Despite the increase in popularity of ‘staycations’, the market for short-term holiday lets is oversaturated.
In popular areas, some owners are turning to extremes to make their property stand out.
Testing the quality of one of these unconventional hotel rooms, YouTuber Molly Thompson posted a video documenting her stay at The Netty, a converted public toilet-turned-hotel in Oxford.
According to the hotel’s website, The Netty a ‘one-of-a-kind boutique hotel in central Oxford, set within beautifully restored public toilets’.
Molly, whose other videos shows she is no stranger to unusual travel spots, paid £131 for a one-night stay at the former public toilets, which were first opened in 1895.
‘Hidden underneath one of the main roads into Oxford there are two pretty well hidden Victorian public toilets that have actually been refurbished into a hotel,’ she said.
‘It’s called The Netty because apparently it’s Geordie slang for a toilet,’ she added.
Stepping into the bathroom, she said: ‘Everybody that I have told that I’m filming this video has said “oh my god, it’s going to stink”.
Testing the quality of one of these unconventional hotel rooms, YouTuber Molly Thompson posted a video documenting her stay at The Netty, a converted public toilet-turned-hotel in Oxford (pictured)
Molly, whose other videos shows she is no stranger to unusual travel spots, paid £131 for a one-night stay at the former public toilets (pictured)
‘I can actually now tell you, with full confidence, it smells lovely – definitely not a toilet smell.’
Each room still carries traces of its history – with one room marked by a blue toilet, once the men’s, the other a pink toilet from the women’s.
The toilets shut down in 2008 and remained derelict and fenced off for 17 years.
The transformation involved a lengthy process, with initial development plans stalling for over a decade before the hotel project received permission in 2019 and eventually opened in June this year.
According to the hotel website, the suite offers 22sqm of space, and features a king-sized bed, a walk-in rainfall shower, and a mini bar with complimentary refreshments.
It accommodates up to two guests and, due to its underground location, is accessed via a staircase.
It’s not the only former public toilet that now has a new purpose.
Aptly named The Loovre, a former Victorian ladies lavatory in Berwick, Northumberland, now houses a Grade II-listed, tiny holiday home.
In Clapham, a former public toilet is now a wine bar, and in Fitzrovia, you can find a coffee shop inside a public urinal.
‘The real test was sleeping because one thing you can’t do anything about is the traffic noise. You are literally under the main road,’ Molly said.
‘That did keep me awake in the night, but it did also make me feel slightly anxious that anyone could walk downstairs and knock on the door.
‘I felt a bit exposed, but I genuinely do think if you’re staying here with someone else, this is such a unique, boutique hotel experience.’
The video has been viewed almost 20,000 times and has prompted debate in the comments. Many locals admitted having no idea that the hotel existed.
One commenter wrote: ‘Having used the men’s toilets as a kid in the 1980s and early 90s, you were right to retch. They had to close both rooms off at this year’s St Giles Fair as people thought they were still toilets. Looks like they did a good job converting them into hotel rooms.’
Another added: ‘Having grown up in Oxford (ish), seeing that these have been converted is truly wild.’
Source link
CHECK OUT: Top Travel Destinations
READ MORE: Travel News
