101 W. Franklin St.
788-8000
jeffersonhotel.com
Second Place: Nordstrom
Third Place: Can Can Brasserie
Not to get all hyperbolic, but the public bathrooms at the Jefferson Hotel are like the ones you expect to be directed to shortly after arriving at the pearly gates. They’re the measuring stick by which all bathrooms in the city should be judged. To make a visit to the bathroom here is to sit down, or stand up, in sterile luxury. There are no tricked-up faucets, silly tchotchkes, and little to no evidence that the porcelain gods ever have been sullied. Just dozens of feet of marble tile accented by teal wallpaper and stalls spacious enough to ensure privacy. Full disclosure: on a recent trip, an orchestral version of U2’s “With or Without You” was lilting from the speakers. Trust us, you’ve never been soothed like this. That aside, none of the bathrooms chosen by readers, including those in the Jefferson, is in a public building. It’s a technicality, sure, but one worth mentioning because the management technically could deny you access to the lavatories no matter how desperate your need to use them.