Is the pool new to you?

We have a pool and no guest showers before or after. They are mostly kids so that is probably relevant. Our pool is copper which may be different than yours.

Since you have a powder room and an outdoor shower, I vote on ensuite. As an aside, is ensuite really an american term? I feel like it is British and made it to the US only because of a particular HGTV show that came from Canada. I never heard the term until HGTV - so in my mind, it shouldn't be used. I could of course be completely wrong about this. And then again, maybe you aren't in the US.

Im not understanding a bathroom and half bath in such close proximity. That’s redundant when you could just add a shower to the powder room and have it serve as the public and guest bath.

Post the plan. In concept that may increase resale value but in reality if it’s an awkward plan then not so much.

@David Cary, North of the 48th, the term ensuite or en-suite is widely used and inter changed with master bath or master suite. Though our 2 countries are very well connected and share many similarities, language or specific words can be used differently, When we moved to the USA DD asked her teacher if she can to go to the washroom, took a bit for said teacher to figure out what she meant and point her to the facilities.

Another one, Chips=Fries

That is the way I understood it - a Canadian thing. Suspect OP is not in Canada since talking about a pool but one never knows.

I grew up in Kentucky and we always called a connected private bath an en suite, and if Kentucky is using that nomenclature it can't be that rare.

Design the bedroom so it is accessed from an ante room. The ante room has a door to the hall, a door to the bedroom, and a door to the bathroom. This way the bathroom can be accessed by the hall or the closet and the privacy of the bedroom can be determined by whichever door is closed.

@David...Pools are very common in Canada, especially in the east. In fact, they are way more common than in southern Idaho, We were dumbfounded to hear folk saying it’s too cold there to have pools. Maybe,the OP will let us know where hey live.

@David Cary @tryingtounderstand I am Australian, so we have British influence as we are a British Commonwealth Nation. I didnt realise there would be so much confusion between terminology until now. To clarify, we use "ensuite" to indicate a full bathroom with a vanity, toilet and shower (or shower bath) which is private and adjoining that bedroom only. The Master bedroom usually has a "Master Ensuite" with a bath, shower, toilet, vanity. A "powder room" is a half bathroom with a toilet and vanity for guests to use, this room is normally decorated with colourful wallpaper, tiles, and made to show a lot of personality and be decorated as such.

edit- to further clarify the 4th bedroom ensuite will just have a vanity and shower because the powder room is located next to this bedroom.

A bathroom is not a bathroom without a toilet. If you have to go across the hall to the half bath for the toilet, that is far too weird for words. Skip that. Just expand the half bath to a full bath.

@live_wire_oak many cultures have a bathroom and a toilet separate from each other and considering they are located across from one another in the hall i didnt think it was "far too weird for words". I cannot skip the half bath to a full bath it is a small powder room, which is for guests. The question is whether i should have a shower room also accessible for the guests or keep it with private bedroom access only.

Other Eastern cultures are not pertinent. A toilet located down the hall from the rest of the bathroom is extremely odd, and a big sticking point at resale. The bathroom can’t even be counted as a bathroom, legally. I’m not sure how you’d even get a permit to build that. Because it doesn’t include a toilet. Unless you’re calling it a laundry sink with dog shower. And if it’s not permitted, it’s a complete waste of money to do. You’ll just have to rip it out at resale.

It’s not a “separate toilet room”. The toilet is in a powder room, down the common access hall, where people would be traversing. Not adjacent to, or accessible from, the “bathroom”, or the bedroom. Down the hall. It’s not an en suite without toilet access, from that bedroom. It’s just a laundry room sink with dog shower without convenience facilities. Having that toilet access is far more important than a shower.

@live_wire_oak My goodness, calling a bathroom without a toilet, a laundry/dog wash room is extremely rude. Many people PREFER to have their toilets separate from where they shower. FYI The powder room is directly across from this bathroom ensuite.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting You raise a very good point, children should not share with guests. We have our Master Ensuite upstairs, along with a "parents retreat" (our own TV room) and also a powder room (incase we entertain upstairs as this is a coastal house with views). Down stairs we have 3 bedrooms. 2 have a full ensuite (bath, shower, toilet), the third bedroom in question is located down a hall where the guest powder room is so we thought having another toilet was overkill.... because we also have an outdoor bathroom in a pool house! So if we added a toilet in the ensuite across from the powder room it would be a total of 7 toilets!

I don’t think ensuite is a confusing term; it’s common in every US city I’ve lived in anyway. That said, context matters and my first thought if I were to enter a bathroom in the US that had no toilet would be “where’s the toilet?” and the second would be “huh maybe this isn’t the restroom?” However, if you’re building in Australia, then US norms aren’t really relevant. With all that said, if you have a powder room, I’d vote for the en-suite because after a shower, having the privacy of the bedroom would be useful, rather than having to change in the bathroom or walk out in a towel. Best of luck with the choice!

IMO the toilet in the PR is not going to work for guests.

A separate toilet and shower work very well in this situation. With the typical all-in-one then when someone is taking a shower and doing hair and brushing their teeth and other stuff then the toilet is sitting unusable by others. By having them separate the toilet is fully available regardless of what's happening with the shower.

"I’m not sure how you’d even get a permit to build that."

I've never seen a requirement that they be together so there shouldn't be a problem..

Post the layout so we can see the proximity of the powder room and proposed bathroom. (If you did already, I can’t see it on the app). I don’t think having it completely separate -across the hall-is a good use of the space. If there was a door that could access the separate toilet, that would make sense. If you think it’s overkill to have 7 toilets, what about the extra sink?

To answer your original question: having a powder room makes it so you could go either way -en-suite or guest bath. Having an ante room to join the two, like someone suggested above, would be the most flexible, but no way without having private access directly from the bathroom to a toilet. Has no one had the stomach flu here?

Is budget an issue?

So ensuite or en suite is very clearly a British term (with French origin) and used in NA more commonly in Canada. It doesn't mean that Americans don't know what it means but the only reason I do is because of the Canadian origin on much of HGTV. Well - ok - maybe from travel to Europe before that. Where I live it hasn't become a common term.

The fact is that pools are more common in warmer climates. Doesn't mean they don't exist of course in Canada but was trying to make an educated guess - house has pool using a British/French term - I would go with Bahamas or Aus. And - are we calling Southern Idaho warm?

Back to the original question - the 4th bedroom will never have a toilet?

I am confused because in one line you say ensuite means all 3 parts but then you say just vanity and shower is on the table.

In the US, it would be a little unusual which is generally not good for resale value. Many people get up in the middle of the night to use the toilet. Having to go into a public area to do that (the hall) is not ideal if they are modest. But if that is already done, then it would still be helpful to have the shower in the suite but it would add a little to the "unusual" nature. So from a resale point of view, I would keep things as normal as they can be.

Now - are in you in AUS or are you Australian? Clarity is helpful. Because resale in AUS - no idea. There are probably parts of the US that unusual is no big deal. In my area, it is a big deal.

How often will all the guest rooms be full up? Since you have a powder room for general use I do not see why the new bath would not be an en suit? Lets say you regularly are full up with guests, the person or persons who get the hall bathroom would have to feel they got the "cheap seats" would they not? I do see that you have a choice. The term en suit does not belong to any one culture nor was it coined by HGTV.

I live in Australia, and we have a bathroom containing shower, tub and sink in one room, and a toilet and sink in the room next to it, located between our second and third bedrooms. Our other bathroom is an ensuite to the master bedroom. I've seen similar set ups in a lot of houses here and it's actually quite functional. No guests have complained so far. It's very far from being a dog bath. And it's permitted. Geesh.

Agree with jmm1837

I live in Qld Australia and having a separate toilet to a bathroom is not new.

In my current house we have an ensuite to the master bedroom, consisting of a shower ,toilet and vanity. Then there is a family bathroom which includes a separate bath and shower and double vanity. Next door is a powder room which houses a toilet and a small hand sink

Luckily the family bathroom is quite big , so I am planning to install a a toilet in there as well, leaving the master / ensuite out of bounds to the rest of the family

You can not have too much storage nor too many toilets in a house !!