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Where spending a penny comes with a mini makeover
Last updated at 23:37pm on 12.12.06
Worth a stopover: a loo on Oxford Street that comes with all the creature comforts
With fresh flowers, lounge music and scented candles, it is the public lavatory that women dream about.
But although this ladies' powder room promises to change the way you spend a penny, it has also changed the price - to £5.
Sited on Oxford Street, the luxury loos have cubicles twice the normal size, giving women enough room to change their clothes or dump their shopping bags.
Beauty products, hair dryers and hair straighteners are available and there is a staff member to every two customers. Hand and foot massages and makeovers are also on offer.
Former property developer Elaine Gennard, 44, came up with the idea. She said: 'A couple of years ago I was shopping in Central London with my husband and could not find one for love nor money.
'It took me 20 minutes to negotiate my way around a department store and even then the facilities were pretty bleak.
'I decided there had to be a better alternative for women who want to have a nice experience.
'We ladies tend to take longer than men in the toilets and would rather wait until we get home than go to a revolting, smelly loo.
Our market research tells us women will pay £5 to use a toilet because they get all the ancillary services as well.
'It is about making women feel special and being able to sit back, relax and freshen up in a luxurious setting.'
The site, opposite Selfridges, cost more than £1million to revamp. It aims to revive the concept of a Victorian powder room. A female bouncer mans the door and a hand and face wipe is given to women when they pay the entry fee.
Shoppers are escorted into a white powder and reception room with flowers, music and candles.
One of four attendants then leads the way to a cubicle 4ft by 8ft. It is scrubbed by one of six cleaners after every visitor.
Women can wash their hands with a signature handwash scented with mandarin, lemon and coriander, use complimentary creams, hairdressing-equipment or have a massage.
There are 19 cubicles - including two for the disabled, two mother and baby units - and two powder rooms.
Named WC1 after its postcode, it also has its own beauty products costing from £1.60.
Mrs Gennard said: 'This will appeal to every girl from her 20s to her 60s. Our research tells us girls in their 20s want somewhere to get ready for a night out on the town while the older woman wants somewhere to refresh before a night at the theatre or out with her husband.'
As 200 million shoppers use Oxford Street every year, she estimates 1,000 women will use the lavatories every day.
They will be open from next Wednesday, between 8am to 9pm Monday to Saturday, and noon to 6pm on Sunday.
