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Note to Resort Architects: Place your toilets properly!

marcski

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I actually made a mental note this season that most mountain bathrooms do have a shelf or basket for gloves, helmets and other accessories.

But having the bathrooms on the main lodge level is a good thing, Bill....but hey it took until just about the past decade or so until home builders started putting laundry rooms on the same level as the bedrooms where you keep you clothes and change.:snow::blink::snow:
 

polski

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Crotched's new (2003) lodge does not have ambience nor bathrooms on the main floor, but it does have the most ski-boot-friendly steps I've ever seen, with wide treads and very low risers. At the other extreme, Mad River Glen's Basebox (circa 1949) has what my kids have dubbed the "black diamond stairs" down to the bathrooms in the basement. Descend 'em if you can.
 

billski

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Crotched's new (2003) lodge does not have ambience nor bathrooms on the main floor, but it does have the most ski-boot-friendly steps I've ever seen, with wide treads and very low risers. At the other extreme, Mad River Glen's Basebox (circa 1949) has what my kids have dubbed the "black diamond stairs" down to the bathrooms in the basement. Descend 'em if you can.

Crotched has the ambiance of a warehouse. But they make up for it with snowmaking!

I'd put the staircase to the Johns at Pat's Peak right up there with MRG.
 

billski

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Crotched's new (2003) lodge does not have ambience nor bathrooms on the main floor, but it does have the most ski-boot-friendly steps I've ever seen, with wide treads and very low risers. At the other extreme, Mad River Glen's Basebox (circa 1949) has what my kids have dubbed the "black diamond stairs" down to the bathrooms in the basement. Descend 'em if you can.

Wait a minute. Have you been to the hut at Birdland? Those stairs are waaaaaay more hazardous to your health. A steep, long straight descent. Death wish for sure.
 

vonski

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Watch your head on the wooden shelf in the lodge at Lincoln Peak. Been a few head bangers there!
 

polski

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Wait a minute. Have you been to the hut at Birdland? Those stairs are waaaaaay more hazardous to your health. A steep, long straight descent. Death wish for sure.
Correct. I'd forgotten about that - don't get to the Birdcage much as I tend to ski MRG on days when it's not open.
 

4aprice

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The last time I was at Plattekill it was a pretty adventurous walk to the bathrooms. Unless they've made improvements (highly unlikely) beware.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, N J
 

Smellytele

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I'd put the staircase to the Johns at Pat's Peak right up there with MRG.[/QUOTE]

If you go into the valley lodge the john is actually on the main level
 

speden

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It might be more cost effective to have the bathrooms on the lower level. If you are designing a multi-level lodge, then you have to put something down there.

You don't want to put the food counters down there, since they won't sell as much. Then you need to put the tables by the food counters. If you still have space on the main level, you'd probably want to put the ski shop there next. Bathrooms take up a lot of square footage, so if you have them upstairs, they will need to be smaller than you'd like, and they will use up valuable lodge space. People probably hate cramped lodges more than taking stairs to go to the bathroom.

There are probably some other practical considerations too. Like less damage from an overflow, keeping bad smells away from the eating area, less chance of frozen plumbing, easier to keep clean, etc.
 

MR. evil

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Ussually the biggest consideration when placing a toilet is money, money & money. Putting it on the lowest level means less plumbing. The lower level of a building will also typically have a lower level of finishes compared to the main level, again all about money. There a bunch of other factors as well, but seeing how I am typing on my phone I will leave it at that,

Also keep in mind that what the architect WANTS to do doesn't always make it onto the drawings. Quite often what is actually on the final construction documents doesn't get built the way it was designed. It's a little thing contractors and owners call value engineering. Things like shelves and cubbys in the toilets are the first things to get VE'd
 

snoseek

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What's worse is the bar is often on the third floor with the bathrooms on the first.
 
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