What is a washlet?
A washlet is Japan's electronic bidet seat — the high-tech end of the global bidet family. It replaces a normal toilet seat and adds a warm-water wand, heated seat, air dry, and (usually) a deodorizer. Toto coined the name in 1980; it's now genericized for any electronic bidet seat.
Also called: Toto washlet, electronic bidet seat, smart toilet seat.
How it works
The seat has a small retractable wand underneath. Press the panel for rear or front wash and the wand extends, spraying a precisely-aimed stream of warm water. You can adjust water temperature, pressure, and wand position. When you're done, an air dryer finishes the job — no toilet paper required.
Where it's standard
Standard in nearly all Japanese hotels above the budget tier (and increasingly in budget ones too). Common in luxury hotels in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, and Seoul. Worldwide, growing in high-end design hotels — Park Hyatt, Aman, Mandarin Oriental, and a number of independent boutique properties in major cities.
Hotels with a washlet
Bidet Baron is a crowdsourced atlas of traveler reports. Search by city to see which hotels travelers have confirmed have a washlet (or equivalent) in the room.
Frequently asked
What is a washlet?
Washlet is Toto's trademark for the electronic bidet seat that's become standard in Japan since the 1980s. It bolts onto a regular toilet bowl and adds a heated seat, warm-water rear and front wash, adjustable water pressure, air dry, and usually a deodorizer.
Is a washlet the same as a bidet?
It's a type of bidet — an electronic, integrated one. Where a traditional bidet is a separate basin and a bum gun is a handheld hose, a washlet builds the wand and controls into the toilet seat itself.
Which hotels have washlets?
Essentially every hotel in Japan from business-tier upward, and a growing list of high-end and design-conscious hotels worldwide — Park Hyatts, Aman, Mandarin Oriental, and an increasing number of US boutique hotels. See our Tokyo and NYC guides for confirmed picks.
Do US hotels have washlets?
A small but growing number do. They're most common in luxury Japanese-owned hotels (Hotel Okura, Kitano), high-end design hotels (Park Hyatt, Aman, 1 Hotels in some rooms), and boutique properties that ship Toto seats as an amenity.
Are all washlets Toto?
No, but Toto invented the category and dominates it. Other makers include Inax (Lixil), Panasonic, Brondell, Bio Bidet, and Kohler — when travelers say 'washlet' they usually mean any electronic bidet seat regardless of brand.
Other names around the world
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines
The handheld sprayer mounted next to almost every toilet in Southeast Asia — informal slang, universally understood.
Middle East, North Africa, South & Southeast Asia
Handheld water hose mounted by the toilet, used for the ritual washing (istinja) that's standard across Muslim-majority countries.
Finland, Greece, Eastern Europe, Australia
Generic European name for the handheld bidet hose — same hardware as a shattaf or bum gun, different label.
United States & Canada (mostly DIY retrofits)
The North American name for a handheld bidet that clamps onto the toilet supply line — what most US hotels would have, if they had anything.
India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan
Indian-English for the wall-mounted jet or health faucet found in most Indian bathrooms — paired with a small water pot (lota) in older homes.