Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Hotel Name: CitizenM
The Skinny: The Rotterdam outpost of the Dutch hotel chain citzenM is as sleek, modern, and affordable as its cousins in Amsterdam and the UK, with Vitra furniture throughout and lobby spaces designed to look like the living room of your most impossibly stylish friends. (He: printmaker. She: designer. Kids: nope) Each small (very small!) but features-packed room has a rain shower with bespoke amenities, a California King-sized bed, and a tablet mood pad, which enables jet-lagged/Grolsch-sodden travelers to close the window blinds and dial up the red, blue, and green ambient lighting without getting out of bed. You can also, per the official website, "crank tunes" which is a handy feature for time-travelers from the 80s desperate for their morning Bob Seger fix. The hotel's location in the historic Oude Haven puts it in the center of the cafes and nightlife of Old Rotterdam, and the views from the rooms include the port and the Art Nouveau White House, Europe's first skyscraper. Rooms top out at €124 ($171), which is almost worth it for the tidy Dutch design alone.
· citizenM, Rotterdam [Official Site]
· All Hotels Week 2014 posts [Curbed National]