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NearToilets – Airbnb of toilets, earn from toilets for rent

40 points| kevin11111 | 5 months ago |neartoilets.com

48 comments

order

dawnerd|5 months ago

Trying it here and it is showing toilets inside of the public school that you can’t just stroll into. I’m not sure how the data is gathered, but that’s just wrong. Those are not public use at all.

I gave it my exact location and hit emergency and it put me pretty far from my actual gps.

Was this just a vibe coded project? Sure seems like it.

There’s existing apps like this though:

https://www.loofind.com/ https://www.toiletcodes.com/en https://toiletfinder.net/ https://www.toiletmap.org.uk/ https://toilet.place/

esskay|5 months ago

Yep my closest one (despite being on the edge of a major city) shows as 8 miles away, in the middle of a field. When I open it up on Google maps its a derelict barn in the middle of private land with no roads. Meanwhile I can literally see a public toilet from the front door of my house in an outdoor shopping area over the other side of the road, and that's not on the map despite it existing there for at least 50 years.

kerpal|5 months ago

That's always the issue with these directory indexer services which try to scrape lots of data. The quality is always questionable. If users actually adopt it you can have them report or fix the data based on consensus but users won't even bother if they find 1/3 of your listings are complete junk and your platform actually wastes time.

amelius|5 months ago

Are you sure that it is physically impossible to access those toilets?

Someone might have added them after a visit, not caring if it is actually allowed.

HarHarVeryFunny|5 months ago

School or college? Many colleges around me in NJ don't ask for ID - I used to often go work in the library, use cafe, etc.

crazygringo|5 months ago

I'm confused. The title does not describe the site at all.

The site is a database of public toilets, with leaderboards for people who help update the information.

I can't find anything on it about earning money from toilets or being an "AirBNB of toilets".

ndriscoll|5 months ago

It seems to be pulling from OpenStreetMap, and doesn't explicitly say that "community contributions" make their way back upstream (or direct people to go contribute to OSM), so I suspect they are not encouraging people to update the information, but instead are trying to bootstrap their own proprietary database.

OSM can have more data like gendered/non-gendered, accessibility, fee/non-fee, availability of changing stations, etc. and is actually free and open so makes more sense to use directly.

geodel|5 months ago

Perhaps it would be scheme like those Toilet service champions in Gentleman clubs in US. Guys handing napkins and mints to hassled bathroom visitors for couple of dollars.

1970-01-01|5 months ago

What was once satire is now reality:

https://theonion.com/new-e-toilet-to-revolutionize-online-sh...

googlryas|5 months ago

iToilet, an app which directs you to the nearest decent toilet any where in the world, was also how Costanza made his millions(before losing it to madoff) in the seinfeld reboot that happened within the Curb Your Enthusiasm universe

amelius|5 months ago

Finally our smartphones can fulfill one of our most basic needs.

tdeck|5 months ago

Is there actually a rental system? I only see public toilets on the website.

soelost|5 months ago

As someone with IBS whose considered building this many times. Well done!

the__alchemist|5 months ago

Note: there is a graveyard full of similar projects. I think this would be a great service if this takes off, but I hope they learn from prior art.

geodel|5 months ago

For a moment I thought there is a graveyard full of similar visitors

pimlottc|5 months ago

This map widget is terrible. There is no information about each dot on the map screen, you have to click it and go to a new page (with a load spinner!) to see what it is. When you go back to the map, it resets to the original location and zoom level instead of where you had it when you clicked. You also can't zoom the map very far.

A map is useless if you can't quickly view and compare multiple locations. Basic information should be available on the map screen itself, ideally with different icons and/or colors, instant popup dialogs, etc. If you want to have additional detail on a separate page, that's fine, but you shouldn't have to leave the map to accomplish the main function of the site.

proee|5 months ago

I am forever grateful to Starbucks in San Francisco for offering a public accessible restroom during an extreme bathroom emergency. For whatever reason, my body did not react well to "Vitamin Water" while riding on the BART. I think perhaps the crystalline fructose was the problem (Have never drank it since).

Bottom line, I barely made it out of the BART station and had maybe 30 seconds left until purse disaster. I hobbled across the street to a Starbucks and prayed with all my might that the door would not be locked or require some kind of access code. Thankfully it opened and I was relieved from what would have been a most embarrassing day.

kevin11111|5 months ago

thank you for all your feedback, currently this is a work in progress, building the community and continue improving the app, the data we have and implementing the renting system.

emsign|5 months ago

And the urinal stench after a week is a bonus.

CjHuber|5 months ago

Just walk into a restaurant an ask nicely?

hereaiham|5 months ago

Not all places and towns are so friendly. Many places love money so much that they'll say it's only for paying customers, not any customers.

pavel_lishin|5 months ago

This depends wildly on where and who you are.

I have a young child, and that is an absolute free pass to nearly any bathroom anywhere. My kid is very cute and charismatic to boot, so I'm half certain I could make our way into Area 51 or the Vatican archives if we found ourselves with a full bladder.

amelius|5 months ago

I did this once in Paris and they told me to pay 2 euros.

HarHarVeryFunny|5 months ago

In the US a fast food place or Starbucks is your best bet - easy to find and they don't care.

ivape|5 months ago

I feel like we have enough real estate and money to build toilets on every block.

daft_pink|5 months ago

This new app is the sh*t.

EGreg|5 months ago

In France I heard they had toilets that you had to pay to keep the door from opening. A real “captive audience” and “impulse buy” if I do say so.

In general, owning a gas station on a highway is far more profitable than owning it on a street.

LtdJorge|5 months ago

No, it’s just that you pay for the system, and the lock engages after you’ve paid. It’s not supposed to be used for free, but you can if you hold the door yourself, although I believe the electric system doesn’t turn on (including lighting).