PRACTICAL TRAVELER; Marble Baths: Watch Your Step
The accident rate doesn 't surprise Bruce Goff , a San Francisco- based hotel room designer . Mr. Goff, who specializes in bathrooms, said that he has walked into some hotel rooms and thought, ''Gee, I hope their insurance is paid up.'' Three factors determine the kind of material that goes into a hotel bathroom, he said: initial cost, aesthetics and cleaning time. ''Luxury is the be-all and end-all,'' he added, ''and the marketplace competition is what drives the aesthetics.'' In other words, bathrooms sell rooms . Supersizing It The increased presence of the supersize bathtub, with high sides and wide interiors, is another hazard. Stepping in from a slippery floor surface onto a slippery tub surface magnifies the problem. Russ Kendzior of the National Floor Safety Institute , a trade organization that promotes the use of high-traction materials, says that hotels don't like to use the available materials or rubber mats because ...