citizenM Seattle South Lake — Hotel in Seattle

I had a wonderful time in Seattle, which was slightly undercut by how much I hate this hotel.

After the first night, they moved my room because there was a problem with the HVAC, which was causing a constant high-pitched whistling sound every time the fan was running, which is almost literally all the time. Fine, whatever.

Then, after going to my next room, there were issues with the safe not locking properly, which fixed itself after about 8 attempts. Getting annoyed now.

The kicker though, was the iPads. For those unfamiliar, everything in a citizenM room can be controlled by an iPad. The TV, the blinds, lights, fan, alarm, etc. Well, because this multi-million dollar enterprise miraculously can’t afford proper hardware or licensed Apple chargers, the home button on the iPad would get superheated and LITERALLY BURN ME every time I tried to touch it. I noticed the issue in the morning, called the front desk, left, came back 6 hours later, went to do something with the iPad, and promptly burned myself again because they never bothered to check it. One angry phonecall later, maintenance came up and replaced it with the only other iPad they had available, because who needs spares, right? Well, it never successfully connected to the room, and the front desk couldn’t do anything about it, so it basically spent the trip as a desk decoration. So yeah, at that point, one night and day in, and I’ve burnt myself twice and can’t use half the functionality of the room beyond the bathroom, the lightswitch and the fact that there’s a bed in it. Boy am I glad to be here all week.

The thing about CitizenM is that it tries to be quirky and eccentric but the way it does it misses the mark, sort of the same way that creepy dolls do. It would probably feel more authentic if it wasn’t coming from a giant soulless corporation.

There’s other things about it that irk me as well. They seem to like to needlessly complicate things because ooh, technology. You need a keycard to press buttons on the elevator, but not to call it. What kind of security feature is that?! You can just get on and follow somebody off, so what’s the point?! All it does is make you fumble around for your card before you press a button and immediately put it back. That’s annoying. In the room, the main lightswitch turns on literally everything at once, and there’s no other way to turn on the overheads. That’s annoying. The lightswitch near the door automatically moves the blinds and picks which lights to turn on based on what was on before you hit it, so if you killed the lights with the main switch, the one by the door just doesn’t do anything. That’s annoying. And then the iPads. Well, I only had one for about 1 night, but in my limited experience, also annoying.

I’ve attached a photo of what I can only assume is a burn mark left by a faulty iPad that was there when I arrived. That’s a pretty obvious fire hazard and it’s hard to miss. That indicates to me that this hotel knows you’re not safe, and doesn’t care. Honestly? That’s the one aspect of this place that makes me the angriest. I physically hurt myself from a known issue, called it in, and didn’t get it resolved until it happened AGAIN. You would have to pay me to stay here again. Some...

I just completed a four day stay at citizenm with my daughter. We rented two rooms as I don't believe there are any rooms with two beds. We were able to get rooms relatively close together and I never felt she was unsafe (she is 15).

Our experience was fairly mixed. I really didn't mind the room size (my daughter wasn't a fan). I enjoyed the sophisticated, gradient light and climate controls. Customer service was exceptional - everyone I encountered at the concierge desk and in the common areas was helpful and courteous.

More generally, the common areas are well-designed, comfortable and calming spaces we both enjoyed. The ratio of available spaces to guests was ample: it never felt crowded or like you couldn't find a private spot if you weren't up to socializing with strangers. The atmosphere and vibe in these spaces was wonderful, easily the hotel's best feature.

We ordered from the canteen on one occasion. I found the cocktail quality to be good, if a bit thin, and the food quality fairly poor.

Unfortunately, the cleanliness of the hotel is not anywhere approaching acceptable, and for this reason alone I do not expect we will return. The floor of my room felt grimy when I arrived (I only ever dared to bare my feet in my room that first time), and the bed especially, the room's one prominent feature, was covered in other peoples' hair and various bits of fuzz of a variety of colors. To my amusement, I found the remote control in a sanitary bag...right on top of a single strand of long black hair in a drawer.

You have to request cleaning via the tablet room controls...a feature I like! And I did request cleaning for my third day. One would think that with such small rooms, every area would be addressed, instead I found myself wondering what they did clean. No attempt was made to clean the sink, mirror or surrounding counter, or the desk. All those other-peoples'-hairs were still in the bed. The shower/toilet area cleaning was shoddy at best. At least they made the bed, I guess? And put a bathmat in the room (missing at check-in)?

The poor attention to cleanliness is especially baffling given the repeated insistence that everything has been sanitized and the assurances you are safe there during covid times. I had no confidence any of this was true by the time we checked out.

Most surprising is the lack of any topsheet or blanket on the beds. The only item you are given to sleep under is a medium-sized comforter. While it did look like the outer layer was washable, I have spent enough time in hotels to know better than to want anything to do with hotel comforters. Some stains do not come out of the fluffy interior of these things. The lack of any other topsheet or blanket is literally the strangest thing I have ever encountered in any hotel room.

Overall I don't regret staying here. Great staff, great location, awesome common areas. But y'all have got to do better with the cleanliness of your rooms, it was about on par with what I'd expect at a roach...

I loved my stay at Citizen M and would 100% stay at another. It's definitely different and quirky in some ways, but I found it rather refreshing compared to several of the bigger chains. The rooms are designed to give you everything you need, but definitely built with the traveler in mind. Meaning it's a great place to crash while you're exploring the city rather than a large suite to relax all day (although I definitely did with my husband)

Pros: Amazing, super friendly staff Clean, safe area (never felt uncomfortable walking around) Clean, futuristic modern, quiet rooms. Never really heard my neighbors OR outside. Walking distance to all the sights like the space needle, Chihuly, Pikes Market, etc Good internet. I was able to have a zoom call and do my work with no issue. You can control what days the housekeeping comes A lobby that you actually want to hang out in Good breakfast, although you do have to pay for it Very comfy large beds Blackout curtains Better than average snacks in the lobby

Quirks (not cons, but different than other hotels): The rooms are built with efficiency in mind and can only accommodate 2 people. There are no rooms that have more than one bed. So I'm not sure families with kids would want to stay here because they'd have to split up The bed goes from wall to wall and are up against the window. So if you're traveling with someone, just move the pillows toward by the window that way one doesn't have to crawl over the other to get to the bathroom. Because the beds are wall to wall, there's limited outlets for charging phone while in bed. I'm a "typical millenial" who likes to have her phone charging next to her while in bed/asleep, so I'm aware that this is likely a non-issue for several people. The bathroom isn't a separate room but rather a section of the room separated with frosted glass. Again built for the solo or couple travelers. I actually really liked the shower with both the overhead and the handheld option. The iPad: You can control all the lights, curtain the temperature with the iPad. There's a couple of lights by the vanity and desk that you can manually switch on and off as well as the curtains. The vanity doesn't necessarily have a lot of top counterspace, but there's a lot of shelf space and I was able to store my makeup, hair straightener and some toiletries without issue. The fridge is pretty small, but we were actually able to store some leftovers with no issue. The closet is more like a nook with hangers and there's no doors. My partner and I just hung a few clothes at a time while we were there and put our luggage underneath the hanging clothes. There's also storage under the bed. Small desk space within the room, but the lobby has a lot of great common area to work from. There's no coffee maker or microwave in the room. I'd say that's the only con, but there's pretty decent coffee (drip, latte, espressos) downstairs that they make fresh for you.

I hope this review has been helpful! I highly recommend trying...