels create bathroom spaces, both in the guestrooms and the property's common areas. Here are four ways high-tech bathrooms are making hotels more comfortable and more sanitary.
Faucet Sensors
Touchless faucets have become ubiquitous in public bathrooms. Tom Cline, national account manager at Delta Faucets, said these units can come in several versions, from infrared models at the entry level to the company’s trademarked H2Optics line and its Proximity Sensing Technology at the upper end. For the latter units, the entire faucet body acts as a sensor, making it less dependent on the lighting of the room than an infrared sensor is, Cline said. Depending on the room’s configuration, the units are available in battery-powered, hardwired or plug-in models.
Hidden Bidets
Smart toilets are also becoming increasingly popular. “A heated seat in the bathroom (that cleans and dries you while it’s at it) is the new luxury for a hotel,” said John Curby, VP of sales and marketing at bathroom products company Icera. Bidet seats like the company’s iWash S-12 (pictured) can be installed directly in place of the regular toilet seat on a standard elongated toilet. To maximize efficiency in smaller bathrooms, the tankless design of Icera’s iWash CS-20 integrated bidet toilet utilizes less space than a standard toilet.
Bright Mirrors
Robert Wright, director of sales at Séura, said illuminated mirrors can help extend a guestroom’s design aesthetic into the hotel bathroom: “Designers can incorporate patterns or signature elements with a custom etch, add interest and contrast with a custom mirror shape and highlight key materials and textures with custom frames and shelves.” The company recently launched a line that puts the embedded LEDs closer to the mirror etch and edge to be twice as bright with no visible hot spots and no need for diffusers.
Clean Finishes
Some bathroom technology is implemented before a fixture even reaches a hotel. Delta Faucets has started using the Lumicoat finish on bathroom fixtures to keep them looking newer longer. Lumicoat, Cline said, does not change the look of the finish or the functionality of the product, but it prevents water from staying on the surface and leaving spots that need to be cleaned off. “The faucet doesn’t look dirty, the shower doesn’t look dirty,” he said. “There’s very little maintenance with this finish.”