Top Bathroom Honors Include Chicago

These Chicago facilities are up for honor of "America's Best Restroom"

The Field Museum is ready to flush its bathroom competition.

The Chicago museum's restrooms have been nominated among 10 others in the counrty as part of the 10th annual America's Best Restroom contest, presented by Cintas.

What's so special about the museum's facilities? The family friendly nature of them.

"We have men's rooms with diaper changing stations, which isn't always the case," explains Emily Waldren, PR manager for The Field Museum. "We also have nursing rooms for new mothers."

According to a release from Cintas, the women's restroom also includes "a large 'Tot Area' with smaller toilets for its littlest guests."

Waldren said she sent in photos of the bathroom to enter. This was the first year the museum participated in the unorthodox contest.

"It would say a lot to be able to [boast] that we have the best restroom in the country," Waldren said.

Other restrooms up for the prize include the Main Street Casino in Las Vegas, which features a portion of the Berlin Wall hanging behind the urinals; the Don's Johns DJ5000LX Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer in Virginia, set up for President Obama for his inauguration; and the Habana Outpost in Brooklyn, which has advanced "green" bathroom technology.

This isn't the first time a Chicago restroom was given bathroom nods. According to Sabrina Zimring, survey editor for Cintas, The Drake Hotel was nominated in 2009 and The Signature Room in 2008.

Anyone can nominate their favorite bathroom for the prize. Zimring says they get hundreds of nominations each year and look at a variety of different aspects to choose the top 10.

"The Field Museum is both very clean and family friendly," Zimring explains. "Whereas The Habana Outpost isn't the most glamorous, it's very 'green,' which is important now."

Fans of The Field Museum and its facilities can vote online. The winner will be announced in the fall.

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