Cintas Selects the 2022 America’s Best Restroom® Contest Finalists
CINCINNATI, July 27, 2022 – From one of the busiest airports in the country to a restaurant within an old manufacturing building, Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), is proud to announce the top 10 finalists for the 2022 America’s Best Restroom® contest. The 21st annual contest celebrates businesses that develop and maintain innovative restroom facilities. Now through August 19, the public is invited to vote for their favorite finalist at www.bestrestroom.com.
“This year’s top 10 finalists include small and large businesses from diverse categories competing for the title of America’s Best Restroom,” said Julia Messinger, Marketing Manager, Cintas. “The public holds higher standards for the cleanliness and technology used in public restrooms which is why we’re proud to recognize these businesses that maintain clean and exceptional facilities.”
The 2022 America’s Best Restroom finalists include:
- Delaware Botanic Gardens – Dagsboro, DE
Just a few miles from the Southern Delaware Beaches, an oasis of tranquility and beauty has been steadily cultivated at the Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek. Designed by the local firm of SEA Studio Architects, the new restroom is situated gently at the threshold between the Meadow Garden and the Woodlands. The building combines contemporary forms and a thoughtful material palette in a structure that both enhances the landscape and serves its function as a fully accessible restroom. Natural cedar cladding makes the building feel at home, while floor-to-ceiling south windows provide natural light and transparency into what are typically stuffy, private spaces. Several didactic features on the exterior demonstrate simple stormwater management practices, including a rainwater collection cistern and rain chains that feed a “living” wall, dry riverbed, and rain garden. Lastly, the interiors boast a clean and contemporary look with modern tile finishes and floating, stainless-steel vanities. Without a doubt, the restrooms at the DBG are truly part of the unique garden experience. - Eberly – Austin, TX
The restaurant’s entire design is centered around its cedar tavern bar brought in from New York City, and the restroom is also a nod to the bygone era when those bars were in vogue. Each stall has an illuminated old-school New York tavern vacancy light outside the door that turns off when you lock it. The restroom includes images from Grammy-winning music photographer Alan Messer. It is awash in Fine Paints of Europe’s Hollandlac Brilliant Paint in Dark Cobalt Blue. - Headlands Lodge and Spa – Pacific City, OR
Headlands Lodge was designed to highlight its special spot on the Oregon Coast, and the same is true for its restroom. It features a dark, wave-like concrete sink with touchless faucets. Dark shiplap lines the walls along with modern wall sconces to match the restroom’s spa-like feel. Meanwhile, patterned floor tiles create a rustic, masculine tone. - La Pâtisserie – Charleston, SC
Located inside the Hotel Bennett, the restrooms in this French themed patisserie are the closest to France you’ll get without hopping on an airplane. The chic gold-accented wallpaper and elegant wall sconces are as appealing to the eye as the bakery’s sweet and savory pastries. Above, decadent chandeliers light the way to fully enclosed, private stalls. - Planet Word – Washington, D.C.
As a free museum in Washington, D.C. dedicated to renewing and inspiring a love of words, language, and reading, words are celebrated everywhere at Planet Word – even in the restrooms! Whether showcasing how to ask, “Where is the bathroom?” in multiple different languages, illustrating the many names for animal waste or poking fun with euphemisms and synonyms, Planet Word is flush with colorful bathroom humor. - Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal B All-Gender Restroom – Newark, NJ
This project provides a new restroom facility in a 1970’s-era terminal departure lounge area at Newark Liberty International Airport that was required due to inadequate capacity at the existing restrooms. The restroom design provides an exceptional experience for all passengers by eliminating the traditional amalgamation of restroom facilities through gender-based separation in favor of public environments that allow privacy for all users. An added benefit of this all-gender solution was the ability to accommodate a larger number of users than a traditional restroom configuration, with “potty parity” for all. Areas for traveling companion waiting and passenger reorganization are provided to compliment the private areas. Local imagery, integrated into the architectural treatment of glass and tile, establishes a sense of place to remind the users where they might have visited or what they might want to experience during a return trip. Sound and scent compliment the visual experience to create a calming environment. - No. 5 Bistro & Bar - Sedalia, MO
Housed in a restored 55,000 sq. ft. building from the 1800s, No. 5 Bistro & Bar is a lively environment colored by attentive and friendly service. The restaurant’s vibe pays homage to the history that is unique to the Original Plat area of Sedalia and can only truly be found where our city began. The building’s deep history is highlighted in the restroom which is outfitted with the original sinks, exposed brick, and penny floor tiles. Dramatic green subway tile and wall sconces provide a modern touch paired with vintage mirrors. The restroom is a beautiful combination of the building’s historic past blended with the experiential living of the modern twenty-first century. - North Hollywood Recreation Center – North Hollywood, CA
The self-cleaning restrooms at North Hollywood Recreation Center are holding to its promise in a community with a large homeless population. They cut maintenance cleaning times considerably. The restrooms’ interior is sanitized automatically after a set number of flushes. Touchless features include toilet tissue dispenser, soap dispense, faucet and hand dryer. Exiting the restroom is also touchless. Graffiti is easily removed from the stainless steel and porcelain interior. An alarm will sound off if someone attempts to stay inside for too long and the door will open. - Tampa International Airport – Tampa, FL
Tampa International Airport’s Airside C showcases new high-design, spacious restrooms, coupled with quality craftsmanship and an inviting, yet durable, material palette. The entrance welcomes travelers to their uniquely-Florida experience. Boasting large graphics and a natural, deep blue stone, the undulating veining is reminiscent of waves crashing along the shore. Once inside, large format tiles skin the floors and seamlessly fold up the walls, bolstering the well-lit environment and furthering a “freshly cleaned” aesthetic. A wood-look wall tile adds warmth and softness for a balanced, resort-like feel. The luxury feel is bolstered by high-res images of quintessential Florida flora, back printed on floor-to-ceiling sheets of impact-resistant glass ensuring its beauty for years to come. The clean, contemporary aesthetic is completed by light-colored solid surface vanities, which incorporate TPA’s signature “cockpit” concept. This “cockpit” provides guests with their own sensor-activating sink and soap, personal paper towel dispensers, and trash receptacle, all within an arm’s reach! - Tori Tori – Orlando, FL
Modeled after the famous green restroom from “The Aviator,” the Tori Tori restroom will have other facilities feeling green with envy. The space is gorgeous with dark green hues and light touches of marbling. The rotating floral display behind the restroom doors make this the go-to place for taking mirror selfies and photos. Gold accented mirrors and faucets complement the green décor.
The top 10 finalists were selected based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements. The winner will be honored with a place in the America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame and receive a Cintas UltraClean® restroom cleaning service and $2,500 in facility services or restroom cleaning from Cintas.
Last year, Two Cities Pizza in Mason, Ohio took home the title of America’s Best Restroom for its restrooms designed to capture the atmosphere of New York and Chicago. The restrooms are fully outfitted with a subway platform, train car, station stops playing over the speaker, authentic subway handles above the sinks, and even graffiti on the walls.
Vote for your favorite restroom at www.bestrestroom.com/us.
For more information about the America’s Best Restroom contest, contact Christina Alvarez at [email protected] or 708-908-0898. Images of the finalists are available here.
About Cintas Corporation
Cintas Corporation helps more than one million businesses of all types and sizes get Ready™ to open their doors with confidence every day by providing products and services that help keep their customers’ facilities and employees clean, safe and looking their best. With offerings including uniforms, mats, mops, restroom supplies, first aid and safety products, fire extinguishers and testing, and safety training, Cintas helps customers get Ready for the Workday®. The company is also the creator of the Total Clean Program™ — a first-of-its-kind service that includes scheduled delivery of essential cleaning supplies, hygienically clean laundering, and sanitizing and disinfecting products and services. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas is a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.