Is it easy to find public restrooms in Seattle? (Pacific: 2013, hotels)

[tooniverse]

As someone who has experienced first hand how difficult it is to find public restrooms in San Francisco, I was just wondering if Seattle had any issues with that (as someone who's never been there). In San Francisco it was just silly. Went into a McDonald's filled with people in the Mission District and checked the men's room and there was only *1* toilet in there! And that was the only men's room I could find anywhere in the area (and I had just eaten a huge super burrito).

[seattlenextyear]

No, it's fairly easy to find a restroom if you know where to look. Go for the department stores: restrooms are usually on the 2nd or 3rd floor, or for shopping centers like Westlake or Pacific Place. Pike Place has some on the lower levels.

In a pinch, you can often just walk into hotel lobbies or even bars (though in this case its polite to leave a dollar for the bartender).

[Hemlock140]

Office building lobbies, also, but you need to look respectable, because some have gotten fed up with the homeless people popping in to use them. There are restrooms in the parks but they are not pleasant, some just have portables.
Avoid the on in McDonalds at 3rd & Pine, use Macy's across the street instead.

[MaikeerinWA]

As an aside, you might be interested to know that Seattle experimented with pay toilets - like those in SF - a few years ago. Here is an article about it:

Pottyless in Seattle: age-old problem of where to go vexes city | Reuters

Originally Posted by tooniverse

As someone who has experienced first hand how difficult it is to find public restrooms in San Francisco,

[UrbanAdventurer]

punch starbucks into your googlemaps and head there in a pinch.

[JBVirtuoso]

Places like Starbucks or McDonald's often require getting a key from the manager or something, depending on the location. I much prefer hotels. If you're dressed reasonably well and look like you know exactly where you're going, none of the hotel staff will say anything. The public restrooms in hotels are usually on the second floor down a bunch of hallways. They can be hard to find, but they're usually extremely clean and completely empty as a result.

[kyled]

Originally Posted by MichaelinWA

As an aside, you might be interested to know that Seattle experimented with pay toilets - like those in SF - a few years ago. Here is an article about it:

Pottyless in Seattle: age-old problem of where to go vexes city | Reuters

I was in Portugal several years ago and found a city (don't remember which) that had public "WCs" in the middle of their parks that cost a couple Euros but they cleaned themselves by spraying a solution all over inside...best public toilet I ever used.