Review: Restrooms in Des Moines

This is one of those quirky posts that adds to the legends of a city. The topic was requested by someone who reads this blog and also participates in the annual Bathroom Blogfest Oct. 28 – Nov. 2 on the same topic. Specifically, the topic is women’s restrooms.

Knowing where to go if about town and suddenly feeling the necessity of a restroom stop is important. I appreciate being able to make use of facilities if I have an hour walk ahead of me. In the heat of summer this information is especially desirable. When I am driving and feel the need to stop it is usually on or near an Interstate, which makes finding facilities easier than on the back roads.

Elegance is what I feel when I am at the Capitol. The restroom is airy. It has a chaise lounge and a private room for mothers nursing their infants. There is plenty of space between sinks to sit bags and papers, although the soap dispenser on the second sink rarely works. Best of all, the stalls are wide and deep which means I don’t have to lean over the toilet in order to close the door.

The Marriott’s restrooms also convey the essence of high class. The rooms are not large but they have separate areas for fixing hair, hemlines, and make-up. Other hotels that are popular with groups hosting luncheons and events include the Hotel Fort Des Moines and Embassy Suites. The former has similar touches in its restrooms as does the Marriott, but perhaps due to the darker interiors they do not seem as inviting as the Marriott’s. The latter’s restrooms are nice but more functionally-modern than the other two hotels’ facilities and the stalls are noticeably smaller.

For pure functionality, downtown there is the skywalk restroom at 7th and Locust. Wal-Mart in West Des Moines provides an option for bicyclists on the trail that runs beside Walnut Creek and for motorists. There is a nicer restroom in the skywalk but if you don’t know someone who works nearby, you might not find it. No, I am not going to share the location. I find myself enjoying restroom breaks as a respite from the noise of an office or a holiday shopping crowd and this is a generally quiet place.

On the topic of work and restrooms, it is not fun to need to use the indoor plumbing only to discover that someone has been using the room to spray her hair. Hair spray is an immediate asthma trigger for me. That means if I walk into a restroom before the air has been recycled, I must turn around and walk out if I don’t want to spend the rest of the day gasping for breath. Perfume isn’t pleasant to inhale, but at least that is only a short-term irritant in my case.

The least inviting restroom is at the Greyhound station on Keo. Not only are stalls small and the design institutional, the soap is difficult to wash off.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and recognizes the historical role restrooms have played in political and corporate decision-making.

 

[tags] ladiesrooms, Bathroom Blogfest [/tags]