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Photo by Horacio Villalobos – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images and bring_back_doors on TikTok

‘You Can Clearly See Through This Door’: Traveler Exposes The Hotel Bathroom Trend That’s Destroying Everyone’s Dignity

Hotels, your doors are failing us.

A woman on TikTok has had enough of hotel bathrooms with bad doors. Sadie, who goes by @bring_back_doors online, is tired of showing up at hotels only to find out the bathroom has no real privacy. She has started a whole campaign to make hotels answer for their terrible door choices.

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Her TikTok video about this problem has been watched more than 234,000 times. In it, she talks about how hotels keep putting in frosted glass doors for bathrooms instead of normal solid ones. According to Daily Dot, she was at the Alexander Hotel in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands, when she made the video. She says hotels keep telling her that foggy glass doors give you privacy, but she thinks that’s completely wrong.

In the video, she stands right in front of the bathroom door to prove her point. “A, yes, you can see through these. Like you can clearly see through this door, and B, glass doors do not close properly,” she explains. She says when she asks for doors that actually work, she means doors where every edge touches the frame completely, not just part of the way.

What Started As Frustration Has Become A Mission

Sadie did not stop at just complaining on TikTok. She made a whole website called BringBackDoors.com where people can look up hotels before they book. The website has a list of hotels that actually have real bathroom doors. She has sent emails to hundreds of hotels asking them two basic questions: do your doors close all the way, and are they see-through glass?

If a hotel says yes, their doors close properly and no, they are not made of glass, then they get put on her list. She sorts them by how much they cost and what city they are in. Her website also has a part where people can report hotels with awful bathroom doors so everyone knows about them. She tells people to email her or message her on Instagram with the hotel name and photos of the bad bathroom setup.

On her website, she explains that she finally got sick of it after too many trips where she had zero privacy. She says she loves going on trips with her family and friends, but she also needs some privacy in the bathroom. Similar to how a woman was shocked by a restaurant’s reaction to a customer complaint, Sadie’s campaign shows how speaking up about bad experiences can start important conversations.

@bring_back_doors

Hotel name: Alexander Hotel, Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands I need to be clear. Glass doors are not private. And making them foggy does not make them private. I am once again sitting here saying screw you to all bathroom doors that are not solid and close fully. And I am providing alternative hotels with guaranteed doors at bringbackdoors.com Check your hotels door situation before you book or risk your privacy. Door submitted by @mmargaridahb, DM me to submit your own bad doors. #bathroomdoors #hotel #travel #fyp Bathroom doors | bathroom design | hotel design | bad hotel design | travel fail | travel memories | travel inspo | door design | hotels with privacy

♬ original sound – Bring Back Doors

There are some real reasons why hotels do this. They use glass walls and open layouts to make tiny rooms feel less cramped. It also costs them less money to build. Plus, it makes the job easier for the people who clean the rooms. But the people commenting on her videos are completely on her side. One person wrote, “No clear doors in bathrooms!!!!! Even when I’m with my husband we need a real door?” Someone else said, “I HATE how hotels started thinking going to the bathroom is a shared experience.”

Other travelers have shared their own horror stories. One person said, “I’ve had 2 hotels now where the bathroom didn’t have a door at all :) one had a curtain! the other a folding screen :)) my best friend and I are on another level after this.” 

Another person wrote, “Worst one was a foggy glass door with a large hole to use instead of a handle.” One comment described the strangest setup of all: “Had a hotel with an absolute solid wooden bathroom door. And next to it A GLASS WALL DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE TOILET!!!” 

Just as consumers have learned to look for specific labels when shopping, travelers are now learning they need to check what kind of bathroom doors a hotel has before they pay for a room.


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