The dirtiest toilets I have been are public beaches toilets. I will spare you the detail but it really seemed like something had exploded in there, several days before. I couldn’t believe the administration could leave it like this. I think it might just be the case with every other beach toilets…

And yes, the restrooms at Betty’s are impeccable. Luckily!

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Thanks for sharing your experiences here on your blog.

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I totally agree with you Andy and UK train toilets are my worst recent awful bathroom experience.

A trendy bar in Edinburgh had such disgusting toilets that I wrote a post about it.

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My ex-father-in-law was exactly the same as your brother, and whilst I understood the reasoning it would not half get frustrating on holidays when a simple 1 hour lunch would turn into a 3 hour driving marathon in an effort to fnd somewhere that met his criteria.

In slight defense of the establishments, what we also have to remember that it is in a lot of cases ‘us the public’ that makes these public convienances a horror to visit. A simple flush of the chain or placing of the paper towel in the bin can make such a big difference to the next person that follows you. It doen’t seem to matter whether a person is posh or living-on-the street, cause people from all walks of life seem to fail to follow these common decency steps.

If you don’t do it at home – then why do it in public.

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Thanks for sharing your experiences. Agree with you Marie-Eve that beach toilets are pretty grim – I don’t know when I last used one but I certainly know about them when I walk past one!

Karen, glad you named and shamed the trendy Edinburgh bar – no point looking cool and swanky if you can’t be bothered to look after this one part of the business.

Lawrence, you make a great point. It is of course up to us to keep the loos clean – ‘leave them as we find them’ – if everyone did that we’d be much better off. Knowing that won’t happen however, a regular rota of checking and cleaning would avoid situations like the one Karen faced.

Thanks to all for sharing your horrors

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Great blog. Dined in a restaurant yesterday and visited the toilets just before leaving. The smell as we approached was apparent and the case was an unflushed poo in the cubicle. The staff must have been able to smell it too and there were tables right by the doors.

Try to avoid using train loos ever since bottom of my trousers got wet from floor and realised it wasn’t tap water…gross.

And why are toilets in car parks always disgusting?

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A simple flush of the chain or placing of the paper towel in the bin can make such a big difference to the next person that follows you. It doen’t seem to matter whether a person is posh or living-on-the street, cause people from all walks of life seem to fail to follow these common decency steps.

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While I agree with the overall sentiment regarding public toilets in developed countries & the UK in particular, things really get into perspective when you’re desperate in the middle of a semi-deserted town in the Nazca desert. Without the ‘pleasure’ of experiencing the only public toilet in that town, it is hard to appreciate the relative nature of the term ‘cleanliness’.

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I suspect part of it is that when people dream of setting up their own bar or restaurant, thoughts along the lines of “At last! My chance to make excellent toilet facilities” aren’t exactly at the forefront of their mind.

Many people setting up bars and restaurants are in love with the food or the drink, toilets are – if you’ll pardon the pun – are an inconvenience to the dream…

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Funny you should post this when you did. I just got back from Egypt and can say that the loos in Sharm El Sheikh airport are bloody atrocious for an international airport.

I popped into the gents with our 3 year-old and couldn’t actually get him onto a toilet as they were all so filthy. One cubicle had a seat smeared with faeces, the next one we tried had the toilet paper jammed in the holder somehow so we couldn’t wipe the seat. The third one – which was occupied by a man urinating when we had first entered – was splashed liberally with pee. How the HELL does a man in his thirties not know to lift the seat?

None of them had seats that didn’t wobble and in most the flush mechanism was completely absent with only a hole in the wall present where it should be.

Our 10 year-old told us that the ladies’ was much the same.

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My wife and I recently returned from a two week vacation in northern Spain and we strongly recommend this area if you are looking for clean and free restrooms. We made many stops in many cafes, restaurants, petrol stations, tourist sites, public toilets, and ALL were found to be clean, in good working order, without foul odors, etc. Best of all, every restroom was FREE so no need to scrape for change and tips to pee. From San Sebastian to Honarribia, La Rioja, through Vittoria, Bilbao, Santillana del Mar, Potes, Picos de Europa, Gijón, and Oviedo all were great. We also noted that we rarely had to search for restrooms – they were readily available everywhere. Viva España !

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As long as there are public toilets I have a feeling they will always be dirty

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Henry “As long as there are public toilets I have a feeling they will always be dirty”
That’s the problem with public loos and public places generally, they do let the pesky public in.

Yes, I do judge places by loos, have stopped going to my favourite Chinese in London (yes that’s you, Royal China Bayswater) because of their loos, not just the public’s use but even plumbing/water pressure.

I’ve never been a fan of what we call ‘two footers’ as seen in Thailand, Malaysia etc but actually that scenario better than some of the things described here.

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Somehow dirty toilets just make me appreciate my own clean comfy toilet when Im back home. Thats how I see most unpleasant things during my travels to remind me of the good things I do have when I am back home.

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Andy, I can’t fault your brother’s strategy. Some restaurants share the customers’ toilets with their catering staff so the food hygiene implications can’t be overlooked.

In answer to your question, the dirtiest toilet I have encountered was on the A16 between Dunkirk and the Belgian border. I am not sure exactly how bad it was because the powerful smell prevented me getting too close. This “Aire” has now been closed though.

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In the US, public beach toilets.
India, everywhere
Btw, nice strategy to follow in restaurants.

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