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A great airport washroom can feel like an oasis between flights; a grim one can sour an entire journey. To see which airports get it right, we sifted through thousands of Google reviews of major airports across the US and UK, picking out every comment that mentioned the toilets, washrooms, or loos and scoring each airport on its rating and the words travellers actually used. The result is a map of the cleanest and dirtiest airport bathrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.
Key Findings
- London Heathrow (LHR) has the best-reviewed restrooms in the UK, with the highest average rating (3.69 stars) and the most cleanliness mentions. 40% of restroom reviews call it clean, just 6% call it dirty.
- London Stansted (STN) has the worst-rated restrooms in the UK, with the most restroom reviews of any UK airport (383) and the lowest average rating (2.05 stars).
- Tampa (TPA) has the best-reviewed restrooms in the US, with the highest average rating (4.43 stars) and the highest share of cleanliness mentions of any airport studied. Over half of restroom reviews mention cleanliness (54%), and only 3% mention dirtiness.
- Miami (MIA) and Philadelphia (PHL) have the worst-rated restrooms in the US, with average ratings of 2.2 and 2.49.
- UK airport restrooms rate far worse than US airport restrooms overall. The average UK airport scores below its US counterparts by nearly a full star (2.6 vs. 3.4).
The Most Discussed Airport Bathrooms
Some airports inspire far more bathroom commentary than others, and the busiest hubs on each side of the Atlantic draw the lion's share of it. Here is where flyers are talking about the toilets most.
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- London Stansted Airport (STN) recorded the highest number of restroom-related reviews in the UK dataset, with 383 mentions and a 2.05-star average rating.
- London Luton Airport (LTN) followed with 302 restroom mentions and a 2.21-star rating.
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- Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) generated the most restroom-related reviews among US airports, with 514 mentions, but earned just a 2.49-star average rating.
- Miami International Airport (MIA) ranked second for restroom mentions (476 reviews) and received the lowest average rating among the top airports analyzed at 2.22 stars.
- Tampa International Airport (TPA), Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), and LaGuardia Airport (LGA) stood out with ratings above 4 stars.
UK Airport Restrooms Receive Consistently Lower Ratings
Volume is one thing; quality is another. Rank the airports by how highly reviewers actually rate their facilities and a clear transatlantic gap opens up, one British travellers will recognise the moment they land.
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- Tampa (TPA) had the highest-rated restrooms in the US at 4.43 stars, followed by Salt Lake City (4.35) and LaGuardia (4.24).
- Heathrow (LHR) had the highest-rated restrooms in the UK at 3.69 stars.
- Miami has the lowest average rating of US airports at just 2.2 stars.
- More than half of the UK airports analyzed earned restroom ratings below 3 stars.
- London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was the only UK airport to achieve a rating above 3.5 stars.
Which Airports Stand Out for Cleanliness, Comfort, Dirtiness, and Odour
Star ratings tell you whether travellers were happy, but not why. The words reviewers reach for, from sparkling and spacious to filthy and smelly, reveal what really makes or breaks a trip to the loo. A higher share of clean or comfort mentions is a good sign, while a higher share of dirty or odour mentions points to more complaints.
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- Among US airports, Philadelphia (PHL) and Miami (MIA) drew the most uncleanliness mentions, at 32% and 31% of bathroom reviews, respectively.
- East Midlands (EMA) had the highest share of uncleanliness mentions of any airport in the UK: 33%, followed by Stansted (29%) and Edinburgh (28%).
- Tampa International Airport (TPA) led all airports in cleanliness mentions, with over half of restroom reviews (54%) referencing cleanliness.
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- Tampa (TPA) had the highest share of cleanliness mentions of any US airport at 54%, followed by LaGuardia (50%) and Salt Lake City (49%).
- In the UK, Heathrow (LHR) led on cleanliness mentions at 40%, well ahead of Glasgow (36%) and Gatwick (27%).
- Over one-fourth of Salt Lake City airport restroom reviews mention comfort (26%).
- Belfast (BFS) had the highest share of smell-related mentions of any airport: 14% of its bathroom reviews referenced odour, followed by Edinburgh (10%) and Bristol (9%).
- US airports saw far fewer odour mentions, led by Miami at just 8%, suggesting smell is a more common complaint at UK airports.
Methodology
This analysis uses Google Maps reviews for major US and UK airports. We pulled up to 3,000 of the most recent reviews per airport (a uniform cap, so per-airport rates stay comparable), capturing each review's text, star rating, and date.
We filtered the full set to "bathroom reviews," those mentioning at least one restroom term anywhere in the text: restroom, rest room, bathroom, washroom, toilet(s), lavatory, lavatories, loo(s), the gents, the ladies, gents', ladies', men's room, ladies room, ladies' room, WC, water closet, urinal(s), cubicle(s), baby change, and nappy change. Both American and British terms were included, so the UK sample wasn't undercounted. Each airport needed at least 50 bathroom reviews to qualify; only Aberdeen (19) fell short and was excluded.
To classify reviews, we looked at restroom-relevant text and flagged a review for a category if it contained any of that category's keywords:
- Cleanliness: clean, spotless, pristine, immaculate, sparkling, gleaming, tidy, hygienic (negated mentions like "not clean" excluded)
- Dirtiness: dirty, filthy, disgusting, gross, grimy, grime, nasty, vile, unsanitary, unhygienic, soiled, stained, sticky, grubby, squalid
- Odour: smell, smelly, stink, stench, odor, odour, reek, foul, musty, fresh, fragrant, aroma
- Comfort: spacious, roomy, cramped, modern, renovated, updated, dated, luxurious, lovely, pleasant, comfortable, decor, lighting, bright, attendant, upscale
For each airport and category, the reported figure is the share of its bathroom reviews mentioning that category (reviews containing a keyword รท total bathroom reviews). A review is counted once per category, and categories are independent, so they don't sum to 100%. The average star rating is the mean Google rating across an airport's bathroom reviews, so it is the overall airport rating on reviews that mention the restroom, not a restroom-specific score.
This analysis reflects what travellers chose to write in Google reviews, not a systematic audit of restroom conditions, so it captures perception and salience rather than measured cleanliness. Reviews were qualified by mentioning a restroom anywhere in the text, so a review is not necessarily about the restroom; a positive airport review may reference the bathroom only in passing. To limit this, category tagging (cleanliness, dirtiness, odour, comfort) was scoped to the restroom-relevant sentences rather than the full review, though some bleed from surrounding comments is still possible. Because the analysis relies on a fixed list of keywords, it captures only the terms we searched for.
About QS Supplies
QS Supplies is one of the UK's largest independent bathroom retailers, offering quality products for every budget and home. Whether you are refreshing a downstairs cloakroom or planning a full renovation, our range runs from elegant bathroom vanity units to space-saving shower enclosures , helping you create a space that feels more like the best-rated airport loos than the worst.
Fair Use Statement
You are welcome to share the findings from this research for noncommercial purposes. If you do, please credit QS Supplies with a link back to this page so readers can explore the full study.
