One Lavish Lavatory

The king of the luxury loo rules his regal realm with a benevolent hand.

Anybody can ascend Paul Moghadan's throne -- provided they are there to do business.

"Restroom for gas customers only," reads the sign outside the opulent, public powder room at Moghadan's Chevron station in West Covina.

In an era when many service stations can barely keep their restrooms open, much less clean, Moghadan's is a sight for sore eyes, not to mention bursting bladders.

A chandelier sparkles overhead from a recessed ceiling. Sculptured art and a floral arrangement adorn faux tumbled rosa marble walls. Ornate silver columns rise from the Italianate slate floor to support a wide granite counter and reach to a soffit that hides a pair of recessed spotlights. Gold-plated fixtures are attached to a graceful oval sink.

Amid the opulence, one barely notices the standard-issue toilet in the corner.

Of course, that's all customers are looking for when they hurry in. But they emerge marveling at the 10-foot-wide room.

"It's the best restroom I've ever seen," said West Covina motorist Jose Montes. "You feel like you're rich when you're in there."

Station employee Cathy Vasquez said the "Wow!" factor was a daily occurrence.

"People come out saying they've never seen anything like it," she said. "Once, though, a 5-year-old girl was scared of our bathroom. Her mother had to escort her in."

It's not surprising that the restroom is met with disbelief.

Gas station restrooms are notorious for their stench, grimy walls and fixtures, and "out of order" signs taped to the doors.

In California, maintenance of restrooms is up to gas station operators. State laws require only that stations built after 1990 near busy roadways include "clean and sanitary" public restrooms accessible to the disabled.

But even restroom-maintenance experts try to avoid them. An international survey of cleaning industry professionals in 2003 revealed that 36% of them considered service station restrooms "unclean and unsanitary."

Elizabeth Harryman, travel editor for the Automobile Club of Southern California's Westways magazine, said she'd seen some "grisly" restrooms from Rancho Cucamonga to Katmandu. She said she even traveled with extra Kleenex and moist towelettes for times when restrooms were out of toilet paper.