We’re not under any illusions here: Running a pub is a risky game. And controlling the space to ensure you’re not letting in any riff raff to mess with yr biz is probably even trickier.
But there’s having your little individual policies, and then there’s just straight up being a bit of a dick about it.
Fitzroy pub The Stone Hotel is currently copping it a wee bit after passersby noticed the hotel had curiously placed signs on its outdoor windows informing people that their toilet facilities are for “patrons only.”
That in and of itself ain’t really a new policy for anywhere, as anyone who has ever stepped foot inside a pub would be aware.
What is a curious anomaly in this case is the fine print.
The pub asserts that if you “must” use their loos without also buying something at the bar, then there’s gonna be a $4.50 fee for doing so.
Fitzroy pub The Stone Hotel charging people $4.50 to use the toilet :/ pic.twitter.com/hy1O2fsM3L
— David Swan (@swan_legend) May 5, 2016
The pub sits on the corner of Johnston and Brunswick streets, a particularly busy intersection with a fair amount of foot traffic, and features open glass door walls on the Brunswick street side.
Despite this, you have to wonder: What the hell could possibly motivate an explicit business policy like this one? It’s not like there’s a line of people constantly clogging things up. The pub certainly doesn’t show up as a public facility on the ole’ Find A Loo app.
We are fully aware that you might want to keep “undesirables” out of your establishment, but putting an arbitrary cost on someone who is *absolutely busting* using your facilities rather than shedding dignity and breaking the law by pissing in the street seems like overthinking.
What’s more, $4.50? Where’d that price point come from? And how on earth would you police it?
The signs have since been taken down from the pub. PEDESTRIAN.TV reached out to the Stone Hotel for comment and clarification on the issue, but the hotel did not provide comment.
Photo: David Swan/Twitter.
