Let’s set the scene. You’ve been dating someone for a few months and things are going well. It’s time to take the next step. Let’s spend the weekend together.
You’ll find great hotels that tick all the boxes: lovely surroundings, appealing food and drink options, and incredible reviews for their “fun” design elements.
Next, check in. When you walk into the room together, you quickly realize that your relationship is going to be a little more intimate than you had planned.
The toilet, located in a small cubicle, is screened only by a thin frosted glass panel strategically placed right next to the bed. The human shape is blurred but clearly visible from anywhere in the room, and the user’s feet are fully visible. This is because, for some reason, the designers thought there was no need for frosting at the bottom of the cubicle. Please take a moment to consider potential audio issues.
First of all, don’t judge if it’s your thing.
Personally, my expectation of privacy while traveling disappeared a long time ago. I have been married for almost 20 years and have two children who are almost adults. Over the years, we’ve come across some incredibly bizarre hotel bathroom designs at all price points.
Family room with open view bathtub. Blinds on the outside of the window facing the bathroom. Sliding doors that leave wide gaps are a dream for clingy toddlers and curious-looking youngsters who haven’t yet learned about personal boundaries. The list goes on.
I’ve always reluctantly accepted it as part of the travel experience. But a quick search on review sites like TripAdvisor or travel forums on Reddit reveals plenty of other frustrated travelers.
Well, for those of you who are tired of seeking privacy, we have good news. The movement is taking shape and help has arrived in the form of Bringbackdoors.com. Bringbackdoors.com has a database of hotels that are guaranteed to have bathroom doors in their rooms and those that are not.
Sadie Rowell, an American marketer based in Europe, launched the site late last year. Having traveled most of her life, she says she was used to seeing strange bathroom fixtures in hotels. But in 2024, when she traveled to London with her father for a show, she was struck by the absurdity of their situation.
“I booked a room with two twin beds, but when I got into the room, there was no bathroom door or even anything like a bathroom door,” she told me.
Lowell couldn’t help but think how strange that was. She booked a twin bed, so why is there no door?
“I don’t know if it’s the developers, the designers or the architects who made that choice, but they’re so far off and disconnected from what people actually want and want,” she says. “Having twin beds in the room means you definitely want privacy in the bathroom.”
A few months later, as I was planning another trip, my experience with my father was still fresh in my mind, and I thought, “I wish there was a way to confirm this.”
By mid-October 2025, Bringbackdoors.com was up and running. Lowell said she started posting TikTok videos to highlight the issue, and soon the responses and posts started pouring in.
“Since then, it’s been like a crazy roller coaster, slowly gaining more and more momentum,” she says.
Rowell said they have received about 800 applications from around the world, and Bringbackdoors.com has been promoted in multiple global media outlets.
“What this website will actually become is beyond my imagination,” she says.
“It feels really good because we pursued such an unusual theme. In my mind, I was like, ‘Will people care about this? Maybe they won’t.'” And the way it’s gaining momentum shows that certainly a lot of people care about this. ”
Because people vary in the degree of privacy they are comfortable with, Bringbackdoors.com divides rooms into categories.
First, there are the people Lowell calls “the worst offenders.”
“If you wish to stay with someone who has difficulty using the toilet, you will need to take turns in the lobby,” the description says.
And there’s also “Providing 50% Privacy: Glass Door with Wall”.
“Doors themselves don’t provide privacy. But with a little creativity, you can create privacy in a room like this by hanging a towel or sitting in a particular corner of the room.”
“Having twin beds in the room means you definitely want privacy in the bathroom.”
Sadie Lowell, Bringbackdoors.com
And finally, the final category in the “No Doors” section addresses additional sensory concerns. “These hotels tend to offer visual privacy, but all other types of privacy are off the table. You can hear and smell exactly what’s going on in the bathroom.”
It’s a fun and unexpected amenity!
Lowell said she reviews posts in a variety of ways depending on the category, including searching for photos and checking directly with hotels to ensure all bathrooms are completely private.
Sure, you may want an open-plan bathroom. For example, if you have a large suite at a tropical resort with plenty of space, it would be really nice to have an outdoor bathtub or shower next to the room.
When you’re on a business trip and you share a single room with twin beds with a co-worker and there’s nowhere to hide while you handle personal errands, you really wonder what’s going on.
To gain some insight into the world of hotel bathroom design, I reached out to award-winning designer Paula O’Callaghan, a partner at HBA, a global company responsible for some of the most famous luxury hotels and resorts on the planet.
She recalls seeing frosted glass for the first time in the bathroom of the original Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo about 30 years ago.
“When it came out, everyone was making a fuss about how avant-garde this bathroom with frosted glass cubicles was,” she says.
“And I distinctly remember that there was a frosted glass panel separating the shower area from the toilet stall, and there was a frosted glass panel on both the shower door and the toilet stall door. And everyone was saying, ‘Wow, this is so new and different.’ At least everyone in the design world thought that. I think that’s when I first remembered it, because it was so different and novel.”
Inside “White Lotus” Resort
Mr O’Callaghan also notes that not all frosted glass is created equal and has different opacity and thickness, so there are different ways to address acoustics and ventilation issues.
“I think it was probably misinterpreted and misrepresented,” she said when asked about the unusual hotel bathroom that has been shamed online.
“If your bathroom is small, it may not be appropriate to do such an application. I can imagine some people may be forced to do this because they don’t want their bathroom to feel small.”
And she was quick to add that some bathroom rules shouldn’t be broken. For example, you can’t install your toilet outdoors like some of the criminals at Bringbackdoors.com do.
“Even if it’s a more lifestyle-oriented type of brand, maybe not the high end of a luxury brand, we’re still going to promote enclosed toilet stalls,” she says.
“Never use clear glass, and never allow someone to look directly into the guest room area. Even if the bathroom is completely enclosed, like a traditional bathroom, you still want the toilet area to be airtight.”
In recent years, hoteliers in many major destinations around the world have largely championed open bathrooms, she points out. Also, some companies, especially lifestyle brands, want to separate the bathtub from the shower/toilet and part of the guest room.
“This trend has been getting bolder and bolder over the last 30 years at least,” O’Callaghan says, noting that many designers would be surprised by the backlash.
Jackie Kennedy’s lipstick cocktail glass on display at Raffles Le Royal Hotel in Phnom Penh
One thing I’ve personally noticed over the last few years is that you’re less likely to find outlandish bathroom designs in historic hotels, even those that have undergone extensive renovations.
O’Callaghan, whose past projects include Shanghai’s historic Waldorf Astoria, says that as a designer, “your priorities completely change” when working on a hotel in a historic building.
“There are more stakeholders to consider. Beyond the operator and owner, you may need to consider a historic preservation commission, and they will have input on how to restore, preserve and renovate the interior,” she says.
Back in the day, there may not have been air conditioning, but bathrooms did have doors. Therefore, designers seeking to recreate the stories of the golden age of travel that attracted tourists to such hotels are unlikely to make radical changes to the layout. In fact, in some cities, certain historic buildings are protected by law.
But because you don’t always have the opportunity or the budget to check into a historic building or a spacious luxury hotel with a carefully considered design, those seeking absolute privacy can now rest assured with Bringbackdoors.com.
Long live the revolution!
