The Slow Disappearance of Hotel Bathroom Shower Doors

Jul 06, 2023

By Kaitlin Menza

Many would argue that the best, most efficient type of design is the kind you pay the least attention to—invisible design you don’t notice at all.

Bad design, though, can make you feel clumsy or frustrated, like a hotel shower that just doesn’t seem to do what it needs to do. Hotels seem to have overlooked how the bewildering trend of disappearing shower doors drenches floors (which presumably could lead to structural concerns or mold), frustrates guests (when you go back to brush your teeth and soak your feet in the process), and feels downright dangerous (for anyone of a certain age, or who isn’t completely able-bodied, or has had a glass of wine).

While hotel bathroom showers used to have curtains, sliding glass doors, or doors that swing outwards, what guests often find now is a shower with a half curve of glass only, or a shower head and drain that are completely open to the rest of the room. Tom Parker, director of boutique hospitality design firm Fettle, says the designs he sees the most often are crittal doors—big panes of clear glass with black frames, which can be used to either fully enclose or partially enclose a space—or "small openings with no door."

So why is the open shower suddenly so ubiquitous? “I think it started with the birth of the lifestyle hotel, where it’s all about sleek lines and being minimalist,” says Jacu Strauss, the creative director of the Lore Group, a hospitality company that operates hotels like the Riggs Washington, D.C., and the Pulitzer Amsterdam. Furthermore, “shower curtains feel less elevated than something that's built in.”

Crittal shower doors at the Hoxton Southwark, a common bathroom design feature

But Douglas DeBoer, the founder and CEO of Rebel Design Group, believes the influence stretches further into the past. “The trend originates from Europe as far back as the '80s, where the bathrooms in historic properties are typically small and don't have the clearance for swinging doors, so partial hinged glass works better,” he says.

Half doors (or no doors) serve a handful of practical purchases as well. Chief among them? They save space. “A lot of it comes down to people trying to design hotel rooms with limited space,” Parker says. “It’s about the swing of the shower door, because it has to open outward for safety reasons, like [if] someone falls in the shower. You have to figure out where the door swing’s going to go, make sure it’s not [hitting] the main door. It’s just about clearances.”

Plus, smaller doors give the illusion of a larger room. “The ones that I've worked on, they just make the bathroom feel a bit brighter and a little bit more spacious,” says Strauss.

A physical barrier, no matter how small, also eliminates the need for shower curtains, which can get pretty icky. “Shower curtains, especially cloth curtains, are more likely to trap bacteria than shower glass,” says DeBoer “Frameless shower doors offer less chance of mold build-up [and] are easier to clean.”

Cleaning a basic pane of glass instead of a curtain or caulked door is also faster and easier, shortening the turnover time between guests, Strauss notes.

So the lack of doors is great for hotels and their staffers. But what about the guests, who are slip-sliding all over the room? There are (or should be) lots of little design tricks keeping you safe, experts say. “Hotels tend to mitigate the risks by offering non-slip interior shower mats, cloth bath mats for stepping out of the shower, grab bars, [and] open showers or no-sill showers which avoid having to step up and over the edge,” DeBoer says.

Additionally, “we try to level the floor so there's minimal water weight pitched onto the floor. We would always try to slope it very slightly so it goes to the drain,” says Strauss. “And it's a huge expense, but we make sure that the controls are in a [place] that reduces the amount of water you spill everywhere.”

Still, they do know that some guests don’t care for the look or experience of door-less showers. “Complaints are numerous, mainly from the U.S.,” says DeBoer. “Many guests do not like the open bathroom concept, because it lacks privacy—especially with toilets or when showering, making hotel bathrooms a one-person-at-a-time use.”

Don’t expect those complaints to be heard, though, as the look is here to stay in newer hotels. “The more classic hotel brands with a more traditional aesthetic, they are much more likely to go back to having doors,” says Parker. “The older generation much, much prefers having a shower door.”

If you find yourself in that camp, you are in good company even with the experts. “I'm like a 70-year-old man at heart anyway,” Parker says, “so I like [a shower door] if it's in keeping with the style of the rest of the room.”