25 July 2016. Italian public bathrooms are often the target of jokes and complaints. The most offensive facilities have the infamous hole-in-the-floor squat or Turkish toilet. I walk away from those. I’d rather go in the woods. Then there are the WCs so small you cannot change your mind once you are inside. Many lack toilet paper or soap. And in Rome, we are cursed with many seatless toilets. They are supposed to be more sanitary and easier to clean. Clearly the invention of a man. Another classic is the lights, controlled by timers, that go out while you are seated leaving you in the dark.
Here in the north, in the beautiful Alto Adige, we have lovely clean bathrooms. Sometimes they are transgender, often they are spacious, and I do not think I have ever visited one that did not have soap. The most beautiful bathroom has to be this marvel of technology high in the Dolomites — in fact at 2153 meters/7063 feet above sea level — at the Rifugio Emilio Comici.
No question as to what is downstairs.
It’s easy to figure out men’s versus women’s no matter your native tongue.
Red handles indicate occupied.
Green handles indicate available.
So you go into a stall with a backpack, hiking poles, a jacket. Where to put your stuff? Each stall has generous and thematic hooks.
I am told that each urinal has an independent overhead light that comes on when you take your position. Photo by Ric Barton.
Lovely sinks, automatic faucet and soap dispenser, plus a built-in hand dryer!
Here is a close up of the sink. The “wings” on the faucet are actually Dyson dryers.
On the way out, the lighted stairway is enhanced with a skiing graphic.
Girovaga 
Isn’t it such a joy when you strike a nice toilet 🙂
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Indeed, and even more so on a mountain. When a mountain’top retreat has a better bathroom than a restaurant in Rome….
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Whoa, that is an impressive bathroom! I always run the other direction when I come across those “turkish” bathrooms too, so horrible. They also seem to pop up in places you wouldn’t expect (clean looking cafes by the lake, etc.), and I have seen them both in the north and the south. Alto Adige is definitely a world apart from the rest of Italy!
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Hi Rachel! Welcome to the blog. The Alto Adige is liking leaving Italy, in many ways, but you still get good coffee, Italian cuisine, and they’ll speak Italian if you do!
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Amazingly beautiful for a lue! I too have very few positive comments about the restrooms in Italy and Spain.
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In this part of the country, spic-and-span is the rule. We’ve been in one in 28 days that was not perfect, and it was not bad. The Emilio Comici one is over the top, of course. I think I will start taking more pictures of loos in my travels. Could be good blog fodder.
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The first place I ever came across automatic water faucets was in Italy. I was so impressed that I made my husband go see them. I love the Dyson driers, but I haven’t seen that type however. That would be very convenient.
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Amazingly all the water ends up in the sink with no splashing or dripping because you do not have to cross the room to semi-dry your hands. I want these at my house!
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These restrooms are really cool! We have those Dyson hand dryers at some places in Helsinki, at first it was a bit puzzling to figure them out 😉
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I know! The first time I used the sink the dryer came on first because I could not figure out where to put my hands. I wonder if the make them for residential use?
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That’s pretty fancy… must be nice to have sufficient cash flow to go so far over the top!!
That said, I’d give them a go…..
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Hahaha! I think Audi sponsored a lot. The skier and a fancy charging station are branded Audi. As with any mountain station, it ain’t cheap. 1.50 Euro for coffee.
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What a luxury to have such beautiful public restrooms. I am sure have had your share of experiences where you absolutely HAD to go until you took a look at the toilette, and then, funniest thing, you could hold it a while longer. Thanks for sharing this info on things we usually don’t talk about. Love the wings over the sink.
Gayle
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The Dyson “wing” dryers are amazing. I want them at home. A little potty talk is OK now-and-again. Baci!
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I’m totally in awe of those bathrooms especially with the red or blue lighted handles saying it’s occupied or the ones with the built in hand dryers. And to find a wonderful bathroom at such an altitude….you both just know what to look for in elegance!
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Mostly we just get lucky, Marcia! I’ve been in that place 4 or 5 times and yesterday I said I have to do a photo essay on it.
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