we have one shower that doesn’t have a handheld and cleaning is def tedious - this is a function over form decision I think

Can’t say without understanding the layout of the wet room. A hand held shower head will likely not be powerful enough to clean anything and you will need to hand scrub the wet room. Usually the hose will also be too short to reach the whole room.

We have a regular showerhead and a handheld in our 4X4.5 shower.

How big is yours hower? Do you need two showerheads? Can you do with one and a handheld?

I agree with @ShadyWillowFarm, most handhelds do not have a hose long enough to reach far away. Ours is perfect for our size shower but any bigger and it wouldn't reach.

Our handheld is a Hans Grohe that has three settings so it can go from "soft" shower to "power" shower to "pulsating" shower. The latter two settings work well for washing down the shower walls.

Wet rooms are overrated IMO.

This is the layout. Thank you all so far for the insight!

I'm not good at math.....how long is each wall? Where is the vanity? Toilet?

In the wet room we will have a free standing tub and two shower heads.

I've been reading these boards for years, and I have yet to read anything positive about the wet room concept's actual use.

question is- do we need one of the shower heads to be a shower system that also includes a separate hand held shower head?

First, why duplicate shower heads side-by-side?

Second, every shower head should be a hand-held. They're more versitile. A plain in-the-wall shower head has no benefit over hand-helds ... except cost.

Is there an easy way to clean these wet rooms that doesn’t require a hand held shower head?

Even with a hand-held shower head, this room will be very difficult to clean. The spray won't reach behind the freestanding tub.

A couple off-the-wall thoughts:

- If you do go with duplicate shower heads, be sure they're on separate controllers. Yeah, seems like common sense, but that's not so common these days.

- This board often suggests you place your shower controllers in such a way that you can reach in /turn them on without committing your body to the initial cold spray ... that doesn't seem possible here.

- Consider where you'll hang your towels in a wet room.

- Consider where you'll place grab bars ... if you are elderly in this space one day, you may not feel comfortable walking across the open space without something nearby.

- Consider those windows. When it's a matter of water + window, water always wins in the end. A good option might be glass bricks.

I would have a handheld in the shower area (the shower heads can also be handhelds and clip into a bracket when being used as a shower head) and a handheld on the tub. Otherwise you are definitely adding difficulty to the cleaning process. Even if you don't do it yourself it is a courtesy to the cleaner to make easier for them. You need a stream of water for rinsing. When you use the tub you should rinse it out after it drains which is much easier with a handheld. If you have been looking at plumbing fixtures you must have seen how many options there are for these configurations.

Obviously this is your house and if you really want a wet room, a stranger on the internet is not going to change that. But it looks like you have plenty of space to have a glass shower wall between the tub and the shower. I would do that. You can still have two shower heads, but it reduces the area you have to worry about sloping to the drain and reduces the cleaning effort since you're not getting water throughout such a big space. Plus the shower area will feel warmer and more comfortable by not having such a big open space. Trust me on that one. I rented a home where the shower was a massive space like this and it was so drafty and cold. I hated it.

It is a long reach to turn on the water in that tub. I also prefer having every shower head to be handheld. It can be held facing the floor when you turn it on so it doesn't matter if you can reach the controls from outside the shower.

Oh and with your hand held shower head question, you could add one to each shower head, which might be nice. Or you could do a single hand held shower wand in the middle with its own valve.

Thank you all!!