“To all travellers long and short haul.
To the weary, the wise and the bleary eyed.
To the suits, weekenders, fashion baggers and affair-havers.
To the explorers, adventurers and dreamers.
To all locals of the world from Amsterdam, Boston and Cairo to Zagreb.
To all who travel the world with wide eyes and big hearts.
To all who are independent yet united in a desire for positive travelling.
To those who are smarter than a dolphin with a university degree and
realise you can have luxury for not too much cash.
To those who need a good bed, a cold drink and big fluffy towels.
To all who are mobile citizens of the world.
citizenM welcomes you all.”
Now I realise I am a bit of a late comer to this party, but I have just discovered CitizenM and it rocks! I met someone there for a meeting over coffee and ended up staying for the whole afternoon. Ostensibly, it’s a hotel, but in reality, it’s so much more.
Yes, they have reasonably priced, nicely designed hotel rooms, but what I was interested in is what was happening downstairs – and I don’t just mean the free wifi, although to be fair, that is what got us there in the first place!
But let’s start with the free wifi… They have free wifi! No passwords, no codes, and crucially, no extortionate fee for something that doesn’t cost them for you to use. They also have a rather fabulous co-working area, with four big shiny iMacs and two shared tables boasting plug sockets aplenty for all your charging needs. Having spent an afternoon working there, I can say that it’s a great atmosphere for working in – just the right balance of creative buzz and peace and quiet.
The lobby area has been designed as a series of living rooms; with a room to suit every mood – all furnished with Vitra design classics by Eames, Verner Panton, Jean Prouvé, Hella Jongerius, the Bouroullecs and Isamu Noguchi (spot the Eames elephant over the door!). The cafe area is perfect for low key meetings over (very good) coffee – and a lounge area (pictured top) is ideal for even more relaxed meetings, or just… relaxing!
The central courtyard provides a lovely outdoor view in an otherwise very urban area of London, and a spot to grab a breath of fresh air if you’re so inclined.
For more serious business, you can hire one of several meeting rooms, all of which are kitted out with the latest technology.
The ‘canteen’ is open 24 hours a day serving everything from morning pastries to full evening meals.
And at about 6pm the bar comes to life, which is really nice because when you work for yourself, after-work drinks are one of the (few) things you miss about office life.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- creative spaces :: club workspace by tilt
- out and about :: bethan gray inside design
- out and about :: architecture for humanity
- out and about :: craft central
Brilliant. This really does look a great place to generate some creative thoughts. What a colourful place!
Thank you for stopping by Deborah. I need clear white space to think in, but really interesting to see how other people work!
I’ve heard it’s a good early evening hang out.