New restroom at Sea-Tac one of 10 finalists in national restroom contest

Going to the restroom in an airport is often almost as awful as going the restroom in a plane. But if you recently had to go at one of the newer bathrooms at Sea-Tac Airport, you found yourself in what could be the best restroom in America.

The bathroom was part of the first stage of the $658 million North Satellite Modernization Project at Sea-Tac, and now it’s one of 10 finalists in Cintas’ Best Restroom contest for 2019, not that any restroom is helped by becoming a highly-trafficked tourist trap where people take selfies.

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The contest considers cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements in assessing the best places to take care of business. What makes the Sea-Tac restroom stand out? That would be the quartz multi-station lavatories, a rainwater harvest system that provides 750,000 gallons annually to the restrooms, as well as separate sinks inside the ADA stalls and family spaces with changing tables.

There are no plans as of yet for a worst restroom in American contest, but perhaps one of the older bathrooms at Sea-Tac could be eligible.

Some of the stronger competitors in the Best Restroom contest include the Terminal B restroom at New York’s La Guardia Airport, where the stalls have been expanded so people actually have the room to bring their luggage in with them. Then there’s the Nashville Zoo Peru exhibit lavatory, where a floor-to-ceiling glass window offers a view of six cottontop tamarins, and offers the tamarins a view of humans going to the bathroom. Clearly the tamarins have the raw end of that setup.

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Whoever wins will find themselves in America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame and earn $2,500 in facility services from Cintas to help maintain their award-winning restrooms, which they’ll probably need after this contest.

To vote and see the other porcelain competitors, head to www.bestrestroom.com/us

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