N.Y. hotel offers a Japanese toilet in every room

New York's Kitano Hotel is hoping to flush away its competition by equipping its rooms with indulgent Japanese-style toilets.

By the end of the month, each of the 149 guest rooms at the Japanese-owned hotel will have a "washlet" manufactured by Japanese company Toto. It is a toilet that promises "comfort and maximum cleanliness" with its five warm-water rinsing modes, warm air dryer, an "adjustable cleansing wand," heated seat, automatic air purifier and wireless remote control, according to Toto.

The Washlet S300 retails for about $1,501.

Washlets are common in Japan, but they're often considered an indulgence here, much like a French bidet. The Kitano, a midtown Manhattan boutique hotel that typically charges at least $299 for a room, says it's the first hotel in New York to offer in all its rooms what Toto calls an "unparalleled cleansing experience."

Kitano General Manager Clement Carey says the hotel installed the washlets in its suites years ago but only recently decided to add them to every room because many guests are from Japan.

"Our Japanese families expect them," he says. "We thought it would be a great way to make them feel at home, and we thought it would be a great differentiator for our American guests. … It's a nice little luxury."

Other hotels across the country have washlets in rooms. MGM's 4,004-room Aria Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, for instance, has washlets in more than 500 suites. There are washlets in rooms at Vegas hotels Bellagio, Venetian and Mirage. In Beverly Hills, the Peninsula Hotel and Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons also has them. The Holiday Inn Express in Ann Arbor, Mich., has them in all 110 rooms.

For anyone who wants to test one, Toto's website has a list of Japanese restaurants in the U.S. that have washlets in their restrooms. They include Hasaki in New York, Matsuhisa in Los Angeles and Circle Sushi in Atlanta.

USA TODAY Road Warriors are mixed about whether they'd want to wash themselves in a washlet.

Scott McKain, a speaker and business book writer in Fishers, Ind., says he and his wife tried one while staying at the Aria.

"We laughed at it, couldn't imagine why anyone would have such a contraption, vowed it was the silliest thing we had ever seen -- until we used it," he says. "Then, we started looking to see what it would cost to install in our home."

Alas, the unit and installation were too expensive.

David Hall, an installation engineer in Edmond, Okla., says he tried a washlet while working in Japan.

"The seats were warmed, you never got the shock of a cold seat," he says. "The water spray always hit in the correct spot, you always felt fresh and clean."

But he had a warning about the front and rear washing options on the toilet. "Front clean is to be used by women only. It is unpleasant for men," he said.

Todd Sifert, a Dallas health care systems consultant who spends more than 45 weeks a year in hotels, isn't so open to the idea.

"I definitely would not try an item like this in a public facility like a hotel," he says. "Housekeeping has trouble getting a regular toilet clean. I can't imagine trusting that something with an 'adjustable cleansing wand' would be cleaned adequately after the previous user."

Carey says the toilets have a self-washing mechanism and that the hotel also cleans them on a regular basis, especially given its clientele.

"The Japanese expectation for cleanliness is very, very high," he says. "Any lapse of complete cleanliness is immediately recognized by our guests."

Carey says most of his American guests have liked the toilets. But, he acknowledges, "It is truly odd to talk about this sometimes."