Bloomingdale’s Retro Restroom

Powder your nose in a Deco ladies’ lounge

When you’re on the go and need to go, finding a nearby restroom can be a challenge. Savvy cityfolk keep a personal mental inventory of clean, attractive, readily accessible bathrooms. But for visitors, the prospect of locating and availing themselves of a public toilet is cringeworthy, evoking images that are anything but glamorous. Like any major metropolis, NYC has its share of unsavory restrooms, but when you know where to look, you’ll find a wealth of great places to go for relief.

Department stores, Barnes & Noble bookshops, Apple stores, Whole Foods Markets, Rockefeller Center, and Time Warner Center all have pleasant public washrooms. The lobbies of posh hotels have excellent ones – simply waltz in and pretend you’re a guest. And in Greenwich Village, you don’t need to buy a movie ticket to pay a visit to the bathrooms at the Angelica Theater’s cafe.

Ladies looking for a lovely loo in midtown make a beeline to the fourth-floor women’s lounge in Bloomingdale’s, where the facilities are positively gorgeous.

It’s decked out in Art Deco-style glamour – gleaming white and black marble floors, silver-gray walls, black-granite countertops, chrome sconces shaded with white linen, and beveled illuminated mirrors. To make shoppers feel pretty, the ambience is designed to flatter. Inside its entrance is an elegant lounge to rest tired feet, and a bank of vanity tables for urban divas to refresh their makeup. The wash-up area’s long double row of porcelain basins have individual mirrors, lighting, towels, and delicate-scented liquid hand soap. Small vestibules lead to private toilettes behind frosted-glass doors.

In this ultra-chic setting, you may be tempted to linger, relax, and freshen up. On your way out – your comfort restored – perhaps you might even browse the latest fashions. Isn’t it simply de-lovely?!

Address Bloomingdale’s, 1000 Third Avenue (between East 59th and 60th Street), New York 10022, +1 212.705.2000, www.bloomingdales.com | Getting there Subway: Lexington Av-59 St (4, 5, 6, N, Q, R), Lexington Av-63 St (F), Lexington Av-53 St (E, M); bus: M 1, M 3, M 4, M 15, M 31, M 57, M 101, M 102, M 103 | Hours Mon – Sat 10am – 8pm, Sun 11am – 7pm | Tip Men deserve pampering too – it’s a short walk to Men’s Lounge & Spa, a masculine grooming mecca at 311 East 76 Street.