CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Who will be crowned King of the Throne in this year’s America’s Best Restroom Contest? We’ll soon find out! There is only one week remaining for online voting and every vote counts in this year’s tight race.
Will America's next Best Restroom be nestled inside a 13th century Tuscan castle and winery in Northern California? Will it feature silhouettes of birds in mid-flight? How about a section of the Berlin Wall? These are just some of the spectacular images inside the ten public bathrooms that will compete for the coveted title of America's Best Restroom, the popular contest sponsored by Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS) and now in its tenth year.
The public is invited to vote for their top pick at www.bestrestroom.com through Monday, September 19, 2011. The site takes visitors on a photographic tour of each facility and then encourages them to choose their favorite. The winner will be announced in October.
This year’s finalists for America’s Best Restroom are:
| Finalist | Location | Restroom Features | ||||
| Castello di Amorosa Winery | Calistoga, California | This restroom boasts hand-painted Italian-style frescoes. The sinks are custom made from travertine imported from Tuscany, Italy. The spigots reflect a common Castello theme of dragons and gargoyles. | ||||
| Don's Johns Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer | Chantilly, Virginia | This regal restroom trailer was actually set up for President Obama during the 2009 Inauguration. It features granite counters and shelves, black marbleized walls, wood panel doors, and a hardwood-designed floor. Climate-controlled heat and air conditioning also guarantees to keep guests in maximum comfort during their visit. The dual audio system not only plays soothing music inside for the visiting guests, but those waiting outside can keep up with the event on an exterior-mounted flat screen television! | ||||
| The Field Museum | Chicago, Illinois | With two large family-friendly restrooms on the ground floor, the Field Museum features sufficient stalls and sinks, as well as eco-friendly hand-dryers. The women's restroom has a special nursing room with a shut door, sink, and small sofa for new mothers. The women's restroom also has a large "Tot Area" with smaller toilets for its littlest guests. | ||||
| Habana Outpost | Brooklyn, New York | The restrooms at Habana Outpost feature a glass roof over-head with hanging plants and the galvanized walls. The ‘green’ toilets flush with rainwater! Water is collected through a series of rain gutters and stored in a holding tank where it is filtered and then redirected to the toilets, saving thousands of gallons of water every week. Architecture students designed the system as part of a design program called Urban Studio Brooklyn which is part of the non-profit Habana Works. | ||||
| The Joule Poule at the Joule Dallas Hotel | Dallas, Texas | This rooftop pool bathroom features an outdoor shower that uses beautiful blue mosaic tiles to depict others showering. The cool color choices are intended to reflect the clarity of blue water. The design is carried into the restroom, which features contemporary art, wood paneling, modern lighting and cloth hand towels. | ||||
| Main Street Station Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada | A graffiti-covered segment of the oppressive wall that once separated East and West Berlin now serves an appropriate function in the gentlemen’s restroom in the main casino area, as it holds the urinals. | ||||
| Ninja New York | New York, New York | Diners are transported back to a 15th-century Japanese village. And while their wait staff, dressed as ninjas, may have some lethal moves, it's their toilet that will knock you dead in your tracks. This bathroom is outfitted with a control pad that operates seat warmers, a water spray (that oscillates or pulsates) and a built-in deodorizer and blow drier. | ||||
| Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel | Arlington, Virginia | The use of light reflects the evidence of motion throughout this elegant restroom. Walls ablaze with sunset tones of orange and gold and silhouettes of birds in mid-flight. | ||||
| Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts | Scottsdale, Arizona | This loo is sleek and modern with terrazzo flooring, glass-tiled walls and spacious, stainless steel stalls. An ingenious lighting system continuously shifts the colors of the space from cool blues and greens to warm golds and reds. | ||||
| Snowbasin Resort | Huntsville, Utah | Snowbasin's restrooms feature Italian Carrera marble, Barovier, Tosso & Moscatelli chandeliers crafted from bronze and crystal, floor to ceiling commodes, beautifully inlaid African Anegre wood and hand-painted walls. | ||||
New this year, fans can conveniently vote from any web-enabled mobile device. The mobile website is a fast and easy way to nominate a deserving restroom while on the go.
You can also participate by visiting the America’s Best Restroom Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube Channel to post comments, receive contest updates, share photos or upload videos; links to all three sites are on the contest homepage.
Cintas created the America’s Best Restroom award in 2002 to honor those businesses across America that place hygiene and style at the top of their priority list. Proprietors recognize the parallel between clean restrooms and customer retention. “We like to think of this contest as an entertaining way of drawing the public’s attention to the very important issue of restroom hygiene,” says Cintas Senior Marketing Manager Rich Bing. “People don’t think about this issue until they walk into a poorly kept restroom, and then it matters. After that, the odds are they won’t be back.”
Over the last decade, this contest has attracted tens of thousands of voters. The 2011 winner will receive a plaque of recognition and a coveted place in the America’s Best Restroom “Hall of Fame” section of the program’s Web site. Previous winners were:
| 2010 | St. Louis, Missouri | |||||
| 2009 | Branson, Missouri | |||||
| 2008 | Nashville, Tennessee | |||||
| 2007 | Fairfield, Ohio | |||||
| 2006 | Westerville, Ohio | |||||
| 2005 | Fort Smith, Arkansas | |||||
| 2004 | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | |||||
| 2003 | Biloxi, Mississippi | |||||
| 2002 | South Bend, Indiana | |||||
For more information about the Cintas Best Restroom Award and the 10 finalists, contact the Survey Editor, Sabrina Zimring at (757) 456-5212.
About Cintas Corporation
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid and safety products, fire protection services and document management services to approximately 800,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.