citizenM Seattle Pioneer Square — Hotel in Seattle

I never write reviews, but this was the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. I don't say that lightly. It warrants a warning to anyone like me who expects a standard level or even a base level of amenities and quality to have a reasonable experience, let alone a good one. Here's my list of issues:

All controls must be handled via an iPad - lights, tv, temperature, etc. For example, you can't open the curtains or night shades by hand. And exact settings are hard to pinpoint due to iPad responsiveness and wifi delay. There are no on/off switches for the lights. Instead, the switches are slow dimmer controls. Both the up and down sides of the switch cycles the dim lights from on to off to on etc in the same cycle motion. Why have two ended switches then? There is no bathroom overhead light control. You can only access it via the iPad, and only by turning on/off all the room lights. Good luck if you want it on in the middle of the night. There is no counter in the bathroom. There is about a 2-foot wide sink area, of which the small sink basin is about 10x8 inches of that. The remaining 1 foot or so is for towels. There is no other counter space, so either your toiletry bag or the small towels can fit there, likely not both. Otherwise something has to go on the floor. The big towels have to be on the floor. The temperature control allows you to set it to what you want, but it actually self-regulates and doesn't get to your desired temperature. Then over time the temp changes back to default settings anyway. It made for an uncomfortable night's sleep. The shower has two heads, but the water pressure is weak, and the lower head is particularly weak. I was told that this is due to city water pressure standards, but I've stayed in many Seattle hotels, and there's never been a water pressure issue. There is no luggage rack. There is a small bench for putting your shoes on etc, but it's too small for most luggage, so I had to put it on the floor. The clothes rack is by the room door, so luggage on the floor gets in the way of the door, so you have to navigate around that. Or you take out your clothes and put them in drawers, which I don't like to do. As you might imagine, the room was very small. The pillows are stiff and cylindrical round, like you'd see on a couch or a bolster you'd use in yoga or at a gym. Not usable for your head. I asked for softer pillows, and they are aware of the problem from other complaints that people don't like them, but they don't have softer pillows to offer. Small counter/table space. There is a small desk about the size of a grammar school desk next to one side of the bed. There is a small table about 12x10 inches on the other side of the bed. There is about a 4-inch lip on the wall by the wall-mounted TV that's about 6-8 inches wide, where the remote sits, and there's shelf space by the clothes rack. There is no other space in the room to put things on. The TV remote only turns the TV on and off. Controls are done with the iPad. I prefer a remote. The floors are hardwood. I like to stretch in the morning, not ideal. No rooms have carpet. No in-room coffee No in-room water No room service I was attracted by the low price and modern design, but it's lipstick on a pig. It attempts to be hip and high tech, but the designs are unintuitive and flawed. When I raised these issues, I was told they are a "different kind of hotel". True, and you get what you pay for. This is a cheap hotel that has seemingly cut every corner possible. I won't ever stay at a...

Adding some info that hasn’t been well-covered by other reviewers.

Overall, this hotel has innovated to provide a great experience in urban center locations at lower cost than legacy hotel brands.

Lavish on the things that matter, like getting a good night’s rest, eating well, friendly staff, outstanding cleaning teams and being centrally-located.

Frugal on the things that don’t matter, like big rooms, big views from (most of) the rooms, bellboys, table waiters, dedicated limos.

I applaud CitizenM for reimagining what a great urban hotel experience should be.

My wife and I were here for three days in March 2025.

YES, YOU CAN TAKE HOT SHOWERS: Many of the reviews say that for reasons of sustainability, the showers max out at warm, not hot.

This is not correct. The shower hardware is German from Hansgrohe.

When turning the temperature knob toward hot, there’s a stop on the knob at warm.

TO GET HOT YOU NEED TO PUSH A SMALL BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE KNOB, which allows the knob to turn further all the way to scalding hot.

Some reviews also say that water pressure is insufficient. I disagree. The Hansgrohe shower heads put out lots of water coverage even with lower flow, unlike low flow American shower heads.

ROOM SIZE, ROOM DESIGN AND USE OF SPACE: The use of space in the small, well-designed rooms is good, but not great. There are too few wall hooks, hangers and storage areas for luggage, given the relatively tiny room size, especially for two people.

Similarly-sized rooms in Tokyo and places in Europe tend to make better use of space.

Inexplicably, there are decorative items like books, stuffed animals, and cheesy small art prints that take up limited space and/or make the room feel even smaller than it is. These items should be removed.

Other pros? Big windows with effective blackout shades, super comfortable large beds with high thread count sheets, great lighting, good soundproofing (at least on our top floor room), excellent climate control, near silent HVAC.

Other cons? Too few places to stash things. Insufficient bathroom ventilation.

TECHNOLOGY: Love being able to choose type of room at check in.

Not sure that auto check-in is being embraced by guests since the hotel has an attendant to help with the auto check-in process.

IPad room controller is intuitive and easy to use, while analog switches for lights and window shades are also built into rooms.

AESTHETICS: If you are an eight year old boy or the interior designer for Wendy’s fast food hamburger restaurants, you will love the red, black and white colors in the rooms, hallways and lobby.

For anyone else, the odd color mix looks dated, downmarket, and not in alignment with the sophisticated, quality vibe of this hotel.

BREAKFAST: Identical to the sumptuous 75€ breakfasts at the best five star hotels in Europe sans the champagne. But for only $20.

Pastries? Authentic pan chocolate, croissants, buttery raspberry danish. Perfectly fresh, well-crafted, not loaded with sugar.

Plain whole milk Greek yogurt, fresh berries, good granola, dried fruit and nuts.

Bacon, sausage, eggs, smoked salmon, juice, teas….everything.

COFFEE: They have a well-tuned La Marzocco Linea espresso machine and Mazzer commercial grinders. The espresso-based drinks are as good or better than any cafe in the country.

LOBBY: Lots of areas to work in or hang out. High ceilings, good control of sound, cozy and inviting. Overall great Feng Shui.

STAFF: Everyone is friendly, welcoming and competent. The cleaning staff are superb. The hotel is spotlessly clean,...

This hotel is a unique experience with its use of high tech and maximizing space, while not giving up comfort. I will go through a quick walk thru that will hopefully help people make their hotel choice easier. This hotel is rated 4 stars, and although I am not familiar with 4-5 star hotels, I had NO complaints with my stay there. First to know tho is that there is no parking on site although we parked literally 50yds away, around the corner for about 7 bucks! (Street parking, uncovered)Crazy. There are also many covered parking options near by. Their lobby is super relaxed and interesting, with a canteen in the middle for eats and drinks. I didn't take any pics but you'll see for yourself online. Lots of people downstairs hanging out. There are hosts that greet you immediately and kiosks where you check in. Punch in your name to find your rez, scan your ID and you are done. Unfortunately being Canadian the machine would only scan my passport. Minor inconvenience as the host finished the process in 30 seconds. So the rooms are unique to say the least. Every room is identical except for the view out your large window. All rooms are 170 sq.ft! Tiny, right? They are, but they are well thought out. Storage for your clothes and stuff is under the bed in drawers, as is the safe. The sink is in the room, as the bathroom is taken up by the shower and toilet(which is similar to an airplane style type.) The bed is right up against the picture window, so that if you are a couple one of you is crawling over the other to get out!The bed is very comfortable, California king with large, comfortable pillows. There is a large window with a view, which is obviously there to offset the small room which was great because our view of the water and ship yards was just fine. Now everything in this hotel is controlled via an IPad in your room. This includes the air conditioning, the lighting(with daytime, nighttime, and mood lighting! the tv, the curtains and blinds, etc.I was also able to hook up my own media via Chromecast to play music from my phone. The iPad also has info on any other info on the hotel that you might need to know(the menu of the canteen downstairs, rules and regs,etc) So if you are needing space for yourselves, maybe if you are on a longer trip than this might not be for you. My wife and I found it to be great! By the way the location in Seattle for this hotel is awesome, with close proximity to the piers,Pioneer Square,Pike Place,etc. Very innovative interesting and inviting place!(By the way I used Hotwire to find the hotel and got my room for under 100$ US dollars, taxes in! Great deal. I hope this helps you choose. Can't go wrong staying here, well done Citizen M! ( 1 more thing- minor but if you need ice for your drinks it is available only downstairs in the lobby, where they will give you a large bucket for your room. Also be warned that the fridge in your room is tiny, room for maybe 6 beer. Again, for me at least this...