Glasgow | Citizen M Hotel

A last minute hotel booking in Glasgow introduced me to a groovy new breed of hotel called Citizen M.

With a splashy contemporary design and a dose of humor, Citizen M was developed to provide affordable luxury accommodation to the “mobile citizens of the world.”

From their website:

“Mobile citizens include the the suits, weekenders, explorers, affair-havers, and fashion-grabbers. The explorers, adventurers and dreamers. Those who travel the world with big hearts and wide eyes. Those who are independent, yet united by a love of the five continents. Most likely, that also means you.”

Right from the start, I could tell that this is a company that understands travelers. Check-in was self serve, at computers in the lobby.

Quick and easy.

There’s a bar that serves up breakfast, lunch, coffee, dinner, and drinks – and it’s all delicious.

They also sell useful travel products, with fun, clever names.

The massive lobby was arranged into several seating areas, furnished with cutting-edge contemporary furniture and accessories.

The best part, though – and I’ll admit this might not be for everyone – were the guest rooms.

Short on space, but big on ingenuity, I loved my little room.

The bed fit into one end of the narrow rectangular-shaped room. There was something so cozy about a bed that was enclosed by three walls. The space under the bed was wisely used for drawers. (There wasn’t a single square inch of space that was wasted in this room.) On one side was a narrow desk and stool, with a diminutive table/nightstand and armchair on the other.

On top of the bed was a rolled up duvet and two fluffy pillows – and a friend.

Looking from the bed back towards the door, a tiny sink, with shelves holding towels underneath, sat along one wall.

A tablet on the night stand served as the control panel for everything in the room – TV, free movies, free wifi, lights, temperature…

…and mood lighting for the shower and toilet, which were enclosed in a capsule opposite the sink. I changed the colors just for fun.

Amenities had clever packaging – like the soap in a box that read, “Designed to turn even the longest-haul traveller into a sparkling clean and nice-smelling human being again,” and the hairdryer in a red pouch with the words, “Shhh, the hair dryer is hiding.”

In Europe, Citizen M hotels can currently be found in Glasgow, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and London, and soon to be in Paris. The New York Citizen M recently opened in Times Square.

As a frequent traveler, this is definitely a hotel chain I will stay in again.

Great design, efficient use of space, and a room with a view. What more can you ask for?

Citizen M
60 Renfrew St
Glasgow
www.citizenm.com