Our lives have been a bit mad lately (the stress of of finding somewhere to live mostly), so when citizenM got in touch to offer me a staycation in one of their London branches, I leapt at the opportunity. Here’s a not-so secret: I LOVE staying in hotels. I think of it as one of life’s greatest pleasure. I think it’s because staying in a hotel was such a rare treat as a kid that I still think of it as a treat.
I opted to stay in the Shoreditch location, because I live close to an overground line so it made the commute easy. I’m lazy. Proof. But also because I love Shoreditch.
I can safely say that citizenM Shoreditch is my favourite hotel that I’ve ever stayed in. The rooms are small but incredible stylish. The entire room (with different mood light settings) is controlled through an iPad next to the bed. The bathroom is in a small pod in the room – it was very Ikea-chic but I loved every second of it. It felt like being in the future. Scratch that. It kind of felt like being in “Lost in Translation.”
Let’s go back that that iPad for a second. First of all, the TV and screen greeted me by name. It’s a simple trick but I was absolutely delighted by it. On the iPad there is a huge selection of movies to chose from to stream on the TV. That was honestly one of the highlights of the stay. Sam and I stayed up phenomenally late (past 3am) and had a crazy movie marathon. Our running order went “My Big Fat Greek Wedding: 2”, “Zoolander 2”, “How to Be Single”, “Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension”, and last but not least “Sisters”. We prepped by having an early dinner at the nearby Bushaba Etai then went to Tesco and stocked up on chocolates and popcorn before settling in for movie madness. Then around 10 pm Sam popped out and went to Voodoo Ray’s for an extremely naughty takeaway slice of pizza to enjoy with yet another film.
Even the lobby, lounge and canteen are gorgeous. The canteen is open 24-7, which is helpful for any late night snack needs. Breakfast the next morning was lovely. The fresh sourdough bread was awesome (as was the coffee!) and there was a huge variety of things to try.
Luckily the king-sized super soft mattress aided with my slumber. Despite the insanely late night, I decided not to draw the blackout blinds. (A must for most people as the window takes up a whole wall.) I wanted to get an early start, awakened by the sun and see the city the second I awoke. It was wonderful.
You’d think a stay like this would cost an arm and a leg, but it’s very reasonably priced. If you book in advance, you can get a room for as low as £106 at a citizenM hotel in London. (They also have Tower of London and London Bankside locations.)
citizenM Shoreditch is located at 6 Holywell Lane EC2A 3ET
***My stay at citizenM was complimentary but as always, all opinions are my own. It really was that wonderful!***
