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A traveler has had enough of arriving at hotels only to discover the bathroom has no real door—or worse, a see-through glass one that barely closes. Now she’s on a mission to protect everyone’s dignity, one hotel review at a time. Woman documents bad bathroom doors In a viral video with more than 234,000 views, TikToker Sadie (@bring_back_doors) called out yet another hotel for installing what she considers an unacceptable bathroom door. “In my quest to find hotels that have confirmed doors, I’ve had a lot of hotels email me back and be like, Oh, we have glass doors, but don’t worry, don’t worry. They’re foggy, you can see through them,” she says in the video, standing in front of a frosted glass bathroom door at the Alexander Hotel in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. She demonstrates her point by showing that the supposedly “private” frosted glass is actually quite transparent. “A, yes, you can see through these. Like you can clearly see through this door, and B, glass doors do not close properly,” she says in the video. Sadie then explains her standards for what counts as an acceptable bathroom door. @bring_back_doors Hotel name: Alexander Hotel, Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands I need to be clear. Glass doors are not private. And making them foggy does not make them private. I am once again sitting here saying screw you to all bathroom doors that are not solid and close fully. And I am providing alternative hotels with guaranteed doors at bringbackdoors.com Check your hotels door situation before you book or risk your privacy. Door submitted by @mmargaridahb, DM me to submit your own bad doors. #bathroomdoors #hotel #travel #fyp ♬ original sound – Bring Back Doors “When I say I am looking for hotel doors that close properly, I mean, all of the edges are fully touching the frame. I’m not talking about some 50%,” she says in the video. “And I’m so tired of hotels and designers pretending that this is an acceptable door because it’s not. It is not an acceptable door,” she adds. “I need to be clear. Glass doors are not private. And making them foggy does not make them private,” Sadie wrote in the caption. “I am once again sitting here saying screw you to all bathroom doors that are not solid and close fully.” The door was submitted by another TikTok user who experienced the hotel’s lack of privacy firsthand. The “Bring Back Doors” movement Sadie isn’t just complaining about bad bathroom doors on TikTok—she’s built an entire movement around fixing the problem. According to her website BringBackDoors.com, Sadie got fed up after “a few too many hotel stays that were lacking in privacy but oozing in awkward moments.” The site describes her as “a long time believer that sometimes public shame is good, and someone who loves to travel with their friends and family, but also loves privacy.” “I’m done. I’m done arriving at hotels and discovering that they have removed the bathroom door. Something that should be as standard as having a bed, has been sacrificed in the name of ‘aesthetic,’” the website states. Sadie acknowledges that removing doors or installing glass ones saves hotels money on materials and makes rooms feel bigger. “But what about my dignity??? I can’t save that, when you don’t include a bathroom door,” the website reads. To solve the problem, she built a searchable database where travelers can check if a hotel has a proper bathroom door before booking. According to the website, she’s emailed hundreds of hotels asking two key questions: do your doors close all the way, and are they made of glass? Hotels that confirm their doors close completely and aren’t made of glass get listed on the site, sorted by price range and city. The site features city-specific guides for travelers looking for hotels with guaranteed bathroom privacy. The website also includes a name-and-shame section where people can submit hotels with inadequate bathroom doors. “If you’ve stayed at a doorless hotel, send me an email with the hotel name to bringbackdoors@gmail.com, or send me a direct message on Instagram with the hotel name and a photo of the doorless setup to be publicly posted,” the website instructs. “Let’s name and shame these hotels to protect the dignity of future travelers.” On TikTok, Sadie regularly posts videos reviewing hotels and providing guides for cities where travelers can find rooms with proper bathroom doors. Why do hotels remove bathroom doors, anyway? The doorless bathroom trend isn’t just hotels being weird—it’s actually a calculated design strategy to make you think you’re getting more for your money. According to Thrillist, removing bathroom doors or replacing them with glass ones tricks your brain into thinking the room is bigger than it actually is. The human brain views space as a privilege, especially in cities with sky-high rents like Tokyo, Hong Kong, or London. When you can see the entire room without a door blocking your view, it creates the illusion that you’re getting more bang for your buck. The trend started with Japanese capsule hotels, which were originally designed for businessmen who needed to crash between long office shifts, Thrillist reported. As the microhotel concept moved west, the lack of privacy came along for the ride. But it’s not just budget hotels ditching doors. Even five-star properties like the Conrad, Four Seasons, and Marriott Group have embraced the open-concept bathroom, according to Yahoo. At some Maldives resorts with outdoor facilities, you can literally hear toilets flushing in paradise. Designers say they’re dealing with practical constraints. Hotel bathrooms are often tiny, and they have to maximize functionality without sacrificing aesthetics, Yahoo reported. Glass panels can draw natural light into windowless spaces, reducing the need for overhead lighting. Fewer walls and barriers also make it easier for housekeepers, who often have just 30 minutes or less to clean a room. “With fewer materials that go into making a distinctly separate room, it’s a lower build-out cost,” Cameron Sperance, a senior hotels reporter at The Points Guy, told Yahoo. Kenneth Cronin, who works with brands like The Ritz Carlton and has designed for hotels over the past 10 to 15 years, told Thrillist that the shift toward glass and lightweight materials isn’t about saving money—it’s about perception. “Balancing function, comfort, and privacy while embracing lighter materials is a nuanced art,” he said. The good news? The trend might be reversing. Designers are responding to guest complaints about exposed showers and frosted glass doors, Yahoo reported. The open-plan concept is evolving into a more private “bathhouse-style” setup, and partial-glass shower doors are headed toward the exit. Commenters react “The foggy ones are almost worse, you just get a hazy fleshy silhouette hunched over on the crapper like some kind of sack of ham,” a top comment read. “A complaint id like to tack on: the sliding barn style doors that don’t actually close,, feels like there’s not even a door fr,” a person said. “Love this campaign, I do not want a romantic weekend listening to the other person poo,” another wrote. “I found my people. I sit there and look up the room pictures on TripAdvisor to check if they have proper bathroom doors,” a commenter wrote. The Daily Dot reached out to Sadie via email. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds. The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
