Hotels around the world are increasingly adopting designs that remove or minimize bathroom doors in guest rooms, fueling a backlash from guests. To cut expense and improve space efficiency, more properties are replacing bathroom doors with sliding doors, frosted glass, or curtains, or removing them entirely, but complaints are mounting about privacy violations and problems with noise and odor.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 20th (local time), mid- to low-priced hotel chains and boutique hotels, mainly in North America and Europe, are spreading designs that eliminate bathroom doors. Representative examples include installing sliding barn doors or translucent glass doors instead of traditional swing doors, or layouts that do not completely separate the bathroom from the bedroom. In some rooms, only the toilet area is divided by glass or a partition, making it effectively close to a "doorless bathroom."
Guests cite privacy violations as their biggest complaint. Denis Milano Sprung, who stayed at a Marriott hotel near Calgary Airport in Canada, told the WSJ, "The door was opaque so you couldn't see details, but it still showed someone using the toilet," adding, "We've been married 25 years, but I don't want to see my spouse using the bathroom." Sprung also said repeated awakenings were caused by light and noise leaking through the translucent door.
This design shift stems from pressure to cut expense. Lisa Czerwiński, a lecturer at the Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, said, "Since the COVID-19 pandemic, group and business travel demand has not recovered, while labor, construction, and energy expense have surged," adding, "From hotel management's perspective, even a single bathroom door is seen as a burden that triggers installation and maintenance expense."
Doors, frames, handles, and hinges cost not only for installation but also for maintenance and repairs. If the bathroom is completely separated by a door and walls, natural light is blocked, increasing lighting use and, in turn, energy expense and management burdens. In addition, meeting the wide doorway standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) adds design expense. In the past, "pocket doors," a type of sliding door, or curtains were introduced as alternatives, but they had limits due to breakdowns and hygiene issues.
Some in the hotel industry argue that open-plan bathroom layouts make spaces look larger and brighter and help with ventilation. Opponents counter that a bathroom's core function is not ventilation but blocking odors and noise, calling the claim unconvincing.
There has also been a consumer pushback against this trend. Digital marketer Sadie Lowell, shocked by an almost doorless bathroom during a stay at a London hotel, launched the "Bring Back Doors" campaign. She is sending surveys to hundreds of hotels asking whether the doors fully close and whether they are glass, and is classifying and publishing lists of hotels based on bathroom privacy levels. The list includes more than 500 hotels in major cities such as New York, Tokyo, and Mexico City.
Major hotel groups such as Marriott and Hyatt did not respond to the WSJ's inquiries, and some hotels only said they would keep their current designs. Experts note that if expense-cutting designs undermine the quality of the guest experience, they could damage brand trust in the long run. Lowell said, "Privacy cannot be a commodity," adding, "Consumers will ultimately spend their money at hotels with bathroom doors."