“Bathrooms are almost as important as bedrooms as a place for guests to escape and relax, and are therefore becoming more indulgent, extravagant and luxurious,” says British designer David Linley.

“Spaciousness and natural light are the biggest drivers in hotel bathroom design today,” adds Cheryl Rowley of Beverly Hills, California-based Cheryl Rowley Design. Put “spacious” and “naturally lit” together with “luxurious escape” and you have the design directive for today's best hotel bathrooms. Figuring out how to let nature and light in but still grant guests a modicum of privacy in new hotel bathrooms is a challenge that leading designers are mastering. In tune with resort designers who use courtyards, balconies and exterior showers and bathing areas to make the bathroom an indoor/outdoor experience, designers of high-end hotels in multilevel buildings are creating bigger, open-plan bathrooms with views rivaling those of other rooms en suite.

Architects place best bathrooms along exterior walls, with big windows allowing natural light in and views out. Enhancing this sense of natural spaciousness, designers avoid overloading guests with too much detail, keeping designs clean with modern monolithic shapes for countertops, vanities, tubs and sanitary fixtures. Larger module tiles also expand spaces visually. Where exterior windows are not available, glass walls or sliding doors between bed and bathroom remove spatial barriers and aid light flow. Wetrooms—bathrooms that enclose shower and bath in one expanded space—are a sexy new feature that help smaller bathrooms feel bigger. Oversized soaking tubs are also in vogue. And inclusion of furniture pieces in the bathroom to make it more of a leisure lounging zone fits with the current conversion of big bath spaces into private spas. What follows is a sample of some latest interpretations of the modern bath.