Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn

This "Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn" is a review of the shower facility at the Pilot Travel Center in Dunn, NC, USA, based upon our own expectations of what a shower facility that caters to professional truck drivers of commercial motor vehicles should be like, our own preferences (especially in comparison to a home bathroom), and our observations.

Shower Review: "Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn"

Date: 6/23/2010

Location: Pilot Travel Center, Dunn, NC, I-95, exit 77

Overall facility: "Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn"

• Showers assigned by clerk
• Queued customers were assigned a badly wrinkled piece of paper for their place in the queue.
• This facility has only three showers total.
• Keyed entry into shower rooms
• Able to get more towels from attendant
• There is no display of shower customer number with shower assignment, although numbers were called over a loud speaker.
• Shower is free with minimum 50 gallon purchase of fuel from a Pilot Travel Center anywhere in the nation within the last 5 days.

Shower #2

Pros: "Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn"

• Three small packets of soap were waiting for us in the room.
• A paper towel dispenser near the sink had plenty of towels in it
• Plenty of counter space at sink
• Towels and washcloths were adequate to meet our needs
• Mirror was well positioned on wall behind sink for both short and tall drivers
• A light with six bulbs over the mirror allowed male customers to shave without getting nicked.
• Water pressure from sink was okay.
• Electrical outlets worked well.
• Shower could be turned on and temperature adjusted without getting wet
• There was one towel hook directly outside the shower stall and three more on the wall behind the door.
• Although there was no fan in the room, the mirror never fogged up while a customer was showering.

Cons: "Shower Review Pilot North Carolina Dunn"

• There was no fan in this room although there was a "hook" with an electrical outlet nearby where we guess that there had been one at one time.
• The temperature in the room was way too warm; Mike even called it a "bake oven." Vicki guessed that management had forgotten that it was now summer and no longer winter.
• The mirror had not been thoroughly cleaned.
• There was a significant amount of mold or mildew in the grout in the shower stall. While it appeared from the "whitened" tile below the shiny tile in the shower stall that bleach had at one time been used to try to treat or prevent mold/mildew, whatever had been used no longer worked.
• The toilet had not been cleaned prior to our arrival. There was a short, curly, dark hair lying at the bottom of the water about 1/3 way below the lip of the bowl toward the drain hole, which told us that the toilet had not even been flushed. Also, there were specks of something on the back wall of the bowl, which told us that a toilet bowl brush had not been used to clean it.
• While the toilet flushed well, something going on with the plumbing made a high-pitched noise toward the end of the flushing cycle indicating a problem. We also heard this same noise from somewhere else in the building, perhaps someone turning off the water at a sink since it didn't sound like a toilet flushing.
• There was neither a door restrictor nor a deadbolt lock on the door.
• Shower water pressure dipped significantly whenever a toilet was flushed. At other times, the water pressure was inconsistent.
• Shower water temperature rose significantly whenever a toilet was flushed.
• Built-in seat was not large enough for an oversized shower bag to rest on.
• There was a layer of dust on the door vent and a thick layer of dust on one of the ceiling vents.
• The non-dusty ceiling vent appeared to have some of its louvers moved out of place.
• The configuration of tiles in and out of the shower stall was not comfortable to stand on.
• Mike noted a layer of dust on the floor under the sink, telling us that the room had not been thoroughly swept or mopped.
• Although there was an arrangement of artificial flowers was placed in the back left corner of the counter, they were dusty.
• Because of the small number of shower rooms at this facility, on this day, we had to wait 25 minutes for a shower. Another driver who came in after us and got queued for a shower waited until after we got out of the shower. When we were returning the key, Vicki heard him say that he wasn't waiting any longer and left.
• There was no drop box that we saw to deposit the key and no instructions on where to take it. Vicki guessed at turning it back in at the cashier counter.

Overall grade for this shower at this facility on a scale of A+ to F- (with A+ being the best, F- being the worst): C-