Budding Dutch hotel group CitizenM has recently brought its brand of 'affordable luxury' to London in the first of what will be a trio of concept hotels in the city. Conveniently sited across the road from Wallpaper* HQ, seconds from Tate Modern, CitizenM Bankside is the fourth hotel from the group, which also has bolt-holes in Amsterdam and Glasgow, with more planned in New York and Paris.
CitizenM caters to a new generation of technophile travellers, and its latest effort is a notable step-up for a company already known for rethinking the budget hotel concept. Filled with eclectic furniture, accessories and books, the Bankside hotel's striking open-plan lobby is 'styled to look like the living room of a very well-travelled person', according to CMO Robin Chadha.
Guests are offered a self check-in service, using touch screen terminals, and they can refresh themselves at the self-sevice CanteenM - the brand's antidote to the notoriously exorbitant mini-bars, arguably the biggest bane of modern travel.
'We looked at where people spend their time,' says Chadha. 'Do you spend time in the bedroom? No, it's always the living room - and, even more, the kitchen.' The bakery-style kitchen is open around the clock, and serves up sandwiches, salads, sushi, warm dishes and beverages, while the adjacent coffee bar morphs into a cocktail bar as day turns to night.
Unique to this CitizenM is a newfound focus on contemporary art. Turner Prize-nominated artist Mark Titchner features on the exterior of the building with a text piece boldly claiming 'Another World Is Possible', a sentiment that also formed the basis of the design of the hotel. Inside eagle-eyed art enthusiasts may recognise works by Hans op de Beeck, Gavin Turk and Mario Testino. Also new for the hotel group is a partnership with Amsterdam-based bookshop Mendo, the self-styled 'candy store for book aficionados'. In the pop-up bookshop, guests can purchase tomes on photography, architecture, fashion or travel, and have them sent directly to their home address.
The hotel is built around a serene atrium that offers a rare green haven in the bustling metropolis, with tall birch trees reaching up through hanging lanterns and encompassed by a bold 35-meter mural from art collective Assume Vivid Astro Focus. A dramatic spiral staircase leads up to the first floor, where 'business nomads' will find a collection of seven meeting rooms that eschew the corporate look, featuring wooden bookshelves, Eames 'Plastic Chairs' and dramatic lighting fixtures.
The rooms at CitizenM Bankside are compact cubicles of cool, featuring wall-to-wall windows, superking-size beds, space-age rain showers, furniture from design powerhouse Vitra, Skype-based phones, global plug sockets and complimentary wi-fi and films. Remote controls are made obsolete by a bespoke touch-screen tablet that controls everything from the expected (television, window blinds, temperature) to the unexpected (social media channels, ambient mood lighting and themed wake-up alarms).
With rates starting from just £99, CitizenM has set a new standard for techno-forward budget luxury.
Notoriously exorbitant mini-bars, arguably biggest bane of modern travel, have been replaced by a self-serve CanteenM on the ground floor
Unique to CitizenM Bankside is a newfound focus on contemporary art. Pictured is 'Large red fright wig', by Gavin Turk
The hotel has partnered with Amsterdam-based bookshop Mendo to create a curated pop-up bookstore
The hotel is built around a serene atrium that offers a rare green haven in the bustling metropolis, with tall birch trees reaching up through hanging lanterns
A dramatic spiral staircase leads up to the first floor where ‘business nomads’ will find a collection of seven meeting rooms, as well as bedrooms
ADDRESS
20 Lavington Street
London UK, SE1 0NZ
-
In the frame: Layer is a new high-tech platform for displaying unique pieces of generative artA museum-grade canvas renders digital art with spectacular precision, cutting-edge tech and exacting industrial design
-
Chrome tableware to make your dining setup shineOnce a hallmark of industrial and midcentury design, chrome is shining once again. The latest expression? Metallic dinner-, drink- and serveware that embody sophistication
-
Serenity radiates through this Mexican home, set between two ravinesOn the cusp of a lakeside town, Mexican home Casa el Espino is a single-storey residence by Soler Orozco Arquitectos (SOA)
-
Sophie Smallhorn’s plywood tables for Uncommon Projects are colourful and modularThese modular tables by the artist and the plywood specialist play with colour for function, fun and flexibility
-
American vision meets British craft in Billy Cotton’s new collaboration with Soane BritainYes, there’s rattan, but the lauded New York designer also brought in brass, oak and more. ‘There’s a sort of alchemy to these materials,’ he says
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasureThe Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
Welcome to Salt, a London hair salon-turned-immersive audio experienceStyling meets sound design at Salt’s second London outpost, a high-concept space by Unknown Works designed to be heard as much as seen
-
How do you modernise a home without making it feel modern? This farmhouse renovation is a stunning case studyA 300-year-old English farmhouse has been given a new lease of life while staying true to the old ways
-
Step inside a neoclassical-inspired apartment in The Whiteley’s clock towerSituated within London’s former Whiteleys department store, this newly unveiled residence combines Italian elegance, courtesy of furnishings by Maxalto, with architectural heritage
-
Jessica Anne Woodley’s ‘joyfully imperfect’ furniture seeks your inner childThe designer is launching GliFfY, a furniture studio offering playful forms that reflect on her personal growth
-
The Stuff That Surrounds, episode two: Inside the home of Vyrao founder Yasmin SewellIn The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. For our second episode, we’re invited into the fragrance founder and CEO’s viridescent London home
