When we pick a hotel for a city tour we research the location of each one in detail. We don’t want to waste too much time commuting to the places we want to see. The choice of our hotel in Amsterdam was mostly based on Patrick’s research this time. He really wanted to stay in a hotel of the CitizenM chain. So I booked it without looking into it much further.
The location of the CitizenM Amsterdam
We took the train from Schipol Airport to Amsterdam Zuid. From the stop it was a 5-minute walk to the hotel. Definitely a point on the plus side for the hotel.
Trains and the tram connect the CitizenM Amsterdam with the city centre. The tram departs roughly every 25 minutes. We decided to walk. That might have taken a little longer but it lead us through streets that weren’t yet frequented by quite as many tourists and through really lovely areas. We absolutely love seeing this other side of a city.
If you arrive by car be prepared to look for a parking spot on the streets around the hotel.
That’s what it was like in the hotel
Looking for a reception desk when arriving at the CitizenM Amsterdam will be in vain. There is, however, a large table with several terminals and a friendly member of staff that assists guest with the self check-in. Guests even generate the code for the door card themselves. After the trip guest also do the check out themselves. I liked the system. Especially when one is already used to the procedure it can save a lot of time to do it yourself instead of having to wait for an available member of staff. And one does not have to go without the information service of a classic reception desk. Hotel staff is around to answer all questions that might arise. We received top recommendations when we were looking for a nearby restaurant for dinner.
What a room!
With our door card we went up to the 3rd floor of the hotel. We opened the door and my only comment was “wow”. Modern, stylish, unusual, great, will take some getting used to, what a bed, cool shower, … I don’t really know what my first thoughts were. But first things first.
When entering the room one finds oneself in the “bathroom”. But “bathroom” actually isn’t quite the right word for it. It had two sliding doors to two glass cubicles and a sink.

One of the cubicles holds the toilet, the other one is for the shower. I have to admit that it will probably not work for all travel parties to have one sitting on the toilet and the travel buddy right next to the toilet on the bed watching TV. Had I been travelling with a friend or acquaintance I would most likely have used the privacy curtain around the bed and still wouldn’t have been entirely comfortable. But after 20 years of marriage… for us the bathroom wasn’t a problem. The shower was top notch! On an iPad I adjusted the colour of the light in the shower and enjoyed the warm water under an enormous shower head. The shower alone justified the hotel choice.
After passing through both bathroom cubicles one finds themselves in front of a huge bed. The entire width of the room is filled with the bed. From on the bed one can look outside the window that stretches across the entire length of the wall. I slept fantastically well in this bed. There is no wardrobe in the room! Just place all your belongings in the big drawer under the bed!

The absolute show-stopper was the iPad in the room. This device controls almost everything in the room: The brightness, the colour of the lights, the TV, the phone,… I played with that for a little bit and tested all the settings.
More of this, please…
Another thing I liked about the CitizenM Amsterdam is an idea that I hope to see reproduced by other hotels. In addition to the usual “do not disturb” sign they also had a “please don’t clean” sign for the door. If hung up before a certain cut off time each day the hotel staff will not clean the room but instead donate money to a charity. The charity’s goal is to purchase bicycles in Africa. Honestly, I love this idea. I don’t have to find my bed made and the bathroom cleaned after a day’s worth of excursions during a two-night stay in a hotel. That isn’t what’s happening at home either and I always survive the night. Sure, on a longer stay it is nice to have the room cleaned. But sometimes it is just a bit over the top and I like the idea to save the money and invest it in something meaningful instead.

What else…
In the evening we dined in the stylish dining space of the CitizenM Amsterdam. They offer small dishes and a variety of drinks. With their free WiFi, we were able to work a little and end the day in a cosy environment.
We didn’t have breakfast at the hotel but the food looked good and many guests made use of the hotel breakfast.
Address:
Pr. Irenestraat 30,
1077 WX Amsterdam,
Niederlande
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