By any yardstick, the citizenM group has found its groove, connecting, with rapid openings, an appreciative tribe of budget yet style-conscious travellers to its quirky brand of bright pop-art colours and ‘everything you need, nothing you don’t’ approach to hoteling.
It’s just opened its third Paris property, this time in the frenetic Gare de Lyon neighbourhood, no doubt hoping to tap into the youthful, transient set that floods in and out of the train station from dawn to dusk.
Once again, Dutch studio Concrete has been tapped to work its palette of psychedelic hues and playful furnishings (by Vitra, no less) in the communal spaces, not the least a flotilla of Japanese lanterns, and an arresting lobby installation by Jetske Visser and Michaiel Martens, alongside an equally vivid fresco and mural by Mast Cora and Romain Froquet.
The 338 rooms, meanwhile, riff off a template that will be familiar to citizenM groupies – a king-sized bed that doubles as a day-bed fitted fitted, Lego-like, into a moulded flow of sink and bathroom.
The hotel’s MO, though, is to pull guests out of their rooms into the sprawling public rooms. The canteen serves up a small selection of nibbles, but the bigger draw is cloudM, a rooftop bar styled as a cosy retreat that takes in views of greater Paris and the Seine.
