Tonight (10th December), citizenM will open its fifth hotel. The Dutch award winning hotel chain has chosen for an extraordinary location: ‘The Old Port‘ in Rotterdam, one of the last conserved historical places in the city. citizenM hopes to spark new interest in the Old Port as a meeting place between the older and younger generations. As with the other four citizenM hotels (Amsterdam, London, Glasgow) this hotel offers affordable luxury for the people.

The hotel is built next to the famous cube houses by Piet Blom and the little historical port which was founded in the year 1350 and which grew to one of the largests ports in Europe. And next to the first skyscraper in Europe: the White House – built in 1898.

citizenM hotels embrace art and this new one makes no difference: as soon as you approach the building, you can’t look past the big work on the façade: “Squeezed sun & stretched ship” by Gijs Frieling. On the inside, there are remarkable works by a.o. David LaChapelle and Paul Beumer. concrete was asked to design the interior and they did an amazing job, aimed at the needs of ‘mobile citizen’s: modern travelers in search of affordable accomodation who are not willing to compromise on design, technology or comfort. The furniture has been designed by label Vitra.

The citizenM living rooms offer guests the ultimate home-away-from-home feeling thanks to its cosy atmosphere. The living rooms have the usual citizenM bookcases, filled with unusual objects and Mendo books about photography, travels and art – aimed at an inspiring and creative ambience. The shelves will also provide books on the history of Rotterdam.

Mobile citizens will be able to recharge and relax next to fireplaces, have a small bite at one of the communal tables and plug in their mobile devices to get their work done. The citizenM lobby offers free Wi-Fi to everyone: those who stay to sleep and those who only come to read the newspapers. canteenM provides food and drinks 24/7: fresh croissants for breakfast, but also light salades, sushi and sandwiches. The citizenM ambassadors are available 24/7 as well, for a perfect cocktail or cappuccino – whether it’s 5 a.m. or 5 p.m.

The hotel has 151 rooms of each 16 m², provided with a tablet mood pad which controls nearly every function in the room: from the ambient lighting and curtains to the heating, flat screen television and sound system. The mood pad also includes four preset moods, such as romance, business and relax.

The new hotel in Rotterdam is part of citizenM’s ambitious plans to expand their activities all over the world. Early 2014, citizenM will open a hotel in New York  (Times Square) and Paris (Charles de Gaulle). They are also building three more hotels in London and recently they incited a collaboration with the Artyzen Hospitality Group (based in Hong Kong) to open up hotels in South East Asia.