The two chic CitizenM hotels in Manhattan offer travellers a new take on the conventional hotel stay experience.
Mid-Town Madness
There’s little doubt that Times Square is the heart of Manhattan Island. With its towering billboards and 24/7 vibe, Mid-town in general and Times Square specifically offers travellers that Big Apple ambience as well as convenient proximity to public transport and many of New York’s major attractions, including the Theatre District, the New York Public Library, leading restaurants and clubs, and tour bus routes.
The CitizenM hotel brand tries hard to break with the traditional hotel model, and that’s something that’s evident as soon as guests arrive. Self-check-in kiosks allow guests to very quickly input their details, choose from a selection of available rooms (handily, all rooms are the same), and scan their own security door card in under a minute. With plenty of kiosks on hand as well as a staff member to answer any questions, this concept means no lines, and no delays, allowing guests to reach their rooms quicker and get on with their stay.
A cross between a boutique hotel and a capsule hotel, what CitizenM – which stands for “citizen mobility” – does differently is take the hotel emphasis away from the hotel room – which is really only a bed to sleep in anyway – and places it on the sociality of the hotel as a home-away-from-home for visitors to the city. This means innovative public spaces, like CitizenM Times Square’s rooftop bar, called CloudM, with its views of Mid-town’s skyscrapers, a quieter mezzanine library, a fitness centre with outdoor yoga terrace, a 24/7 lobby grab ‘n’ go-style restaurant called CanteenM that does a mean buffet breakfast, and another ground-level cocktail bar that draws in guests and locals alike with its eclectic art and outdoor patio.
That’s not to say the 230 rooms of CitizenM Times Square aren’t nice – they are – but for the uninitiated, they may come across as stripped down. We prefer to think of them as ‘capsule cool’ and with large picture windows in each, the effect is more inspiring than confining.
While rooms are small – and this is New York city so small guest rooms go with a more reasonable price tag – they make up in amenities and intuitive, funky design what they may lack in stature. Rooms are dominated by a large bed, as well as a rain shower, with small work station and vanities taking up the remaining space. There are mini-fridges with complimentary Evian water, and discrete storage spaces and wardrobes, as well as and tablets (they call them Moodpads) packed with features and able to control the electronic blinds, the room’s mood lighting, and even the cable TV, on which guests get two free movies per stay.
What you might miss from conventional hotels are the likes of coffee machines, irons and ironing boards, sprawling work desks and the like, but you’ll quickly discover how many of these amenities go unused during a busy visit to an even busier city.
Head Downtown
The other CitizenM property on Manhattan Island is in the Bowery, offering travellers access to one of the city’s emerging hotspots – the neighbourhood has been described as the Shoreditch of Manhattan – as well as to the likes of Chelsea, Soho and the financial district.
First impressions of the 200-room CitizenM Bowery will be the same as Mid-town; the hotel’s lobby overlooks a sunken lounge and CanteenM restaurant, with walls adorned with everything from sculptures to Stratocasters. There are book collections and fascinating pop art, some of which has been commissioned by the nearby New Museum.
Travellers will also find the same easy check-in kiosks manned by cheerful staff that are a wealthy of local knowledge when it comes to dining out or exploring the city. You’ll find the lounge of CafeM a haven for guests getting a little work done, while the lobby is always a hive of activity, the way hotel lobbies are supposed to be.
Rooms are the same take on minimalism-meets-humanism, with beds dominating eclectic yet thoughtfully designed white-washed guest rooms that are big on practicality if not space, in keeping with the hotel’s mantra: “absolutely no trouser presses, bellboys, or other tired old hotel clichés”.
Many rooms, including ours, have views uptown and give a great sense of place as you watch the neighbourhood below wake each morning. As the city naps (remember, it never sleeps) the ‘romantic’ setting on the Moodpad automatically transforms the room into a moody, seductive space that’s all but guaranteed to chase the jetlag fairies away. The bathroom, secreted behind frosted glass, is spacious and features toiletries by Amsterdam-based perfumer Alessandro Gualtieri.
The hotel also has its own take on the CloudM rooftop bar of Mid-town, a sexy space that’s equally popular with locals hitting the town as it is with out-of-towners stopping in for a drink. Do yourself a favour if you do make it up to the bar, and take the stairs down to soak in the work of 20 graffiti artists, who, in collaboration with 5 Pointz, have brought the fire stairs to life as a living Museum of Street Art that the public will also have access to.
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