We hang out here quite a lot, sprawled on the leather couches reading the papers or sat at one of the dazzling array of work-stations or communal desks. CitizenM is a haven for laptop-wielding folk with a few hours to kill. They dwell in the impeccably designed ground floor lobby, fiddling with smartphones or tapping away on keyboards.
This slick black building looks like it has been dropped from the sky. An unexpected landmark on Renfrew Street, near the top of Renfield Street, it’s part boutique hotel, part drop-in centre for creative types. One friend remarked that they thought at first it was a furniture shop – each room is packed with unusual chairs, feature pieces and bric-a-brac.
What really sets this place apart is that they don’t try too hard. Yes, the whole hotel looks like you’ve just stepped into a cover shoot for Wallpaper magazine but once the initial overload of design cues subsides, this is a very comfortable space to work or meet friends.
Upstairs you have 189 compact but super comfy hotels rooms with king-size beds, free movies and WiFi.
On the ground floor, their meeting rooms are in demand for powerpoint presentations and blue-sky thinking sessions for nattily dressed high-flyers, but that side of things is pretty much insulated from the more laidback atmosphere elsewhere. There is a reassuring lack of pretension – unexpected for a hotel that’s dressed to the max.
Part of the whole ethos of the citizenM chain is their societyM lobbies, living room type spaces to accommodate what they describe as “business nomads”. It’s a thing apparently. So if you are looking for readily available WiFi and good coffee, you’ve come to the right place.
The canteen on the first floor is open 24/7 and has couches where you can natter over a glass of wine and admire the quintessentially Glasgow view of a bus stop, smokers corner and bookies through the full length glass windows. The food menu is short, healthy and ready to go.
Glasgow is not lacking in hotels but few have much character. While being part of a string of European hipster hotels brings an element of pre-packaged uniformity, citizenM Glasgow has its own quirky city vibe and radiates stylish cool.
