I am looking for a toilet that works(i.e. pulls shit down and keeps it down). The hotel I was at last weekend had toilets that were strong on the “swirling around at a high rate of speed” part, but damn weak on the actual “thar she goes!” part. Can you still call them “high efficiency toilets” if you have to flush them six times to empty them?
Help!
If you don’t mind that they’re louder, those pressure-assist toilets are pretty powerful.
Not my video, but we have a similar Toto pressure assist toilet at work.
Also Totos at work. The joke is to leave a gap or it’ll turn ya inside out.
They’re really loud, enough that I’d avoid putting one into my home.
Toilets that swirl are usually pretty bad.
All of our low-flow toilets drain without swirling, and work really well.
Toto is the gold standard, although other companies have ramped up. Even lower priced Totos work very well. Throw a Washlet on it for good measure!
The hard part will be getting each hotel you stay at to convert all their toilets. For home use pressure assist is your best bet. If you have large enough pipes you could install a Flushometer toilet. I think a 1" supply is the minimum.
I have Toto toilets at home and they have never failed to get things down yet (a few times a second flush was needed to get that last 1% that didn’t seem to make it). Sometimes I am dubious it will manage but they have so far. Not bad for low-flow toilets.
Of course, YMMV.
I Toto-lly endorse this post. Perfect combination.
I installed a Toto elongated 1.6 gpf UltraMax II one-piece about 4 1/2 years ago. I’m on a good well, so water savings was not the most important thing – septic tank/leach field maintenance was. It has never stopped up. One flush works great. It’s not loud.
Not at all (I have the same model as you…maybe a 1.28 gpf…not sure…got them three or four years ago). I took this video (you might have to toggle the sound on) of mine flushing (for my sister who was looking to get a new toilet).
Nothing gross.
ETA: Those toilets are now 30% more expensive today than when I bought them. That’s quite a price hike for what was an already expensive toilet.
Yes, I made a little gasp, too, when I looked up the model I bought to make sure I cited the correct one. They were expensive then and are more expensive now. But they do work as advertised. I’ve never had a more trouble-free commode.
Ahhhh, you need a Ferguson Toilet.
A poop knife is a lot cheaper.
Home Depot sells a line of American Standard called EcoFlush. Which contrary to the name are violent power-flushers. From the outside they look like ordinary toilets. The innards in the tank are something utterly different from “normal” toilets. If you have to flush this thing twice you must have been shitting nearly hardened concrete and lots of it.
Here’s one example:
American Standard Cadet Pressure-Assisted 2-piece 1.1 GPF Single Flush Elongated Toilet in White, Seat Not Included 2462.100.020 - The Home Depot
I too have had TOTOs in my last 2 residences and love them. But these AmStan things are incredible and not so spendy.
Back to the OP’s hotel experience. IANA plumber or toilet designer. But having slept in hotels 10-15 nights a month for 30+ years I have some experience with the variety of experiences and have noticed some patterns.
Lots of swirling is another way of saying the downstream lines are too small or semi-clogged. The water is swirling because it takes long enough to drain that it has time to develop a lot of swirl.
Just got one of these two weeks ago. It’s great, and never gives refunds, as opposed to our older Kohler “round and round and round it goes” picky eater.
Allow me to recommend the “American Standard Champion 4”
It’s not pressure, but has a 4" trap way and oversized flush valve. I’ve had it for 6 years and it’s not failed to empty the bowl once.
First thing that came to mind was Al Bundy’s beloved Ferguson. 
I recall reading a news story a decade-or-so ago about some folks in the U.S. traveling to Canada to purchase “old school” (large capacity) toilets. Is that still a thing?
I have a Kohler with a loud, violent, and effective flush. I also have three Totos that are quiet and just as effective. I prefer the Totos, but they probably cost more.
Also, consider the height of whatever you get. The modern trend is that toilets are getting taller and taller. I like to sit low to shit, and i had to get toilet stools to accompany the new toilets. And even so, i find the newest to be a little uncomfortably high to sit on.
I doubt it. There were maybe two decades when the water standards got ahead of the flush technology, and it was hard to buy a toilet that flushed well. But the technology has caught up. Afraid that water standards might clamp down even further and we might move back into the flush-three-times zone, i replaced my two older toilets a couple of years ago. The new ones work better than the high capacity ones i removed.
Another vote for Toto.
Our previous toilet in our master bath was an American Standard Champion, the one they used to advertise as being able flush a bucket of golf balls. That thing clogged as much as the builder-grade toilet in our other bathroom.
When it came time to replace it a year or so ago, my wife did her research and insisted on the Toto, and I don’t think we’ve had a clog since.
The only thing I would ding the Toto for is the cheap molded plastic seat. You’d think if you’re paying that much for a toilet, it would come with a decent seat.