CitizenM kicks off extensive London expansion plans in Bankside

28-Jun-2012 - Last updated on 26-Apr-2021 at 18:28 GMT

CitizenM is opening its first London property in Bankside in July ahead of significant expansion plans in the capital

Amsterdam-based budget hotel group CitizenM is to open its first London hotel in Bankside next month ahead of significant expansion plans in the capital with at least two more venues on the horizon.

CitizenM, which currently operates a hotel in Glasgow, will open the 192-bedroom venue on Lavington Street in Bankside on July 4.

Capital expansion

The property, located close to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Southwark and Borough Market, is the first of a number of hotels the group plans to open in London.

Two hotels in Trinity Square near the Tower of London and on Holborn Viaduct near St Paul's are slated to launch in 2013 while a fourth, as yet unnamed, property is expected to open soon after.

"We see London as a key market for CitizenM's international expansion," Jasper Muller, acquisition and investment director at CitizenM, told BigHospitality. "It's one of the main stages in the hospitality world. In addition to our current four projects we are actively looking for at least five more centrally-located development opportunities in the UK capital."

CitizenM

Founded in Amsterdam in 2008, CitizenM currently operates three hotels in The Netherlands as well as the Glasgow property which was this month named one of the Top 10 UK hotels for business travellers.

The company plans to roll out the 'affordable luxury' brand to the USA in 2013 and 2014 with two New York properties including one in Times Square. The ambitious expansion plans also extend to France where the company will open a hotel near Charles De Gaulle Airport in 2014.

Room rates in the London hotels will all come in under £200 continuing the budget trend it began in its UK property in Glasgow. However new to the Bankside hotel is a focus on contemporary art with a painting from Turner Prize-nominated Mark Titchner on the outside wall and a floor-to-ceiling mural featuring in the lobby.

Both pieces are unique commissions but guests will be able to purchase their own art, photography and books to take with them or have delivered to their home addresses.

CanteenM

The F&B offering in the hotel will come from a self-serve restaurant, CanteenM, which will act as a coffee bar, a bakery in the morning and a destination for dinner and cocktails later in the day.

Technology features across the hotel with Macs available for use in the lobby and restaurant and a touch-screen tablet in place in all the bedrooms that allows guests to control everything in the room. Seven meeting spaces will be available to business and corporate visitors.

Guests are also invited to check themselves in and out via lobby terminals while there is free Wi-Fi without.