The winners of the 2018 International Toilet Tourism Awards were announced earlier this month, and we’ve been busting to tell you who won.
The awards, conducted by MyTravelresearch.com, aim to show tourism destinations that “clean, creative, quirky public toilets go a long way to boosting a destination’s image and generating tourism dollars. People stop to spend a penny and end up spending more.”
Taking out top prize at this year’s loo-lapalooza was a 007-inspired bathroom in a revolving restaurant called Piz Gloria (no lavatory jokes about the name, please: ‘piz‘ is a local term for a mountain peak).
The restaurant sits at the top of Mt Schilthorn, near the village of Mürren in the Swiss Alps. You might recognise it from the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963), in which it featured as Blofeld’s Lair – a.k.a the hangout of legendary Bond villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
They’ve kept the James Bond theme alive in this amazing location that’s accessed via cable car and features incredible views of Mont Blanc. It’s now home to the 007 Walk of Fame, an interactive adventure exhibition called Bond World 007 and… James Bond-themed loos in the restaurant.
Which room you choose depends on whether you open the ‘Bonds’ or ‘Bondgirls’ door. Inside, silhouettes on cubicle doors are reminiscent of the title sequences that are so iconic in every Bond movie, while signs in the ‘Bonds’ room encourage men to “Shake, don’t stir” and “Aim like James”.
Audiovisual effects include Diana Rigg appearing in the mirror when men wash their hands. She played Tracy Bond (the only Bond girl to actually marry 007) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but you might know her better as Emma Peel in The Avengers or Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones.
In the ‘Bondsgirls’ bathroom, an image of James Bond appears in the mirror next to a bullet hole, just as a shot rings out, and a Bond voiceover propositions ladies with the line: “Tonight, my place – just the two of us”.
In the words of one of the judges: “Apart from the wonderful scenery at Mt Schilthorn, the James Bond bathrooms are also now a fun reason to go. The toilets have immortalised James Bond and added a surprising humorous element to sightseeing in the one of the most dramatic locations in Europe.”
The competition is fun, but the prize is potentially life-changing: a $2,000 donation contributed to the World Toilet Organization on behalf of the winner, to be used to fund a sanitation project in a developing economy. Which is not potty at all.