43 Showers

Hotel La Maison, Munich Germany The bath and shower controls...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:39:00 -0400

The bath and shower controls were simple and elegant. I appreciated the pac-man-like drain control, which was duplicated in the front of the tub and the side. There were other bathroom interface elements, however, that were difficult to figure out. To wit:

Hotel Boulderado, Boulder CO

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Hotel Boulderado, Boulder CO

Maxwell AFB, Montgomery AL Staid and workmanlike, as you’d...

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:19:42 -0400

Maxwell AFB, Montgomery AL

Staid and workmanlike, as you’d expect from Air Force Base housing. I didn’t have a chance to put it through the paces, but it seemed straightforward enough.

Jumeirah Essex House, New York NY [submitted by...

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:16:45 -0400

Jumeirah Essex House, New York NY

[submitted by Timeshifted]

“Bathroom was recently renovated to be all dimming lights, glass sink, and
trendy. Guess they forgot to move to the shower.”

Hyatt San Jose, San Jose, CA No trace of a hot/cold label.

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:54:47 -0500

Hyatt San Jose, San Jose, CA

No trace of a hot/cold label.

Montgomery Marriott Prattville Hotel, Prattville, AL Pretty...

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:34:00 -0500

Montgomery Marriott Prattville Hotel, Prattville, AL

Pretty common handle style. The tension on this particular handle was a little loose, so much so that I wasn’t sure if it was getting “grip” on whatever it turns to adjust the water temperature. But it did the job ok.

Same hotel, different room, different trip, courtesy Lyndie F.:

Four Points By Sheraton Historic Savannah, Savannah,...

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:52:00 -0500

Four Points By Sheraton Historic Savannah, Savannah, GA

Perfectly serviceable for a bath. As I was there less than 12 hours, I didn’t have time to put it to the shower test as well.

Hampton Inn, Columbia SC [submitted by Amber] “A pretty...

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:11:13 -0500

Hampton Inn, Columbia SC

[submitted by Amber]

“A pretty straighforward handle… the further to the left you turn it, the hotter the water. No funny stuff here.”

Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, Santa Rosa, CA The shower controls...

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:04:00 -0500

Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, Santa Rosa, CA

The shower controls were placed somewhere around navel level, which worked fine for a bath but required too much crouch when taking a shower. The wispy thin temperature indicator was problematic as well. Click the photo for a version on Flickr with annotations.

Guest bathroom, Jamestown, RI Turning the handle controls both...

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:13:22 -0500

Guest bathroom, Jamestown, RI

Turning the handle controls both on/off and temperature. It’s efficient, but it’s pretty tough to avoid a visit from the freezing water fairy as you twist the handle to “off.” I tried a few times and was not fast enough to avoid a very cold conclusion to my shower experience.

Off-topic bonus points, to this shower, however, for the aesthetically pleasing Three Mario Heads arranged on the shelf.

Hyatt Regency, Denver CO[Submitted by Chris] “Turning the...

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:58:52 -0400

Hyatt Regency, Denver CO
[Submitted by Chris]

“Turning the knob in a clockwise direction adjusts the temperature from cool to hot. There’s no way to adjust shower pressure. Overall good pressure though, so no complaints.”

Sheraton, Parsippany NJ[Submitted by Leah] “First you do...

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:19:58 -0400

Sheraton, Parsippany NJ
[Submitted by Leah]

“First you do the water, then flip up to the shower with that weird lever.

The shower was good, but the bed is amazing!”

More comments and annotations at Flickr.

Alexander House, West Sussex, UK[Submitted by Jeff] “I...

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:33:46 -0400

Alexander House, West Sussex, UK
[Submitted by Jeff]

“I usually took a bath in the evening in the gigantic well-shaped bathtub, and a quick shower in the morning. This is similar to my other UK entry in that the top controls the flow and the bottom controls the temperature. This worked out well generally, in that I only had to set the bottom one once. However, there were three ways in which it was not as good as the other one at the Zetter. 1) It was not as responsive, so the first time you were constantly adjusting and not sure when it had taken the adjustment. 2) It didn’t have the actual temperature notation (like “43 degrees” as the top). 3) It had a button on the second one that I never figured out. I kept fiddling with it and it never seemed to do anything.”

The Muse, New York City[submitted by Leah] “The room was...

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:00:59 -0400

The Muse, New York City
[submitted by Leah]

“The room was recently renovated and the shower handle is still very hard to turn, I was worried I was using it wrong. But you just turn it to the left to move it from cold to hot. Great shower at the Muse in New York City. ”

also on Flickr.

EO Inn, Orlando, FL I was in a smaller room with a less lavish...

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:19:58 -0400

EO Inn, Orlando, FL

I was in a smaller room with a less lavish bathroom this time, as the shower handle might indicate. Because there was no bath in the shower setup, there was no need for a push/pull — this was purely a single-axis control and it worked fine.

Omni, CNN Center, Atlanta, GA[submitted by Leah] See Flickr for...

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:29:48 -0400

Omni, CNN Center, Atlanta, GA
[submitted by Leah]

See Flickr for full annotations.

The Zetter, London UK[submitted by: Jeff at...

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:46:13 -0400

The Zetter, London UK
[submitted by: Jeff at Sophistry.org]

“Here’s the shower control in my hotel in London. It’s actually quite cool—the inner ring adjusts the temperature, the outer one adjusts the water flow. So you can set the temperature aright during your first shower and it’ll stay the same the next time you use it.”

Chicago City Centre Hotel and Sports Club Old school,...

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:34:09 -0400

Chicago City Centre Hotel and Sports Club

Old school, serviceable, uninspired. It appeared to have only one axis — left to right. If there was finer flow control, it wasn’t immediately obvious.

Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia, PA I had my doubts...

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:33:15 -0400

Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia, PA

I had my doubts on this one. When I first sized it up, I didn’t see any Hot/Cold indicators, and figured I’d have some trouble in the morning. But it all worked out fine, and as it turned out there are subtle H’s and C’s in there that are clearer when you are standing in the shower in the ready position.

Programming note: I have yet to figure out the best way to move the 43Showers archive over here (can you change dates in Tumblr?), but will be working on that shortly. I also have some user submissions to add. If you’d like to send me your shower handle reports (to dave at 43showers dot com), I might use them on the air. If I do, I’ll credit you and send you a copy of our theme song.

Westin Pasadena This one ended up needing to be modded. The...

Sun, 13 May 2007 18:34:58 -0400

Westin Pasadena

This one ended up needing to be modded. The first night I tried to use it, the best I could get out of it was tepid water. I called downstairs and they told me there had been a boiler outage that had now been resolved. The next night, it was still busted so I called the front desk again, and they sent a maintenance guy in. He had to tighten the screw in the middle of the handle, and that took care of everything. All in all, a pretty decent shower handle once it was optimized.