Written by Menswear Style in Travel on the 28th October 2014

CitizenM's Bankside hotel brings cool to the capital with its first property in London, the Dutch hotel group launches one of the most revolutionary spaces for sleep, work and play. If you are looking for a break from the norm, something to excite you about staying in a tiny room in central London – this most definitely is it! Gone are the days of the trouser press and the naff 80s art. 

'We want modern functionality that makes us feel cool, and we find it at CitizenM'

It’s quite possibly one of the coolest hotels you will ever stay in, created exclusively for the open minded, tech savvy of guests. But don’t let that fool you into thinking this place is only for the under 25’s. We saw groups of friends and families exploring London for the weekend, as well as a funky older couple enjoying a romantic getaway.

This property takes what guests love about the brand – high end design, trailblazing technology, innovation, a certain ease and flexibility – and improves it with subtle tweaks that even better suit what modern travellers want and need. Alongside architectural firm concrete, citizenM has infused the hotel’s aesthetics with new sophistication, and what used to be a playground for design enthusiasts has evolved into a stage for endless inspiration. 

Room 

Since the first citizenM hotel opened in Amsterdam in 2008, the company’s guiding philosophy has been “affordable luxury for the people”. The rooms are small, there's no getting around that. But Citizen M don’t try to. They know their rooms do everything you need them to do, in the most minimalist of ways.

The geeky side of you will love how everything in the room is controlled by a tablet – the blinds, the tv with unlimited free movies and music, even the lighting can be set to the colour and brightness of your mood. Room rates are £99 to £199 – an outrageously low price range considering the exorbitant prices of hotel rooms in this metropolis. Guests check themselves in and out via lobby terminals. There’s transparency with absolutely no hidden costs, free wi-fi, free movies on demand and Skype-based phone rates from the rooms. And real comfort where it matters: the bed is a heavenly two by two meters, towels are deliciously fluffy, and linens crisp and smooth.

CanteenM 

A highlight on the ground floor is the self-serve canteenM, which beckons to the hungry and thirsty. This place is too cool for a stuffy restaurant that suits no one. Instead the hotel offers buffet style hot and cold snacks to keep you going any time of the night and day. Despite the room style, the breakfast buffet is far from minimal offering a variety of hot and cold options. 

Bankside’s canteenM was designed to feel like a home kitchen arranged around a red wooden coffee bar (which morphs into a cocktail bar as the day wears on), along with an adjacent bakery-style open kitchen with fare that shifts from delicious baked goods in the morning to light lunch and simple dinners later in the day. Guests can grab a variety of food and drinks, then work at one of the 4 Macs near the kitchen or hang out at a marble-topped table in the cafe.

We review the technoligical Citizen M London Bankside Hotel. The hotel prides itself on value, design, art and its transparency of passing on cost saving benefits.