WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK

Washington Square Park-Greenwich Village, NYC

Category: Parks

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Saturday, March 19, 2011 (early afternoon)

Washington Square Park Ladies Room is no Bryant Park (but it is definitely not Byrd Park either!).  As you can see from the photos…it has stuff…but it is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as our Crystal Bowl Award winner, Bryant Park.

There is a shelf, a sturdy hook, toilet paper, and soap (I will forgive the weak hand dryer).  The bathroom is what I would expect from a park…not too clean…but someone has checked it in the past couple of weeks.

I love NEW YORK so I am a little more lenient…

I give this bathroom 2 seats up (for what it is!) If we were in a restaurant it would be 1 seat up!

TIFFANY & CO. (TOP FLOOR)

Tiffany & Co.-401 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10022

Category: Miscellaneous/Most Awesome Stores

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Sunday, March 20, 2011 (1pm)

Aaaaahh…Tiffany’s…Who doesn’t LOVE Tiffany’s!  And going to the one on Fifth Avenue in New York could not be more romantic!

BUTT, aside from the bathroom being absolutely pristine, I did not get a WOW feeling when I walked in.  The bathroom is simple.

If you look at the second photo…there are two stalls that have doors that go from floor to ceiling.  This is very nice for privacy!  And around the corner there is a lounge chair…I would have taken a picture, but there was a lady on her cell phone sitting in the chair.

The tile, walls and doors are all made of very quality materials…but I just wanted to walk into a bathroom that felt like Audrey Hepburn’s dressing room.  Instead, it felt very sterile.  Like I said, pristine and simple!  And there is actually nothing wrong with that…but you all know, the-funkier-the-better for me!

I only visited one of the bathrooms…I am assuming there is a bathroom on each of the six floors?  Oh darn, I will just HAVE to go back to check them out!

I give this bathroom two seats up! (Nothing special for me!)

RATING SCALE: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best).

VIA DELLA PACE ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Via Della Pace-48 East 7th St. #A New York, NY 10003

Category: Restaurants/Bars

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Saturday, March 19, 2011 (8pm)

Awesome, quaint, inexpensive and delicious restaurant!

As you can see from the first two photos, if you like old, funky, Italian design…this is the bathroom for you.  The mirror and the wall hanging are a definite “takeable” for me (if I did that sort of thing :)).

Other than that, I really cannot say a lot (yay!).  The bathroom is tiny, semi-fresh-feeling and smelling, stocked, and has paper towels (no hand dryer)… and thanks for the reminder (third pic.) where to throw them!

I give this bathroom 1.5 seats up! (.5 for the cool decor).

RATING SCALE: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best).

McSORLEY’S OLD ALE HOUSE

  

 McSorely’s Old Ale House-15 East 7th Street New York, NY 10003

Category: Restaurants/bars

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Saturday, March 19, 2011 (2pm)

A quick plug to say…if you haven’t been to McSorely’s in NYC…then you haven’t seen OLD NEW YORK.  This bar is about as down-and-dirty as they come…but cool!  Just go!  The cheese plate?…a sleeve of Saltine crackers (in the wrapper) and some slices of American cheese slapped on a plate!  What is better than that?!!

So the bathroom! Not totally gross for what this place is.  The bathroom is tiny and in the back.  Honestly though, look at the pics…the walls have been updated, and everything works just fine!  There’s toilet paper, paper towels and soap! I THINK there are two stalls…but there may only be one (one too many mugs of the cheap stuff!).

Nothing fancy…but nothing gross!

I give this bathroom two toilet seats up (for being stocked and for what this place is)!

RATING SCALE: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best).

HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA (Across from Penn Station-Midtown)

Hotel Pennsylvania-401 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10001

Category: Hotels/Motels (Room bathroom)

Bathroom Gender: Unisex

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: March 19-20, 2011 (morning, noon, and night)

I am pottyblogging about the bathroom in our hotel ROOM at Hotel Pennsylvania.  Because this site is about potties, not the whole institution, I will refrain from telling you how yuck the rooms in this hotel are (oops!).  And you can ask anyone who knows me…I am not picky!

The bathroom is actually the room’s best feature…and as you can see from the pictures, that is not saying a whole lot!

Let me make something clear before I blog anymore potties…I am all about the old, funky (not smelling!), manual bathrooms.  I am not a big fan of the modern, luxurious bathrooms.  Having said this, I can tell you that this bathroom definitely has the old, funky feel…but I have a feeling people do not appreciate it as much as I do.

I took a picture of the Scotties tissue dispenser because I think it is really cool!  Again, probably not so cool to a lot of people.  I really like the sink in this bathroom as well (picture two)…big, white, and square.

If you are looking for a spacious and updated hotel bathroom…this is not your hotel!  This is not my hotel for other reasons.

The water is hot, plenty of toilet paper and towels…no cootie feelings (the bed is another story…oops…I did it again! ;))

I give this bathroom 1 seat up!

(And if I was rating hotel ROOMS, which I am not, I would give it 3 seats way down!)

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best)

LILY’S @ THE ROGER SMITH HOTEL (NYC)

Lily’s Restaurant-501 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10017

Category: Restaurants/Bars

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Saturday, March 18, 2011 (10 am)

Yaaaaaaaay….tampons-in-a-basket!  I love when there is a basket with “things” in it for free! I have to say candy is nice too!  Seriously though, tampons are handy! We had a really nice breakfast at Lily’s with a group of friends.  Then…uh…oh…gotta go!  It was difficult to find the bathroom, being that it was on another floor and there were no signs to direct you.

Lily’s is the restaurant that is attached to the Roger Smith Hotel.  There were a lot of things that I loved about the lobby of this hotel…very old New York and boutique…so I am glad that I had to venture through it to go to the bathroom! So, I took the elevator down…and voila’…a beautiful, art deco, marble bathroom!  The general area was clean, stocked and manual (I actually like manual in an old establishment).  As you can see from the stall picture, it is a bit tight, but so what!  And BTW…I took a picture (1st picture)of the brass “thing” for a reason, and I cannot remember what it is (sorry)!

I give this bathroom 2.5 seats up! (only because I couldn’t find it!)

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 2 seats up (best)

BXL EAST (Midtown East, NYC)

BXL East-210 East 51st Street New York, New York 10022

Category: Restaurants/Bars

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Friday, March 18, 2011 (approx. 4pm)

BXL East is a great little, off the beat-and-path bar in Midtown East.  We just happened upon it…and glad we did!  The cheese plate was great!  The bathroom wasn’t half bad either!  Check out…tah-dah…the automatic paper towel dispenser that worked great and was situated next to the exit door!  A double whammy!  I do like black bathroom fixtures…except when it is a toilet.  Like a black bottom pool, I have to admit that I am a bit scared.  I can’t explain it…but sitting on a black toilet freaks me out a little bit.  BUTT (gotta throw in that bathroom humor!), I thought the black sink and the black floor against the white tile was very cool (does she know another word besides cool?). Check out the third picture…that is the ceiling.  The tin is definitely not old, but it still looked…I can do this…aesthetically pleasing?  OK…COOL!

Toilet paper, soap, paper towel?  HERE!  Clean?  YES!

I give this bathroom 2 seats up!

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best)

DOS CAMINOS (Midtown East, NYC)

DOS CAMINOS-825 3rd Avenue New York, New York 10022

Category: Restaurants/Bars

Gender: Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Friday, March 18, 2011 (noon, and again at 8pm)

Can you say “cool bathroom”?  Dos Caminos is a very popular restaurant/bar with multiple locations.  The ONLY problem with this bathroom is that you have to go downstairs to use it.  However, if you are parked at one of the small bars on the lower floor it is very convenient.  The tile work is a rustic, rubbed, red tile…very cool!  I love sinks that look like bowls sitting on a counter!  I want to make special note of the red cabinet in the sink area of the bathroom.  This added a “homey” feel, and is something that I would definitely add to my stealing-furniture-from-bathrooms category.  The stalls are separate from the sink area…this is nice when you want some privacy!  And look…a trashcan next to the exit door!

The bathroom was clean, well-stocked and chic.  Nothing was automatic, paper towels, and nice soap dispensers!

I give this bathroom 3 seats up!

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best)

AFFINIA 50 HOTEL (Midtown East, NYC)

Affinia 50 Hotel-East 50th Street New York, New York 10022

Category: Hotels/Motels

Gender: Men/Women

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Friday, March 18, 2011 (morning, noon and night!)

HOTEL ROOM BATHROOM

HOTEL LOUNGE BATHROOMS

I will be writing about both the hotel room bathroom and the lounge bathrooms in this blog.  I will begin with the room. As you can see from the pictures there is nothing spectacular about this bathroom.  It was clean and updated, but lacked any “chemistry” for me.  I tend to feel this way about most hotel room bathrooms…they are usually nothing special for me.  That may also have to do with the fact that I usually stay in 2-3 star hotels.  This hotel was cool though!

The bathroom had the normal amenities: blow dryer, soap, shampoo, moisturizer (Damana? I have seen this brand before…I like it!), towels…but no WOW factor!

I give this bathroom 1.5 seats up! (just cuz’ I expect more from a cool NYC hotel)

Now, the lounge area on the second floor of the Affinia 50 had definite WOW!  There were two rooms with modern and comfy furniture, TV’s , board games, computers…I would come back and stay at this hotel for their lounge area alone!  There was a men’s and a women’s (individual) bathroom outside in the hallway of the lounge area.  I thought from the look of the lounge that these bathrooms might be really cool too!  But like the room, these bathrooms were clean and well stocked…but fell flat!  I think I might add a new rating to PottyBloggers called “The Cool-Factor”.  These bathrooms didn’t have it!

The sink faucet and soap dispenser were automatic, and I like that (when they work, and this one did!).  But do you see the last picture above?  Say it with me now…NO…HAND DRYERS…EVER!  And this one looked cool, but had absolutely no blow power! Paper towels please…I’m just sayin’!

I give the men’s and women’s lounge bathrooms 1.5 seats up! (again…)

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best)

 

NO.1 BUS STATION (New York, New York)

No. 1 Bus Station-21 Allen Street New York, New York 10002

Category: Miscellaneous/Bus Station

Gender: Unisex

Blogger: Cheech

Date Visited: Sunday, March 20, 2011 (4:30 pm)

I gave you the beginning of our New York trip, and here is the other end…our bus trip home.  I didn’t think it was necessary to write about the bus potty again (and I made it home without having to “go”). This blog is about the bus station in New York.  The experience coming home was not as “stress-free” as the way there, but because PottyBloggers is a blog about bathrooms…I will try to stick to that this time.

I was the only PottyBlogger that was brave enough to use the station’s bathroom! The bathroom was actually not that bad.  Out of all the bathrooms that I used in the city, this one was not a the bottom of the list!  It was small, relatively clean, and as you can see from the pictures above…the management must clean it sometimes with the bottle of Fantastik sitting on the back of the toilet.  That is something…

Also, check out the hooks on the door…at least they are trying to provide their customers some amenities. There was toilet paper, but no paper towels left (but that is what jeans are for!).  The soap was a store bought bottle, but it was actually full.  The overall feel of the bathroom was not totally clean…but again, we are talking about a low cost bus company.  I am truly not a bathroom snob, so from my perspective this bathroom was just fine.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit it, but if I had to choose to use the station bathroom or the one on the bus…I would definitely choose the station!

I give this bathroom 1 seat up!

Rating Scale: 3 seats down (worst) to 3 seats up (best)