Hotel Review: citizenM in Scotland Glasgow
Welcome to a whole new way to travel! After frustrating long lines at the airports, coffee shops all the way to our hotel in the heart of Glasgow (Scotland), we were blown away by this whole new breed of efficient & luxurious “smart hotel” by citizenM !!! ♥️
Aiming to create affordable luxury for the smart new international traveler, we were charmed from the moment we walked in! Situated in Glasgow’s city centre and Theatre District, citizenM Glasgow offers luxury in the form of 198 modern rooms with free Wi-Fi, free movies, and power rain showers; contemporary Vitra lobbies for work and play, 24/7 on-site eatery and bar, and SocietyM creative meeting rooms for business nomads.
Checkin Efficiency
From the moment we walked in, we were thoroughly impressed by the application of technology to address all of the painpoints a regular jet-lagged traveler faces every place else, the most annoying of them all - long checkin lines! Self check-in and check-out. Check-in took us a mere 60 seconds, checkout was even less! And everything emailed to us, no wasting of papers. Our roomkey was an RFID card, that even doubled as a luggage tag.
Lifestyle
When we are at home, we spend most of your time in our living room and kitchen, and we mainly use your bedroom for sleeping. citizenM believes this is what hotels should be like. Instead of a small lobby, citizenM lobbies are built like oversized living rooms, designed by Concrete, a design studio based in Amsterdam, Vitra, a sustainable luxury furniture brand from Switzerland, contemporary art that comes from their private art collection, and incredible commissioned art pieces (including AVAF, Julian Opie and Mark Titchner).
My husband and I spent a lot of our time planning our days in Scotland in the living rooms. They have fireplaces, limited-edition coffee table books, lots of great magazines, areas to put your feet up and relax, and even Mac stations where you can work and print your boarding pass.
Eat, Drink n be Merry
Mornings is about a scrumptious breakfast, especially when on the go! citizenM in Glasgow offers a food and beverage concept that feels like an open kitchen at home. Everything is available 24/7, so if you want, you can have breakfast at midnight or lunch in the morning. For jet-lagged travelers like us, we were free to eat what we want, when we wanted.
Everything they have is the best of the best. Incredible coffee, flaky croissants fresh from the oven, the best cocktails, and great fresh food and snacks. It is a casual grab and go concept, because in a big city like Glasgow, London, NYC... you will probably be out for dinner with friends, with clients or colleagues. But if you do want something convenient, it is always there.
Rooms
This is where technology really meets convenience .- it has everything you need, and nothing you don't. And its all governed by a smart device rooms, all run on their own ambient server, and thus are completely customizable.
Each room has its own "mood pad", which are all one-touch and super easy to use. You can change the color of the lighting, the intensity of the light, the temperature, different types of alarms (wake me gently by a woman counting down and the lights slowly turning on, or wildly with the lights on bright and the sound of ping pong balls or elephants thrashing through the room). Needless to say, my husband went to town with the mood-pad!
All in all, citizenM advocates for affordable luxury, i.e. not having to pay ridiculous amounts for a room per night. Their rates in London start at £ 109, Amsterdam at € 89, and NYC at $ 159! If you're traveling anywhere in the world, be sure to look for a citizenM!
In partnership with citizenM Hotels