London Archives - Sivan Askayo Blog

CitizenM Hotel in Bankside, London

September 7, 2013

When I grow up I want to design a hotel…Yep, same like this one…the citizenM hotel in Bankside London.

I’ve heard about citizenM when I was visiting London on July. I was having a meeting and a portfolio review with WallPaper Magazine and in preparing myself to the meeting, I read the WallPaper Travel section and came across the citizenM post. The hotel happened to be located just across the street from WallPaper offices so I made sure to go and see the hotel with my own eyes.

Yes. I admit. I love Shapes and Colors. (and if you follow my blog for a while now, I’m sure you have probably noticed that) so no wonder I was drawn into the huge lobby of citizenM immediately and wandered its colorful labyrinth. Then I got to the working space area that really made me envy I wasn’t the one sitting there working on my computer.

Wandering the lobby, I’ve noticed the nonchalant atmosphere among the guests, who seemed to feel like it was their own living-room. I loved it!

When I got back to New York, I had the pleasure of meeting Noreen Chadha, who is managing the up and coming citizenM in New York. Noreen was kind enough to share with me the story of the hotel chain and I’m so excited to share it with you.

It all started when Rattan Chadha, back then a textile tycoon and now the founder of citizenM, was always looking for a different kind of hotels while he was traveling for business. During his fashion days, Chadha had about 100 designers traveling all over the world, from London to Milan to Paris to New York, and they were always complaining about their hotels. These were cool creative people, and they wanted to stay in a hotel where they could connect with the brand and with the lifestyle. They wanted to have a drink at the bar and meet likeminded people. But they always ended up in a Holiday Inn or a Marriott, because of budget. This was a common frustration, and it got Rattan thinking about a new opportunity. He got a team of people, all hospitality-connected, all frequent flyers and together they came up with a list of frustrations but also with some creative solutions and suggestions.

citizenM, The New Generation of Traveller

Chadha and team realized the hospitality world is no longer divided into just two segments of travelers; The 5-start traveler or the Budget traveler. No. Nowadays travelers are mix and match and no longer boxed in one category; They might stay at different types of hotels for different trips, fly economy, take public transportation and yet, they want to dine in the hottest restaurant in town. They might wear Zara or Uniqlo but will also have a Rolex on their wrist.

The new generation of traveler is the citizenM (M is for Mobile). The citizenM traveler is a frequent traveler going to the major cities of the world, travels for work or pleasure or both. He is conscious about value, cares about quality, luxury and quite protective of his time. He doesn’t want to waste time, but wants things to be easy, efficient and friendly.

Once the mobile citizen profile was established, it was easier to figure out what does a citizenM traveler want from a hotel; The result was 5 main things:

* Lifestyle- ‘You are where you sleep’. When you walk into a hotel you want to connect with the vibe and the atmosphere. You want it to fit with your lifestyle. You also want to feel comfortable and at home. And when you are at home, you spend most of your time in your living room or your kitchen, and you mainly use your bedroom for sleeping. So this is what hotels should be like. Instead of a small lobby, citizenM Hotels; lobbies are built like oversized living rooms. All hotels are designed by Concrete, Amsterdam, and the furniture are all by the Swiss luxury brand, Vitra. Each hotel has contemporary Art that comes from the chain’s private Art collection and the chain has an in house stylist who travels all over the world, collecting authentic items to put in the hotels’ living rooms, so it really does feel like a home.

* Efficiency. Self check in and check out. You can be checked in within 60 seconds. citizenM likes working paperless, and most communication is via emails. Your room-key is an RFID card, that also doubles as a luggage tag and you can use it any time and at any hotel of citizenM. You can also use the room-key to pay for food and beverage.

* Luxury. Even though rooms are quite small, you will have a luxury sleeping experience thanks to the 2×2 meters beds with the custom made mattresses by Sealy, Italian linen and super fluffy pillows. The shower amenities are all designed by Alessandro Gualtieri who spent months perfecting the citizenAM and PM fragrance for the hotel chain.

* Technology should be simple, user friendly and has to work! All rooms run on a customizable ambient server. Each room has his own mood-pad (designed especially for citizenM by Samsung and Swisscom). The mood-pads are all one-touch, easy to use. You can change the color of the lighting, the intensity of the lights, temperature, different types of alarms (wake up gently by a woman counting down and the lights slowly turning on, or wildly with the lights on bright and the sound of pingpong balls or elephants thrashing through the room). There are no hidden costs in the room. So you can enjoy free WiFi, free movies on demand and free phone calls (run through VOIP).

* Genuine, human service. This might be one of the most important values of citizenM; Their Staff. The hotel doesn’t believe in segmenting people into functions or positions, and instead, the hotel trains its staff to be multi functional. The staff is citizenM’s brand ambassadors and they embody the typical mobile citizen themselves. Each and every one of them is trained as baristas to make you great coffee, as mixologists to shake you a perfect cocktail, but they can also check you in or out, help you in the room, and they know the city well so they can help with local tips and advice. Therefore, I was so amazed when the bartender who welcomed me also showed me the rooms and gave me a private tour.

Each staff member is purely hired on his/hers personality and those who are going to make you feel at home the moment you walk in the door. (Trust me, I am talking from my own experience). It doesn’t matter if they have tattoos or pink hair, as long as they are great and welcoming people who know their job.

citizenM hotel is all about affordable luxury, comfort and design. As a travel photographer, who is always looking for a great, comfortable and eye-catching design, I am curious and drawn to these kinds of hotels, such as citizenM.

Next time I’m traveling to London or Amsterdam, you know where I will be staying, and you know I will be proud to be part of citizenM.

2 Comments

Travel

After All…it’s London…

May 27, 2012

The universe is divided into two groups of people: Those who love London and those who love New York. When I was twenty, the guy I was dating back then used to say that there is a defined line between London-lovers and New York-lovers, and one cannot cross that line. Whereas he was a definite London lover, I chose New York. Maybe that’s why we are no longer together. But seriously. The fact I’ve been living in New York for the last 10 years now definitely makes me one who prefers Manhattan, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love London. I do.

I’ve been to London three times; First time was when I was 16 years old. It was a teenager-sweet sixteen-tour around some European capitals. The second time was quite an accident. I met a guy and we decided to meet again somewhere in the middle. We chose London. It rained throughout the whole week of end of May. My third time was two years ago. I was on my way from Tel Aviv back to New York and decided to pass through the British capital to visit my cousin. What started as a five-day trip ended up as 15. I got stuck in London due to the eruption of the Icelandic vulcan on April 2010 but enjoyed an unexpected early summer.

London is a touristic city by definition. If you are planning to visit the British capital this summer, bear in mind you would hit the massive touristic crowds who come to watch the Olympics or those who come to celebrate with the British nation the Queen’s 60th year on the throne. If this is not enough, there might be a chance you find yourself standing in a long line just to get in to the Charles Dickens Museum just in time for the author’s 200th birthday. But wait. There is more. Across town, Warner Brothers Studio Tour will open the Harry Potter studios to all the real fans who want to re-live the films. And last but not least, The Rolling Stones, celebrating their 50th anniversary, might tour again, with a possible finale in London.

No doubt, London is going to be a hot destination this Summer. If you find yourself in London, and yet, want to beat the crowds while you are there, I suggest checking in some less touristic destinations.

Hoxton

One of my favorite areas I have discovered is Hoxton. Funny enough, I got to this area by chance. I printed a map to follow Banksy’s steps and one of the locations was near the tube’s station Old Street. When I got out of the tube, my first reaction was to go and find Banksy’s famous graffiti Sweep on Hoxton but after asking few locals where I can find it, they told me the only Banksy’s left was the one outside Cargo club in Rivington street. Of course I ran to that direction, however, I was quite disappointed to find out the mural was a bit hidden by some plants. Nevertheless, I decided to walk around this area and I was happy to discover a vibrant district of Arts and entertainment and a large number of bars, nightclubs, restaurants and Art galleries. Not to mention some great walls covered with good graffiti. If I had an extra time in London, I would definitely spend more time in Hoxton, follow more graffiti walls, get in to more boutiques and enjoy watching the crowds.

Directions: Take the Northern line (black color) and get off Old Street Station.

Hampstead

While Hoxton is a neighborhood of a young and creative crowd, most of them are starving emerging artists, Hampstead, is also a less touristic area, but with a completely a different vibe. Hampsted is known for its affluent residents and a hub for some of the most expensive housing in the London area. I got to Hampsted as it was one stop away from the area I was staying, and every morning while I was taking the tube to the center of the city, I got curious about Hampstead. Besides, someone advised me to check Hampstead Heath which is a great park with one of the highest points overlooking London (great for photography). Strolling around this beautiful area, watching hound dogs running around and kids wearing rubber boots and running into puddles, made me feel like I was in a British movie. Speaking of movies, a lot of British movies have been filmed in this area; ‘Notting Hill‘, ‘Notes on a Scandal‘ to name a few, and all I could ask for was spotting Hugh Grant stepping out from the Kenwood House or walking his dog in one of the streets.

I highly recommend to take a hike to Hampsted Heath and walk around the narrow cobble stone streets. Enjoy a nice lunch in one of the notable and longstanding cafes such as La Gaffe, Gaucho Grill, or Le Cellier du Midi for example, and have a crowded-less shopping experience in one of the main streets.

Directions: Take the Northern line (black color) and get off Hampsted Station.

Another way to beat the crowds is sight-seeing the city at night. As long as you avoid Leicester Square, Piccadilly circus or Soho, which are all packed with club and theater crowds, it can be a great opportunity to catch a glimpse of Tower Bridge, London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster, less packed.

London is an exciting city. There are so many sites and places to see and visit; I always recommend to check the side streets of a central area because so many gems and photography opportunities are out there. Walk around the side streets of Notting Hill, check out all floors of Liberty, enjoy a theatrical tour to Hampton Court Palace (highly recommended) or take an architectural tour around some of the most interesting buildings in London, such as The Gherkin. (try to time it during lunch break when all the business men in suits are out there).

London is an exciting city. The weather however, might be tricky and rainy at times, but one thing is sure; London is definitely going to be buzzing and hot!

0 Comments

Window or Aisle?

Intimacy under the Wires; How it all started

May 7, 2011

Like a lot of things in life, this photography project started with a random image. Like a lot of times in life, sometimes you have to get away from a place in order to rediscover it. These two sentences basically initiated my on-going photography project called “Intimacy Under the Wires.”

As a street photographer based in New York City, I hardly (if ever) come across the sight of laundry hung outside windows to get dry. It was a very common thing for me to see, however, when I grew up in Israel.

I was on a holiday visit to Israel on April 2010 when it all started.

I made plans to meet a friend at the flea market in old Jaffa and he was late. While waiting for him, I wandered the quiet back streets of this old and vivid neighborhood, when a woman’s voice from an upper floor caught my attention. I looked up and saw her hanging her laundry outside the balcony. For some, it may be an ordinary chore, but I haven’t seen that since I moved to Manhattan 10 years ago. I stayed there, standing in the street under the crumbling balcony, and observed her. Few minutes after she hung her clothes, a warm breeze from the sea came by and animated them.

I just had to take a picture!

After Tel Aviv, I had a stop in London for few days, and then there was the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, so I got stuck for a week there. I used the time to walk in the streets of London and take a lot of pictures. I was in Brixton, London, when I took this image, which is one of my favorites.

I think this image made me wonder about the people who wear these clothes. I really wanted to know more about them. What they do for a living? How do they look? But mostly wanted to know about their character. So I think this image really made me think further.

From looking at someone’s laundry we can tell so much about them and their families without even meeting them. Some have all work shirts, some party dresses, some uniforms, children’s clothes, tank tops, t-shirts, sexy lingerie and so on.

Laundry is something so personal and private yet so public. Looking at laundry seems so mundane, yet when you delve into it, you realize laundry tells of people’s intimate lives. They hang their sheets, their night clothes, even their underwear for all to see. We would never expose these personal things if we were actually in them, would we?

This project, which was named by Phaidon “Intimacy Under the Wires,” is not just about laundry.

It is about the differences among the cultures, the places and the people who wear these clothes. I love traveling to different places, taking portraits of city streets and their dynamics. I often say that I don’t take people’s portraits but cities’. Since that afternoon in Israel, I am drawn to images of laundry.

In every city there is that area, usually in old neighborhoods, where laundry is hung up outdoors. It amazes me to see how laundry is similar in different countries and cultures and yet so different. When I take a picture of laundry I always make sure to relate it to its location. Whether it’s a street sign, a building, a window, I am also interested in the texture and colors of the buildings where the laundry is out to dry.

Another layer hidden or not hidden in this project, beside intimacy, is our urge toward voyeurism. We are all voyeurs. Photographers maybe more than others.

When I shoot these images, I am standing under the laundry wires and waiting for the right moment, when a breeze passes by and brings life, energy and rhythm to the clothes. I find laundry very intimate and sexy, and when I shoot, the act of looking up, is like the feeling of being under someone, unseen, a voyeur, a spy, like sitting under the boardwalk at the beach and watching people walk by, unaware. And this is actually what we photographers mostly do: spy with our cameras and tell stories with the images.

“Intimacy Under the Wires” is an on-going project. It has been featured in the following blogs: Phaidon, Design Sponge, Design Milk, Feature Shoot, Trend Hunter, aCurator

Window or Aisle?

Maslul Magazine April Issue

April 17, 2011

Window or Aisle?

A picture is worth a 1000 words

May 20, 2010

“…Love isn’t finding a perfect person. It’s seeing an imperfect person perfectly…”

Saatchi Gallery, London, April 2010

I was in Saatchi Gallery the other day with my mom, while we got stuck for extra few days due to the volcano eruption in Iceland. Not that it is a bad thing to get stuck in London (thank God we have a family there and a place to stay) but the uncertainty of when we can go back to New York was quite devastating. Therefore, we both found that indulging ourselves in some Art, was the best way to forget about the World’s biggest drama at that time. My mom was getting her coffee at the gallery cafeteria, when I was taking this picture. I was drawn to the man’s socks and to the woman’s feet that didn’t touch the rails. Other than that, I have no idea how this couple look like.