Bowl Games: Contest Seeks To Find America's Best Restroom

DETROIT (WWJ) - Have you ever used a restroom that had the WOW factor? If so, the Cintas Corporation wants to hear about it. Nominations are now open for their annual contest to find America's best restroom.

The contest is open to any non-residential restroom in the U.S. that is accessible to the general public. Entries will be judged on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements.

Contest organizers will choose the top 10 "places to go when you've got to go" and post pictures online in August. The public will then vote for the best restroom in an all out battle of the bowls.

Spokeswoman Sabrina Zimring said the restroom can be something elaborate, like the Fox Theater, or something clean and simple.

"Nominate no matter what type of facility it is. It can be over the top, it can be a gas station, it can be family-friendly, you know, that serves hundreds of people in a day or just one. It's ultimately about the context of the bathroom, not the content," she said.

Last year's winner was Buc-ee's, a popular truck stop in Texas. It features hundreds of showers and bathrooms that visitors say are spotless around-the-clock.

"It was a gas station, convenience store, shopping center, the size of a Sams Club or a Walmart. It has hundreds of bathroom stalls and hundreds of bathrooms," Zimring said.

Zimring says the main selling point is that it has to be memorable. She said organizers this year are hoping to find the best stadium bathroom in America.

"We've had many other theaters, buildings and historical venues, but we're looking for stadiums this year. If anybody has been to any great football stadiums, that would be really great to have," she said.

The winner and runner-up will be revealed this fall during a nationally publicized media event, and the top vote-getters will secure a place in Cintas' America's Best Restroom Contest Hall of Fame.

The contest runs through the summer. Nominate a deserving bathroom online at www.bestrestroom.com.

For our neighbors across the river, Cintas Canada will launch its annual Canada's Best Restroom Contest later in April.