Top Gripe at Cleveland Hopkins: Restrooms Are the Pits

Cleveland is spending more than $2 million to flush away the top complaint of the 10.5 million people who pass through Cleveland Hopkins International Airport each year: the dingy, dirty restrooms.

That's good news for Barbara Radigan of Wickliffe, a member of The Plain Dealer's Reader Advisory Network.

"The restrooms are very depressing places," she said in an e-mail. "They are dingy, dirty and damp-smelling. There is no place in the stall to put your purse, bag or coat. The floors are not an option!"

Hopkins spokeswoman Pat Smith said the most common complaint from passengers is about the bathrooms. She said about 29,000 passengers a day pass through the airport, and she estimates 60 percent use the restrooms.

To reduce complaints, the airport has begun remodeling every bathroom except those in Concourse D, which opened eight years ago.

Airport engineer Mike Ebos, who oversees the renovations, said the restrooms have been redesigned for easier upkeep and convenience. For example:

Trash cans will be under the paper towel dispensers, so patrons can "dry their hands and pitch their waste without even moving," Smith said.

Floors will be pitched slightly so water drains more easily instead of puddling.

Toilets and faucets will be equipped with no-touch motion sensors.

In addition, four separate family restrooms, with changing areas, are being added. The main bathrooms also will be handicapped accessible.

Smith said custodians at Hopkins are scheduled to clean each bathroom at least once an hour. Even at that rate, she said, passengers can still experience an unkempt bathroom.

"We can clean a restroom and five minutes later a flight [arrives] and the restrooms can be a mess," Smith said.

Many Plain Dealer readers who responded to a request for feedback on the state of the restrooms want them cleaner.

Bob Kobistek of Mentor wrote: "Why do you think I have a Continental President's Club membership? In part so I can use the club restrooms."

Some criticized Hopkins' restrooms while others gave them the thumbs up.

Ken Trump, a businessman from Cleveland, said he finds the doorways to the men's rooms too narrow for a man with luggage in tow. And he's often annoyed by frequently empty towel and soap dispensers.

But Mark Fikaris of South Euclid described the men's room as clean and well kept during a recent trip to the airport. And Gene Sevin of Lyndhurst, a frequent airport traveler, said: "I've never been bothered by any lack of cleanliness."

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.