London Loos 5

The featured loo this month is, not entirely surprisingly, located at the Rainforest Café in Shaftesbury Avenue. Unfortunately I haven’t got a photograph of this particular loo to show you but let me assure you that the ladies loos are clean, modern and functional.

Nothing majorly special to report about these toilets but the “trek” to reach them was a fun experience. Under the beady eye of life size gorillas and realistic elephants I wandered through the restaurant, passed the magnificent tropical fish tank, up a couple of stairs and made my way to the ladies.

On entering, I was immediately hit by a beautiful smell of coconut which turned out to be emanating from the soap dispensers! It is this attention to detail that really impressed me at the Rainforest Café. After all, if you were trying to maintain a jungle-like theme throughout the restaurant, what better way than to provide coconut “flavoured” soap! Brilliant!

For this attention to detail and for not providing me with anything to complain or moan about, I am awarding the toilet at the Rainforest Café 8/10 which puts it in second place for London Ding Dong’s Loo of 2008!

London Loos 4

This months featured London toilet is not a competitor for London Ding Dong’s Loo of 2008. This picture was sent to me by a friend purely for the amusement factor. The Tower of London is clearly just as proud of its award as St Paul’s Cathedral is!

This picture was taken last month and yet the award beats the St Paul’s 1995 certificate for longevity… it goes all the way back to 1992 and is in pristine condition!

I’m sure the Tower of London loos are still perfectly serviced but displaying a 16 year old certificate is pushing the pride scale - even in an area of historical interest!

London Loos 3

The featured loo this week is at Southwark Cathedral. It is not the easiest toilet to find. You have to locate the Refectory Restaurant, make your way passed people eating and drinking and, just when you think you have reached the right place, you have to make your way down a flight of spiral stone stairs! This is not something one would relish if you were in a hurry to get to the loo!

Thankfully, I was not in any great rush and even took time to take a photo of the entrance (pictured left) which promised great things from the luxurious wooden door and modern brass engraved plaque. Inside was slightly disappointing. It was not as modern as I had anticipated and, whilst perfectly clean, it had a slightly grubby and worn appearance.

The soap provided was unmemorable in terms of aroma but it served its purpose! Hand drying facilities were in the form of an electric warm air blower which looked fairly new and was also powerful enough to dry my top quickly after a little water accident.

All in all, Southwark Cathedral provides adequate toilet facilities which are clean and well serviced.

However, the location in the depths of the building mean that accessibility would be an issue for some visitors, particularly those with mobility problems and young children.

With this in mind, I am awarding the toilet at Southwark Cathedral 7/10 which puts it in 2nd place for London Ding Dong's Loo of 2008.

London Loos 2

This week’s featured loo is at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour and Exhibition Centre. In stark contrast to the Elizabethan surroundings of the theatre, the toilet facilities were positively modern and verging on luxurious.

These particular toilets would probably best be described as “restrooms” as the first room contains a lovely inviting sofa to take a rest on! A massive mirror adorns the wall and it’s impossible to walk passed without taking a sneak peak at how you look!

The toilets themselves were in pristine condition and the room even smelt pleasant! The soap dispensers were full and the sinks were clean and shiny. The whole facility was spotless but not clinically sterile which is a curiously satisfying combination for a public toilet.

I thoroughly recommend using these loos when you visit the Globe Theatre (even if you don’t need to, they’re worth a visit!).

At this early stage in my research I have to leave room for potentially perfect loos so I will not be giving this one full marks. It fell down slightly for encouraging vanity with that huge mirror (yes, I know that’s a lame reason!)

So, the toilets at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour and Exhibition Centre receive a nearly perfect 9/10 putting it in the lead for London Ding Dong’s Loo of 2008*.

* Due to the fact that Sparkly Songbird is of the female persuasion, this is only a female and/or unisex toilet contest!

London Loos

I’m not sure if the expression “loo” translates internationally but this post is the start of my little sideline research into the standard of toilets/cloakrooms/restrooms/bathrooms/loos in London! Toilet facilities are pretty important when you are sightseeing in any city (probably more so for women) and so I feel obliged to guide you in the direction of good ones and steer you away from the less satisfactory.

I received divine inspiration for my research at St Paul’s Cathedral where I noticed a small and rather dog-eared certificate outside the Crypt toilets declaring:

“National Heritage Award For Loo Of The Year”.

Now, one can understand this prestigious (!) honour being displayed had it been awarded this year or even last. But, the year in question was in fact 1995. Yes, 1995!

Sadly I think their standards have slipped in the intervening 13 years and I doubt they’d win any awards now! They are not the worst facilities I’ve ever used (basically clean and well serviced) but lack of soap lost them a couple of marks.

So, for the toilets in the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, I award a less than holy 6/10.

I shall run my research until the end of the year and then award my own certificate to “London Ding Dong’s Loo Of 2008”. With any luck, word will soon spread and we will not have to suffer soap-less services any longer!