The bathtub in the Standard New York's superior room is at the head of the bed.

Hotels in this story

Price Dates

The Standard, High Line

W Washington D.C.

Mandarin Oriental, Miami

Who was it who decided that hotel bathrooms — which most of us have long regarded as places where can you do your business alone — no longer need to offer privacy? If you’ve stayed at a design-oriented hotel lately, you may know what I’m talking about: Bathrooms with windows or glass walls that allow the occupant to see out into the rest of the room — and anyone else in the room to see in. The trend seems to have started a couple years ago and continues apace — at least four hotels that opened in the past six months, including the brand new Andaz Wall Street, have eschewed opaque bathroom walls for transparent ones.

Many people presumably find it sexy to watch their lovers lather up. But glass bathrooms are also a clever design trick for making a small room feel bigger. It certainly works at the Standard New York, where some rooms measure in at a cramped 230 square feet. Less so the W Washington D.C., where the translucent shower stall right next to the bed seems to emphasize the room’s diminutive size. In any case, we think they’re kind of fun — if less than ideal for traveling with friends (without benefits), colleagues, or, as the woman interviewed in this New York Times article noted, family members.

Take a look at some of the examples we’ve come across over the past year, after the jump.

At the new Andaz Wall Street

The

The W Washington D.C. went with frosted glass.

Some peek-a-boo bathrooms, like this one at the Shangri La Santa Monica, let modest guests hide behind a curtain.

This marble-wrapped bath at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami gets its own massive picture window