Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

London hotels - what does "en suite" mean to you?

London hotels - what does "en suite" mean to you?

Old Dec 21st, 2002, 06:27 AM
  #1  
Doug
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
London hotels - what does "en suite" mean to you?

I just returned from a stay at the Balmoral House Hotel near Paddington Station in London. I booked a Single room "en suite", which I assumed meant the room had both shower AND toilet. When I arrived at the hotel, they told me the room had a shower but the toilet was down the hall. I complained, and they put me in a twin room with shower & toilet at the single price.

Was I wrong to assume that "en suite" meant both shower AND toilet or did the hotel mislead me?

 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 06:39 AM
  #2  
Bob Brown
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I always thought en suite meant the bathroom facilities were part of the room as opposed to being down the hall.
But I guess some of those old places can define the term any way they wish.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 06:44 AM
  #3  
Patrick
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
My first response is yes, they did mislead you. But I have seen some hotels advertise "shower ensuite", so now I suspect that is a literal interpretation, nothing about the toilet. And in Europe usually bath means bathtub, so I suppose we Americans could be easily fooled into thinking bathroom ensuite, when it is really just a bathtub. I'm not sure how yours was billed. But if it simply said "ensuite rooms" I'd sure think it should mean full toilet and shower facilities.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 08:46 AM
  #4  
Sheila
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
A lawyer writesBR>
the only reasonable intrepatation of "en suite" includes a loo.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 03:09 PM
  #5  
janis
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Sheila is right - except that some places that state "bath and/or shower ensuite" mean literally that. A bath tub or shower ensuite. This in not very common but I have run across it 3 or 4 times in the last 20 years. Usually it is in small or inexpensive places or country B&Bs.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 03:11 PM
  #6  
janis
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Oops - hit post before I was done. In each case the toilet was private as opposed to shared. So in essence what you got was a bath ensuite and a private loo.

So it was no big problem
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 03:40 PM
  #7  
hello
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Doug,

I was interested in your post since someone recently recommended this place to me for a visit this February.

The Balmoral website (www.balmoralhousehotel.co.uk) says that the vast majority of their rooms include "en-suite facilities (private shower and WC)" so it appears that your assumption about "en suite" is correct but that you were assigned one of their few non en suite rooms.

How did you make your bookng with the Balmoral?

Janis,

I 'm confused about your comment "so it was no big problem." I'm guessing you meant that a private toilet down the hall was not a problem for you in those few instances you encountered this situation.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 07:02 PM
  #8  
Doug
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I booked directly through their web site that you mentioned.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 07:42 PM
  #9  
janis
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
hello: What I meant is that I make very little difference bewteen Private and Ensuite. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. MANY small B&Bs in the UK offer "Private" facilities that are not ensuite. This makes some Americans crazy - thinking private and ensuite are the same thing (they are not), booking a room with private bath and then finding out that their Private bath is down the hall. I often book Private facilities knowing full well they are not in the bedroom.

So, having an ensuite bath and a private wc down the hall is just fine with me.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 07:46 PM
  #10  
xxx
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
For those of us who sleep in the nude, or even nearly nude, and who have to go to the toilet during the night, it is a big deal. But I'm glad people like you don't care.
 
Old Dec 21st, 2002, 07:56 PM
  #11  
janis
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
xxx: Well, if you do not have a travel robe you would not book private facilities, now would you??????

Unless, of course, you are one of those that did not know the difference. You can always tell who they are - they are the ones wearing their winter coat to the loo

Your problem is easily solved - just always book "ensuite" and never book "private"
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 05:45 AM
  #12  
hello
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Janis

In this particular case there was no confusion between en suite and private. "En suite" was clearly spelled out at the website but was overlooked by Doug when he made his booking. (the kind of oversight most of us have made while planning a trip). At any rate, the hotel gave him another room.

Thanks for clarifying the distinction between the two terms. It will be helpful for those who haven't travelled as extensively as you. But bear in mind that while for you it's no big deal there are others (and some of them, amazingly, not Americans) who have medical and/or mobility problems which would make hall toilets and showers a no go. It's not just Americans being overly fussy about personal hygiene.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 09:40 AM
  #13  
xyz
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I think Janis' point is it seems to be only Americans who do not know the difference between the terms En-Suite and Private. They mean different things and most Europeans know the difference, while many Americans apparently do not. Not because they are dumber, but probably because the terms are not used in the States. And Doug did not make it clear if the hotel stated bath and toilet en-suite, OR bath/shower en-suite.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 12:42 PM
  #14  
Lesli
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Actually, it is not uncommon that all other rooms will have en suite facilities *except* the singles. I believe this is the case at the Balmoral. (My guidebooks say that 31 of the 34 rooms are en suite.) If the Balmoral does not have such a thing as a single room en suite, they would certainly not have booked you into one. But you can never assume anything.

The website states: "The vast majority of our rooms include en-suite facilities (private shower and WC)" and shows pictures of rooms for two or more, all en suite. This would leave the singles to be the ones without.

Whenever I am staying at a budget hotel in Europe, I call or e-mail the hotel directly to book, and am very specific about what I want in terms of facilities. If I have any question at all, I ask, so there will be no surprises.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 01:04 PM
  #15  
Maurice
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Here in N. America, it is EXPECTED that the hotel room includes a full bathroom.

So many buildings in N.A. are new; any older hotel here that expects to charge above "skid row" prices, has been renovated to include full ensuite. Expectations and competition are stiffer. I can't even think of a hotel room I've rented that had just a shower, not a bathtub.

I think this is because most Americans and Canadians travel with cars (or fly and rent) and the "low budget" hotels tend to be newer motels on the highway, on the edge of town, where space and heritage building restrictions are non-existent.

Oh well. I like Europe, and the separate facilities don't bother me as much as others; I enjoy the variety of everything - where in North America, seems like everyone picks their fixtures - toilets, bathtubs, lighting, doors and windows, flooring... the whole building set - from a very limited and boring set of choices.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 04:51 PM
  #16  
Bob Brown
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
As part of the ensuite discussion, I have a follow-on question. What do you call it when in your room you have a lavatory and shower, but the WC is across the hall in a separate room?
I found that configuration once in Switzerland.

At least, it was not a room with a path, like some of those Swiss mountain huts!!
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 07:08 PM
  #17  
just guessing
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I call it moderately inconvenient but perhaps the more informed posters will check in and let us know what the real name.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 07:10 PM
  #18  
just guessing
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
...what the real name is...
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 07:37 PM
  #19  
Dobby
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Reminds of the time we booked into a English B&B that advertised toilet en suite... sure enough, when we checked in late at night, completely exhausted, there was a toilet in our room... literally. Kind of a prison cell atmosphere. Luckily just stayed one night.
 
Old Dec 22nd, 2002, 08:07 PM
  #20  
Christina
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I haven't been to many European countries, but of the ones I have, the UK is the only place that isn't straightforward about exactly what facilities you get in the room and/or in the hall. Every other country that I've viewed hotel info for just explicity describes exactly what you get in the room and where the other facilities are (usually WC and/or shower) -- whether that is shower only, sink only, shower+wc, etc. I think folks are being too lenient with Balmoral because it looks to me they were being deliberately misleading or just had someone write very bad hotel descriptions--saying "en suite" and then putting something contradictory in parentheses doesn't make sense as parenthetical remarks should explain what came immediately before, not mean you will get this or possibly that.

I guess you mean sink as lavatory (which means something else where I've lived) -- this is called a "cabinet de toilette" in France, I don't know about elsewhere. That doesn't include a shower, though, that would be named separately (cabinet de toilette is a sink or washing facility/running water). I've had rooms like that several times, it's the most common thing in older hotels because I guess running water is a lot easier to install than what a toilet requires. All the French hotel descriptions I've seen have been pretty explicit as to what you get, and that would be "cabinet de toilette+douche" (sometimes lavabo+douche but not as often). I've also seen "WC prives" to mean private WC, or WC a l'etage or sur palier to mean shared in the hall, but it's always very clear in French descriptions, I think. If a hotel says room with "douche+WC" that is clearly different from "douche, WC a l'etage".
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -