En-suite or separate bathroom

[Leobynature]

Posting here for traffic and to enable the voting (hopefully it works).

DISCLAIMER: These are rubbish first world problems but I have to get it right as I am spending a ridiculous amount of money. In the process of getting a loft conversion done, after researching tips on MN most people stated a separate bathroom was better than an en-suite as it frees up a wall (which will be used for wardrobes), you don’t get toilet smells in bedroom and other people can use bathroom without walking through your bedroom. However DH now wants a en-suite and feels this will add more value/luxury. Plans have been drawn up to include separate bathroom which will be accessed via a small hall way.

What are your thoughts? To en-suite or to not en-suite in the new loft conversion? That is the question

YABU: En-suite
YANBU: separate bathroom

As much as I hate asking... Diagram?

En suite if it's to be the master bedroom, or if it's solely a guest room. Separate if you want multiple people to be able to use it.

Depends what else is up there. If there's only a bedroom then I wouldn't expect anyone else to be using it anyway so would go with an en-suite because a hallway seems like a waste of space.

Will the bedroom and bathroom be the only two rooms in the attic?

Is it possible to link the bedroom to the ensuite via a walk in wardrobe thus adding another room between bed and loo?

I'm not a fan of En Suites. But it wouldn't put me off buying a house if the rest was right.

I hate en suites for all the reasons stated above so would go with bathroom.

It depends if you have enough other bathrooms. I have had en-suites but in the last two renovations I had separate bathrooms as en-suites never feel very private. However, we had enough bathrooms so that the 'master' bathroom wasn't used by anyone else.

Separate! When we were looking to move we wrote off en suites for all the reasons you suggest but mainly because we wanted both bathrooms accessible to all family members and guests. I wouldn't consider it "luxury" to avoid walking a few paces more and I would hate not being able to fit in all over bedroom furniture (a wardrobe each, large chest of drawers each, because table each plus dressing table and an armchair).

Always separate if possible for me - noise and smell aren’t conducive to a good lie-in, and if the flush is too close to where your partner is trying to sleep then a night-time wee can become a bone of contention.

You also have another bathroom for other people in the house to use when you all get norovirus at the same time 😬

I completely agree with the pp above. If the loft conversion room is for the sole use of one person or occasional guests, it makes no sense to make the space smaller by creating a hallway for a separate bathroom.

My DS is in the loft conversion; he refers to it as the penthouse suite. If he'd really wanted a separate bathroom then I would have reconsidered, however he was delighted with the size of both his bedroom and the ensuite.

I assume it's not the only bathroom in the house?

@ JaniceEvans
The bedroom in the loft will a master bedroom. I’m not fussed with other people using the bathroom. I have never had an en-suite before so I won’t miss it

A dressing room/walk-though-cupboard would put exactly as many doors between the bed and the toilet as having a hallway.

A hallway that serves no other purpose than to create a two-door separation is ridiculous.

Separate bathroom. I’ve never seen the attraction of en-suites other than in a hotel. It really isn’t a hardship to walk through 2 doors instead is one to use the bathroom. Generally separate bathrooms also offer more flexibility as to who can use them, though this may not be relevant if there is only one bedroom in the loft.

The only reason to have an en-suite would be if it makes the space awkward to do otherwise.

Definitely en-suite, especially if you have another family bathroom. Most new builds have them now so I’d imagine having one could be a future selling point too.

Ensuite but a well planned one so the rest of your objections dont apply. Ours has an external window fi so problems of damp and smell dont occur, and its built in such a way that we still have the wall for wardrobes.

Sorry to clarify there will be only one bedroom in the loft which will be a master bedroom. The ‘hallway’ is more of a square than corridor

Compromise and have a Jack and Jill set up so it can be accessed either way?

Unfortunately we don’t have a downstairs loo (no where to put one). We currently have one main bathroom upstairs and then we would have a bathroom in the loft.

Can you add a quick sketch?

If the only room up there is a master room then no one else would be using the bathroom up there so I would go with en suite.
More convenient then walking between the master room and a bathroom.

So glad you started this thread as I am pondering the same dilemma. With a loft conversion I thought that sometimes fire doors were required to certain rooms. If the bathroom is separate you may have to exit through a fire door onto landing to enter the bathroom. Could this be more likely to make a noise than a regular door?

I am still thinking separate bathroom for if there are lots of guests round then an extra bathroom could be useful .

Why would people be walking through the bedroom to use it? If you've got visitors or guests, they would use the downstairs bathroom - not tramping through the bedroom. If you've got a master bedroom with ensuite, then it's completely self-contained and away from the rest of the house. And put a window / skylight in if you're scared of smells.

This dislike of ensuite bathrooms is a peculiarly Mumsnet affliction!

Separate bathroom. So others can use it without any feelings of needing to ask (which they might not do) or somehow invading personal space.

Separate if there is only one other toilet in the house. I love my ensuite which only I use, but have 3 other toilets for the rest of the family and guests.

Could the square hall become a dressing room with chair, chest of drawers etc? You'd keep the feel of a luxury private floor but having the bathroom separate would allow flexibility if/ when needed and minimise noise and smells.