bathroomblog

New York, New York. Near the stairs to the 1,2,3 tracks.

1) Privacy: B+
It's a private room, essentially, so there's really no chance of anyone coming in unless the lock is broken. But then again, there's not that many rooms so there's a good chance people may rattle the door handle or wait around for you to leave.

2) Cleanliness: B
I've seen a lot worse, and for public toilets, this is fairly benign. But there's still graffiti in a few places, the floor is a bit littered, and the seats look a bit sketchy. It's not repulsive or anything; definately useable.

3) Accessibility: B
If you're not quite familiar with the terminal you might have to look around to find it. If you are standing next to an actual track, you've gone too far. There are only 4 stalls, so you might have to wait during rush, but there's supposed to be a 5 minute time limit. Emphasis on "supposed".

4) Supplied Well: C
There is toilet paper, and the dispenser has the capacity for a second roll to come down when the first one is done. But the stall I used had no soap or paper towels and I would not be too surprised to see this be the norm.

5) Atmosphere: C-
The room is a dingy gray, lighting is slightly off, and you've got an intercom next to the toilet in case you need to tell the attendant that you need more than 5 minutes. Oh, and YOU'RE IN A SUBWAY STATION! Not the ideal location.

Overall Grade: B- Good for emergencies, but not my first choice in the world.

Located at 22nd and Market in Philadelphia

1) Privacy: A-
    The bathroom is like a normal bathroom; you lock the door behind you and the bathroom is all to yourself. The bathroom is located to the left immediately after you walk in the door, so it's likely that no one will see you head to the bathroom. Only downside is that it's the only bathroom in the store, and you may have people outside the door waiting which might make you feel uncomfortable. But overall, it's pretty good.

2) Cleanliness: B+
    For the most part, the floor is pretty clean, though there frequently is some liquid on the floor around the toilet bowl. It's certainly not "flood-like" but at least for me, it's a bit off putting. Toilet bowl itself isn't too bad either, clean for the most part. Very little trash on the floor.

3) Accessibility: A
    The bathroom is really easy to find: Take an immediate left once you walk through the doors. If someone's using it, you're out of luck, but in all the times I've gone there I've rarely waited more than a minute or so. This bathroom has an added bonus because Trader Joe's is a half-block away from the Green Line 22nd Street stop. So, if you're on the Green Line and you have to use the bathroom, get off at 22nd and walk over to the Trader Joe's (it's to the north).

4) Supplied Well: A
    There hasn't been a time yet where I ran out of toilet paper or had to use my clothing in place of paper towels. They do a very good job of making sure everything is stocked up.

5) Atmosphere: A-
    The bathroom is well decorated and there's a painting on the wall (the famous one with the dogs playing poker). A table placed opposite the toilet seems rather oddly placed but occaisionally useful. However, the toilet is in the back corner of the room and next to the painting, so it can feel a bit cramped up. But compared to what your alternatives could be, it's heaven.

Overall Grade: A-  By far this is one of the best bathrooms I've ever used, and it tends to be consistent among Trader Joe's-s

Located at 1301 Reisterstown Road in Baltimore.

1) Privacy: C-
    There are only two stalls, and on one of them, the lock doesn't work. There's a way to rig it so that it won't open a lot, but it's not particularly mind-relieving. On one occaision, I had a guy try to talk to me from the other stall. Not pleasant.

2) Cleanliness: C.
    There's tends not to be trash on the floor of the stalls or anything, but the toilet bowls are rather scary looking. One looks like it has stuff on it, even though it doesn't. The other (the farther one) is slighly better looking, but not by a great deal.

3) Accessibility: B+
    Easy enough to find, it's right when you walk through the automatic doors. It loses points because you have to get the key to get into the bathroom, but the key is at the information desk of the library. If the keys are all taken, then you can't get in. But that's the least of the issues.

4) Supplied Well: B
    Toilet paper is rarely a problem. But there's no paper towels to dry your hands, just blow dryers which work most of the time. So if you don't mind no paper towels, you should be OK.

5) Atmosphere: B-
    Graffiti in the stalls, poor lighting, and general stuff does not make a great feeling bathroom. You won't get jumped or anything, but you'll want to get out of there as fast as you can.

A few more things to note:

• There's a downside that the bathroom is outside of the library, meaning that if you have a big stack of books that you haven't checked out yet, you won't be able to take them past the checkout counter. But if you're just looking for a quick place to use the bathroom, then it's not a factor.
• The sinks are a bit weird: There's no off or on per se, you just have to twist the knob until the flow comes to a stop
• One of the two stalls is designed for handicapped people, but that's the one with the faulty lock

Overall Grade: C+

Welcome to the Bathroom Blog. Much like the acclaimed website www.thebathroomdiaries.com, this is where I rate and review bathroom from around the world (though mostly the US, specifically the Northeast.) But, unlike "The Bathroom Diaries", I provide a lot more detail in my ratings, including:

1) Privacy (will everyone notice you going in and out?)
2) Cleanliness (how gross is it?)
3) Accessibility (easy to find, don't have to pay, etc)
4) Supplied Well (is there toilet paper, soap...)
5) Atmosphere (i.e. is it the kind of place where you're afraid of being mugged?)

And any other random thoughts I can throw in.

Now you may ask, why would I do this? The answer is simple: I have a medical condition (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) that results in going to the bathroom a lot more often than I'd like. So I figured I might as well give something back: My thoughts on where to find good bathrooms.

Every entry will have a category of state and city for easy searching.

Oh, and realize that I'm only doing male bathrooms. For female bathrooms, find your own blog.

If you have a bathroom near you you'd like me to review, drop me a line and maybe we can work it out.

Enjoy!