What’s the most expensive public toilet in the world?
Some time ago I blogged about the most expensive cup of coffee in the world. Today I have a new concern: the most expensive public toilet in the world.
Now, of course, many toilets are free to use. But charging for women started with the addition of locks in the UK and gave rise to the expression ‘to spend a penny’. That was before decimalisation, so we were talking of one old pence which is equivalent to 0.4 pence in current currency.
Clearly we’ve had decades of inflation and so we’ve become used to public toilets charging 10 pence or 20 pence. Fairly recently, toilets on railway stations in London have upped their charges to 30 pence. In the passageway under Parliament Street, at the south-east corner of Parliament Square, the cost is a staggering 50 pence – which seems especially cruel since so many tourists use this passageway.
However, this week, I came across a new record. I went to the cinema at Cineworld in the Trocadero which is located between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in central London. As I left the cinema, I did not pass a toilet, so I thought that I would use the one for the Trocadero complex – until I found that they were going to charge me an incredible £1 (for my American readers, that’s $1.64 at the current rate of exchange). Now I call that taking the piss. So I refused to use that facility, walked down the road to Leicester Square, and used the free toilets there.
What’s the most expensive toilet you’ve used and where was it?
Footnote: On my first visit to Budapest after the collapse of communism in Hungary, I went for a meal in a restaurant in the centre of the city and was then charged to use their toilet.
Have you had any similar experiences?
June 11th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Hey Roger,
I went to that sports bar at the bottom of Haymarket once (near the DCMS building in London) and the toilet had an attendant. So, after finishing my business, he’s there with the sink running and ready to squirt soap in my hands, etc.
I cannot remember what I tipped, but in those cases I feel compelled to offer up something and usually it’s going to be at least a pound. God forbid all you have are notes!
I won’t return to places that do that to their customers.
-Russ
June 11th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Well it was £1 many years ago in Harrods…a quick Google search reveals it has not been inflation affected and is still “only” £1. However, you do get a myriad of perfumes from which to choose to spritz with 🙂
June 23rd, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Yes, I have experienced this before. I was at a bathroom in London, and once I have finished my kack, the employee was ready to squirt soap on my hands, I put my hands out ready for the soap and the employee said £2 please. Now that is taking the piss.