‘Women’ check out men in restroom at 5-star hotel

By Joe Kovacs

When could a men’s room be the most popular location in a luxurious, five-star hotel?

When it has life-sized photos of beautiful women strategically placed over its urinals.


Men’s room at Hotel Sofitel in Queenstown, New Zealand, features life-sized photos of models above the urinals

That’s the decor at the brand new, $45 million Hotel Sofitel in Queenstown, New Zealand, featuring local models with humorous looks on their faces as they scope out the men as they take care of business.


The glamour gals have binoculars, tape measures, cameras, and at least one appears to be laughing at what she sees.

“I think they’re kind of taking a risk by putting that up,” one visitor to the men’s room told New Zealand’s One News.

“Certainly it wasn’t our intention to offend anybody,” said hotel manager Mark Wilkinson, who claims the idea was to add some levity to the opulent experience. “I’m under a lot of pressure now to do something for the female toilets. I think you need to stay tuned on that. I think we will do something.”


Many men coming out of the restroom appear to be taking the decor in the fun spirit for which it was designed, with comments like:

  • “I better get to the gym, I think. It’s hilarious.”

  • “Kind of speechless is the way it leaves me.”

  • “The girl with the glasses, we made eye contact so it was quite nice.”

  • “I haven’t looked at them that closely, and I’ll get in trouble at home if I say I’ve got a favorite.”

  • “I kind of like the woman with the binoculars.” When asked if he would go back to her next time he needed to use the lavatory, he responded, “No way. I’m gonna go to that woman with the tape measure just to make myself feel better.”

    Joe Kovacs

    Executive News Editor Joe Kovacs is the author of the new best-selling book, "Reaching God Speed: Unlocking the Secret Broadcast Revealing the Mystery of Everything." His previous books include "Shocked by the Bible 2: Connecting the Dots in Scripture to Reveal the Truth They Don't Want You to Know," a follow-up to his No. 1 best-seller "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told" as well as "The Divine Secret: The Awesome and Untold Truth about Your Phenomenal Destiny." He is an award-winning journalist of more than 30 years in American TV, radio and the internet, and is also a former editor at the Budapest Business Journal in Europe. Read more of Joe Kovacs's articles here.