The Most Expensive Toilet In The World

Where is the most expensive toilet in the world? This question does not refer to toilets which have been cast in gold or carved out of marble. Nor does it apply to rare appliances on which some famous derriere may have rested for a while.

Here I refer to 'pay toilets' ...those to which you are unable to enter and use without paying a fee.

The pay toilet has been part of the scene within the British Isles for as long as I an remember. I always thought the arrangement a bit unfair to the fairer sex. To stand and pee was free but to sit cost one 'p'. One old (pre-decimal) penny that is. The old £ consisted of 240 old pennies. Just about every public toilet back in the 1960s levied such a charge.

Then, in the 1970s they were mostly free for all. The last time I recollect paying one old pence to use a toilet was 1966.

I have travelled extensively within the UK, Turkey, parts of Europe, India, Asia and the Middle East and without a doubt the most expensive toilet that I have come across is the one in Hammersmith Broadway in London, England.

During my travels and through necessity I have used a huge number of toilets. Some are memorable for their cleanliness and beauty. I recollect floors one could eat off, carpeted floors in some cases. Some toilets you are expected to remove your footware and change into provided plastic sandles. There are latrines with bunches of fresh orchids, some with waterfalls or saucy art. Some have fantastic views. I will never forget that from the loo at the Virgin Mary's House in Turkey nor that overlooking the chocolate hills in Bohol in the Philippines.

There were the horrors too of course and one I encountered whilst travelling across India is too terrible to describe. I still gag at the thought of it. Another in China comes a close and terrifying second. Generally though Indian and Chinese toilets are good.

During the past few years I have passed through Hammersmith a number of times. The public toilets in the Broadway have been a necessary visit at times. When I first visited the cost was twenty pence. If a toilet is going to cost anything at all then this is probably reasonable because it is in line with other pay toilets. About a year ago the price shot up to thirty pence. Apart from being an awkward amount of money as far as change is concerned but it was a 50% increase. 50%! What could possibly justify such a steep rise? Nothing had changed inside. Then in June 2010 they put the price up to fifty pence!!

I have never ever visited a WC anywhere that costs as much. It is no cleaner than the majority of free facilities, in fact many free facilities ARE cleaner.

Hammersmith Broadway is a combined transport hub come shopping centre. Here buses from the four corners of London converge as do some of the Underground lines. Thousands of people pass through here every day. Many will stop to shop or for a coffee or a coke. Unlike many places the coffee shops and burger bars here do not have toilets attached.

Today's toilet charge in the Broadway is the equivalent of ten (pre-decimal) old shillings, or 120 old English pence. Since 1966 then the price of a pee (in Hammersmith at least) has gone up 12,000%!!!

Yes twelve THOUSAND percent! in 44 years. That is 272% a year. Has the price of anything anywhere risen as much as visiting a toilet in Hammersmith Broadway?