No More Hotel Bathtubs

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“We’ve committed to 60 percent [shower-only rooms] and we’re not going back,” says Adrian Kurre, senior vice president of Hilton Garden Inn. “Business travelers prefer showers.”

Tubs are slowly giving way to showers at Marriott International too. New builds of its SpringHill Suites brand, which caters to business travelers who need extended-stay accommodations, will have many rooms that have only shower stalls. And developers of Marriott’s full-service hotels, Renaissance and the eponymous Marriott chain, now have the option of installing rooms specifically designed with shower-only bathrooms.

Even smaller hotel chains are yanking tubs. Earlier this month, I toured the Taj President hotel in Mumbai, which is currently undergoing renovations. The deluxe accommodations at the high-rise tower were designed around the views and the bathrooms. Tubs were replaced with sybaritic, glass-walled shower stalls that allow guests to take in the Mumbai skyline and the Arabian Sea as they scrub.

I did think there was one type of place where hotel tubs had a redoubt: the world’s superdeluxe hotels, where luxury would seem to mean both a spacious shower stall and a big, old-fashioned tub.

Not so, says, Paul McManus, president and chief executive of Leading Hotels of the World, the global alliance of top-of-the-market lodgings. He says Leading does not require its properties to offer a tub and many are creating bathrooms that feature showers only.

“We want bathrooms to reflect the overall luxury standard our guests expect, and younger people especially don’t seem to take baths anymore, except in the spa environment,” he explains. “You can really design an attractive bathroom with the ‘wow’ factor when you just have a shower.”

The Fine Print
Only one segment of traveler still prefers a bathtub: families. They dominate the hotel business on weekends and, of course, represent an important revenue stream during traditional vacation times. “You need rooms with bathtubs for them,” says John Wolf of Marriott. “When we travel with our four-year-old, well, we just have to have a tub.” A word to the world’s remaining hotel-bathtub fans: To avoid disappointment, make sure you request a room with a tub when making your reservation.

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