Grand America a finalist in clean restroom competition

How fancy and clean is your restroom?

Salt Lake City's Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main, is among 10 finalists in this year's "America's Best Restroom Contest."

With restrooms at the Grand America boasting Italian Carerra marble, bronze and crystal chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling commodes, beautifully inlaid African anegre wood and hand-painted walls, it has earned national attention.

The public can vote on this year's finalists through Aug. 31 in this ninth annual contest, presented by Cintas, at www.bestrestroom.com

The website takes visitors on a photographic tour of each facility and then asks them to rank the finalists, from 1-10. The winner will be announced in September.

The Grand America is competing against nine high class restrooms located in Las Vegas, New York, St. Louis, Santa Monica, Calif., Fort Wayne, Ind., Louisville, Ky., Wichita, Kan., and Gilbert, Ariz.

Looking at photographs of the competing restrooms, the China Grill at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and the Embassy Theatre at Fort Wayne, Ind., appear to offer the most competition, at least as far as fanciness goes.

This is the first time Salt Lake or Utah has had a finalist in this national contest.

The Grand America is a 24-story hotel with 775 guest rooms, including 295 suites, and is the flagship property of The Grand America Hotels & Resorts, owned by Earl Holding.

"Immaculate, inviting and, most of all, memorable," Cintas reported of its top 10 restroom selections, which have established a new standard for restroom quality.

"These washrooms are testaments to their proprietors' sense of taste, flair and attention to detail and feature some of the world's finest materials and customer comforts as well as a few surprises," Cintas' press release says.

While the finalists are all quite unique, they have one thing in common: all are exceptionally clean.

Cintas created the Best Restroom award in 2002 to honor those businesses across America that place high value on hygiene and exceptional style in their public restrooms. Over the past eight years, the contest has attracted tens of thousands of voters.