As Jenny Kleeman reports in The Guardian, Amsterdam is a good place to try new experiences. She wasn’t sure that sleeping in a shipping container would top every visitor's list, but on waking after her first night at citizenM Centraal, the city's newest designer hotel, she says she’s seen the future of international travel - and it's a 14-metre square steel box.
The hotel is made up of 215 shipping containers welded together over five floors. Kleeman says it's nothing new in the Netherlands - local students have been living in homes made of shipping containers for years – but now it's becoming a hit with international travellers.
citizenM is part of a growing trend of budget hotels, including Yotel and easyHotel, that cater to those who travel light and don't mind giving up some space and privacy in exchange for affordable luxury in the world's most expensive cities.
The rooms (containers?) at citizenM Centraal come complete with upscale amenities like rainfall showers, big beds, big towels, free films and free WiFi - all for not much more than $100 a night.
But as Kleeman reports, quarters are close: “As I wash my hair in our room's "rain shower" cubicle before breakfast, I'm able to watch my other half still asleep, curled up in our duvet, three feet from my navel. It feels a little strange, but it's all part of the experience, or so we're told. "
citizenM has global ambitions. There are two in Amsterdam – one at the airport and one in the city. Britain's first branch opened its doors in Glasgow in September, and the first London citizenM will open next year. Two sites in New York and Paris are also in the pipeline.
Kleeman says sleeping in a shipping container isn’t for everyone. “More than anything, you need to be sure you're very comfortable with the person who's sharing your room. While our toilets at citizenM had customizable light and temperature settings, the designers still hadn't figured out how to make them soundproof. If the future of international travel is affordable luxury, the traveller of the future might have to sacrifice a little bit of dignity to get it,” she says.
