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I learned that トイレ is loaned from the English word "toilet".

However, in the US, toilet usually refers to the thing that you sit on when
you poop. And in the UK, toilet usually refers to the whole place where you
wash your hands _and_ poop.

Hopefully you know what I mean...

So which of the above does トイレ refer to?
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loanwords
Does トイレ refer to the British "toilet" or the American "toilet"?
トイレ means restroom, so nearly meaning of toilet in UK.
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When a word is loaned by another language, it is not always true that a loan
word has the exact same meaning as the original word. You have to know how it
is used in Japanese to know what it means in Japanese.

トイレ has both meanings. For example:

>   1. トイレに[行]{い}ってもいいですか? (Literally) Is it OK to go to the bathroom
> (restroom)?
>
>   2. トイレが[流]{なが}れません. The toilet doesn't flush.
>
>

It doesn't matter what the word _toilet_ means in English. What matters more
is what トイレ means in Japanese as it is a Japanese word.

As @DavidRicherby commented, the word _toilet_ generally means

In British English: both the room and the sanitary fixture.

In American English: Only the sanitary fixture and not the room.
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トイレ refers to the bathroom.  
The toilet seat is called 便座 or 便器.
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As you say, Japanese word, トイレ is a loaned word from English, toilet, which
according to Concise Oxford English Dictionary (10th Edition) means “a large
bowl for urinating or defecating into, typically plumed into a sewage system.
But トイレ is equivalent to original Japanese word, 便所 which means a room
containing a toilet or toilets. We call “a large bowl for urinating or
defecating into, a 便器.

Although we have 便所、お手洗い、洗面所、化粧室 as its alternatives, it’s lucky that we
Japanese can do with ”トイレ” for complex mix of English “Washroom”, “restroom”,
“bathroom”, “lavatory”, "privy," “toilet,” “toilet room,” "the gents", "Saint
john’s," "john", or "jack" as shown in the following question posted in SE
English language & Usage site:

> “Washroom”, “restroom”, “bathroom”, “lavatory”, “toilet” or “toilet room”
>
> I've always been confused by the terms washroom, restroom, bathroom,
> lavatory, toilet and toilet room. My impression is that Canadians would
> rather say washroom while Americans would probably say bathroom or Saint
> John's in the same situation. Which do you usually use? Please specify the
> difference if you use more than two from those six with different meanings,
> and also where you are from. -
> [https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/8281/washroom-restroom-
> bathroom-lavatory-toilet-or-toilet-
> room?newsletter=1&nlcode=15318%7ce1f1](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/8281/washroom-
> restroom-bathroom-lavatory-toilet-or-toilet-
> room?newsletter=1&nlcode=15318%7ce1f1)
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Both, or I would rather say, there's no distinction. トイレ just means "the place
you use for excretion", where what the "place" exactly refers to is
undesignated.

For example:

> 二階には男子 **トイレ** しかない。 → _the room_ = お手洗い, 化粧室 etc.  
>  三番目の **トイレ** には幽霊が出る。 → _the stall_ = 個室  
>  **トイレ** に紙がつまった。 → _the stool_ = 便器

All of above are valid.
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