Have you ever chosen to stay at a hotel because of their toilets? That’s right, toilets. The Kitano New York Hotel is a relaxing boutique hotel located on Park Avenue and 38th Street. It’s the city’s only Japanese-owned hotel and has an authentic, award-winning Japanese restaurant (they serve Kaiseki cuisine), museum quality artwork and nightly world class live Jazz. But what sets them apart are their toilets.
They call them ‘washlets’ and these high-tech devices do practically everything you can imagine. By the end of the month, all 149 guestrooms will have them. The official model is Washlets S300 and they feature heated seats, have five warm water cleansing modes, a warm air dryer, an adjustable cleansing wand, a wireless remote and an automatic air purifier! When completed, they will be the only New York hotel to have these types of toilets in every room.
They are seriously so incredible that visitors to New York might start booking rooms at the Kitano just because of them. In fact, I’m actually thinking of plopping down the $1,500 to buy one.
Rates at the Kitano begin at $299 but if that isn’t in your budget or you aren’t going to be in New York City, here’s a list of restaurants in the U.S. that have one of these toilets so you can try it out for yourself.
Years and years ago I was in Japan with my husband on business and they had these toilets at the computer factory where he was working. They are amazing — hot air to blow you dry,
bidet feature — even music would play from a wall switch (for silence) and I wanted one of course. They were available in San Francisco in Japantown, but I just settled for a bidet in
my bathroom at home
Crazy, but interesting!
I host a weekly linking party called “Oh, the PLACES I’ve been!” and would love to have you link up. The link goes up Thursdays at 7 pm EST. Hope to see you there!
I lived in Japan for 9 years and they have everything from hi-tech toilets and the dirty, squat toilets in train stations. Thankfully, my apartment had a toilet like the one in this picture.