Citizen M pod hotel chain ramps up in New York City

Readers, Greetings from Barcelona!

I had the chance on Wednesday to catch up with Michael Levie, a founder and top executive of Citizen M, the emerging hotel chain that caters to a special niche - design loving, tech savvy travelers who don't want to spend a fortune on lodging and are content with teeny rooms. Citizen M belongs to the latest iteration of the pod hotel category.

Though it has just four hotels open at the moment, you should know about the Amsterdam-based chain because others in the hotel industry are watching it closely - and it's coming to the USA.

By next summer, there will be a very visible, 24-story tower Citizen M in the heart of New York City. Expect rates to be somewhere in the ballpark of around $250 a night, which is roughly average for the city; at some point, the hotel will actually cap rates like it has in other cities.

The hotel is currently under construction in the Times Square area at 50th Street and Broadway, on the site of a former concrete parking garage, Levie told me. It will have 240 rooms. It's past the point of being an empty box, he says. The plumbing, electricity and mechanical and engineering work is underway, and workers are now starting to work on the facade, which will eventually feature artwork.

Targeting big cities

"We rolled out London. We will go to New York. We're starting construction this month on Paris. Metropolises are the most interesting for anybody," Levie says. "If you can wiggle your tail in, it's worthwhile for everyone."

Besides Times Square, Citizen M has plans to create a second, 23-story pod hotel in New York's trendy Soho neighborhood. That one is expected to open a year after the first, in the summer of 2014, further establishing its presence in the world's gateway cities.

Why people are watching a fledgling chain

I asked hotel expert Patrick Goff, who writes HotelDesigns.net, why Citizen M is significant even though it targets a narrow segment of the traveling public - primarily young, frequent travelers who are traveling alone or as couples.

Levie, he said, "is doing defining the guest and working backwards to the provisions you need to make to satisfy them. His starting point is the guest profile, and then they design the hotel around the guest."

This type of customer, for instance, doesn't want to spend much time in their guest room so they won't place a priority on having a large room as long as it's smartly designed, Goff says.

"He knows that those people will spend most of their time socializing in the public spaces," Goff told me.

Other locations

Citizen M most recently opened its first hotel in London in the Bankside district using a pre-fab method in which the rooms were assembled in a specially made factory - which is yet another notable point about the company.

The rooms - once completely packed and sealed - were delivered to the hotel site and stacked inside the building. The method cut down construction time to about 10 and a half months, down from around 20 months, Levie said. The New York buildings, however, will be built via traditional construction.

Citizen M also operates a hotel in Glasgow, and two hotels in Amsterdam - one by Schipol airport and another in the city.

All of its hotels incorporate art from artists from the location. The artist for the Times Square building hasn't yet been selected.

What to expect from a Citizen M hotel

If you visit a Citizen M hotel, expect unscripted service, living room-like public spaces with sleek leather couches, bold colors and tech-friendly features, and a grab-and-go eating area that resembles a high-end kitchen you might find in someone's sophisticated home.

"It is like walking through a kitchen," Levie says. "You can grab what you want. We are creating the human feel with areas that you can navigate as if you're home."

Readers: This concept may not be for you. Whether it appeals to you or not, please tell us and explain your answer.