I’m ashamed to admit that my second most embarrassing travel moment happened tonight in the privacy of my hotel room (my most embarrassing moment still has to be my pajamas incident at Singapore Airport). I feel mildly violated (by myself).

I checked in at the amazing Park Hyatt Shanghai (lobby is on the 87th floor — crazy!), and the front desk agent escorted me to my Park Suite. He gave me a quick tour of the room, and as I opened the bathroom door I screamed squealed jumped up expressed surprise.

I should mention that I can appreciate a good high tech toilet, and would like to think I’ve seen them all in Japan. But none have been to the level of the Park Hyatt Shanghai, which has a motion sensor that automatically raises the lid when you get within a few feet of it, and damn near sounds like a rifle being loaded.

I was only a little bit embarrassed when the agent had to comfort me and say “it’s alright sir, it’s only the toilet.”

Posted on January 27th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels | 28 Comments »

  1. January 27th, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Brian said,

    Bund view?

  2. January 27th, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    TheBeerHunter said,

    You don’t get out much, do you, Ben? ;)

  3. January 27th, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    wiredboy said,

    I thought you were going to tell us that you tried to give a baby a bath in a bidet ;-)

  4. January 27th, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    easy victor said,

    It’s probably made by TOTO. Did you get the warm air treatment?

  5. January 27th, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    Jimgotkp said,

    Lol that is a pretty cool looking toilet though! :)

  6. January 27th, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    ptaa said,

    I guess if something’s going to scare the crap out of you, it might as well be a toilet.

  7. January 27th, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Singapore Flyer said,

    Nice Ben. We have that at home…my wife’s decision…not mine. Our kids (6 and 4 y.o.) tell their friends that we have a magic/computer for a toilet. He loves the automatic feature…@easy victor, it is probably a Toto. It looks just like ours.

  8. January 27th, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    bluto said,

    Was it loaded?

  9. January 27th, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    glu800 said,

    OMG that toilet just looks creepy. I think I would have a heart attack if I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, esp with the automatic lid…

  10. January 27th, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Steelsnow said,

    bluto beat me to it, that”s exactly what I was thinking!

  11. January 27th, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    johosofat said,

    If only it would address you by name…

  12. January 27th, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    Andy Bluebear said,

    I agree with johosoft. *That* would have been creepy.

  13. January 27th, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    Rita said,

    I stayed at the PH Shanghai in 2010 and loved the auto raising lid on the toilet seat … it was so cool!!

  14. January 27th, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    bgiagg said,

    I am in the new Andaz shanghai and they have the same toilet.

  15. January 27th, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    Nancy said,

    The night light is a very thoughtful touch!

  16. January 27th, 2012 at 4:08 pm

    Scottrick said,

    Toilets should not require electrical cords.

  17. January 27th, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    Brian said,

    They’ve had the auto raising feature in Japan for awhile now. Not sure about the sounding like loading a rifle part…

  18. January 27th, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    Ciaran said,

    If you want to be creeped out in the comfort of your own home bathroom you can buy a Toto robo-toilet seat that fits to your existing toilet. Just look on amazon…

  19. January 27th, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    Tomas said,

    C’mon Lucky…do you really think we care where you drop trou & take a fricking DUMP?! Lol…

  20. January 27th, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    buschoi said,

    I don’t travel as much as you, but I have seen it before. W Taipei comes to mine.

  21. January 27th, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    Carberrie said,

    I love that toilet and the Andaz one is similar! The showers are amazing at both but the PH SH is even better if I’m remembering it correctly. I wish the W Taipei’s toilets were as good as the PH SH’s…

  22. January 27th, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    The Young Foodie said,

    That just made my day! Please bring me one home.

  23. January 27th, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    Aanarav Sareen said,

    Hahaha, that is awesome!

  24. January 28th, 2012 at 1:14 am

    worldtraveller2 said,

    love it! Enjoy Shanghi! I did!

  25. January 28th, 2012 at 5:10 am

    Drew said,

    That’s so funny, it scared me too. I showed my wife the title and she new exactly what it was.

  26. January 28th, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Dan said,

    Park Hyatt Beijing has the same toilets. They’re amazing!!!!!

  27. January 29th, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Raytex said,

    They should put a mirror on the lid so you can check your rear end with that awesome LED light

  28. January 30th, 2012 at 11:42 am

    dmodemd said,

    I am sure you will show a picture of the control panel in your trip report, showing front and rear spray jets with directional adjustments and oscillating settings. :) However, with all that, the seat is only plastic! I guess it has to be in order to be able to lift it easily with the motor.

    29. Add A Comment

« »

home top