Apartment layout advice

[Mary4178]

Hi, we have recently converted part of our house into a self contained apartment and we are really loving utilising it as an Airbnb.

We have got another apartment which we are now considering also turning into an Airbnb.

However the latter apartment doesn’t have a great lay out.

The bathroom is right next to the kitchen, and is quite far away from the bedroom.  

I just wondered if anyone has a property with a similar, not very practical design, and if it puts people off.

Our other alternative would be to move the bathroom closer to the bedroom, but that would mean we’d have to have a sani flo/ macerater type loo.

Obviously that option isn’t ideal, due to the cost of the renovations, and also we have concerns about the practicality of a saniflo toilet.

Any advice on this (very boring! ) topic would be appreciated 🙂

[Anonymous]

@Mary4178   How far away are we talking? Is it a matter of stumbling through dark corridors, down a spiral staircase, and into a whole other wing, or more like crossing a room or hallway? I'm guessing more like the latter, if it's a one-bedroom apartment and not Dracula's castle.

If your target guests don't have severe mobility or incontinence issues, the current layout shouldn't be a deal-breaker - rather than totally re-doing your plumbing, a well-placed nightlight or two should be enough to make it work. Honestly, even though real estate agents have long touted the ensuite bathroom as a luxury, I beg to differ. Picture the young couple on their first romantic holiday together, one "freshening up" in the bathroom while the other waits excitedly in bed. Considering how sounds and smells easily travel through household doors, what could possibly ruin the mood more decisively than the bathroom being too close to the bedroom? 

[Sandra126]

Agree, @Anonymous . Not a fan of bedroom bathroom closeness. 

[Lisa723]

@Mary4178 we rented our smaller cabin quite successfully with the only bathroom being off the kitchen, down a steep staircase from the bedroom. As @Anonymous suggests, this is fine for the young and spry. We recently put in a second half-bath upstairs, mostly for our own comfort, and this has resulted in some bookings from older people who wouldn't have booked without it-- but we had no shortage of business without it.

I think the key ingredients are (1) make sure the layout cannot be missed when looking at the listing and (2) install adequate nightlights.

[Mary4178]

@Anonymous 

 Thanks so much for the hilarious reply!

Love the image you conjure up.

However,  what if our young couple are happily cooking in the kitchen and one needs to use the bathroom. That mix of sounds and smells may then not be conducive to romance either.

With regards to distance, the bathroom is around 15 metres from the bedroom, through the kitchen and along a corridor.

Maybe I’m just overthinking it.

Possibly the solution might be to make the lay out really clear in the listing and include a picture of the floor plan. 

[Anonymous]

@Mary4178  I think adding the floor plan to the listing photos is a brilliant idea. And it's not overthinking, in my opinion - it's the kind of thoughtfulness and attention to detail that great hospitality is all about.

Getting back to the gutter, that bathroom placement thing will have its drawbacks anywhere, but getting it completely away from the house also isn't a great option - outhouses fell out of fashion some time ago. But any resources you might have committed to moving its location would probably be better spent improving its ventilation and perfecting its features.

 @Lisa723  makes a good point that some guests in their golden years go out of their way to stay in places with super-quick-access bathrooms for a reason (I'll spare you the gruesome details and just say, I've learned this the hard way). But to make accessibility features in the bathroom a real value-adding selling point, I think you'd have to go a lot farther than just moving the toilet closer to the bed - you'd really want to make sure that the entire home was designed around the mobility limitations that you're hoping to accommodate. I was once in a place that had carefully installed a wheelchair-friendly bathroom, but it could only be accessed by a steep flight of stairs and a narrow door, which seemed to miss the point a bit.

[Mary4178]

@Lisa723 

Thanks for the reply.

That’s good to know that it might not necessarily put people off booking.

I’m guessing that none of your guests had an issue with the layout you originally had?

I think we’ll scrap the idea of reconfiguring the apartment.

[Lisa723]

@Mary4178 no, we never once had any complaint about it. We did hear from older people who rented our larger house and would have like to rent the small cabin later but did not because of the bathroom situation (and eventually did, when we updated it). But again we had no shortage of business without the update, primarily from young couples, and we would definitely not have invested in it except for our own personal use. There was clearly no business reason to do it.

[Mary4178]

@Anonymous @Lisa723 

This forum is great!

My husband and I have had endless deliberations over the last few weeks re the pros and cons of the layout.

I should’ve asked here ages ago!

You’ve really clarified things.

The bathroom is going to stay right where it is.

But we’ll make it a really splendid bathroom, so that’s what guests will focus on.
Make the positives so good that they’ll forget the ‘negatives’ 

And having convenient effective night lighting along the corridor is a really good shout.