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Welcome to the second in clientships customer experiences superheroes podcast series.
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In this episode, we will be meeting Citizen M.
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Citizen M is a hotel with a difference, a boutique, a brand that has really redefined the category.
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Since opening in 2004, they've spread their love uh far and wide across the world and now have a following of Citizen M fans globally.
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Um I've been a fan for a long time, uh and it's going to be my pleasure in this episode to take you to the Citizen M and take you around the hotel so you can get a feel for different interesting.
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When you get to the hotel, you can see it run through everything that they do.
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The thing that I've always been impressed with is the band of ambassadors that you get to deal with in the hotel.
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But obviously behind the scenes there are those who had the dream and the vision, and and those I'm kind of familiar with by following them uh on the socially are um Ratten Chadder and uh Michael Levy.
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Now Ratan was formerly the uh CEO of Mexico brand, and him and Michael have uh had this focus of uh creating an affordable luxury for the people.
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Um there's now a much bigger team, uh but I guess kind of they're the the originators and um it's their vision uh creatively brought to life that we as uh guests have the benefit of enjoying every time we walk into a citizen.
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So I'm going to uh bid farewell for two seconds, uh hop on a plane, and uh next we'll be speaking as I'm arriving in Citizen.
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I'm standing here on Remthrew Street in Glasgow.
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Um I'm arrived for a um meet the customer workshop.
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Um whilst I'm here, I'm gonna take the opportunity to introduce you to certain aspects of the Citizen Mouti Rem.
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Um it's a hotel which means that I've been using the light to see what it has to be.
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This is a year and so I'm in the hotel now and ahead of me is a very striking portrait of Kate Moss, fabulous photograph, and really striking lots of uh vibrant colours.
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Um and to the left of me is a pillar, and on that pillar are a list of the awards won by uh Citizen M, Condi Nest and Wallpaper amongst them, uh European uh design hotel awards to showcase that Citin M is is a is a benchmark, it's a it's a it's arrived, it's not a fringe hotel anymore.
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Um now uh to the right of me is the check-in desk area.
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That's very straightforward, it's self-checking, but there's always an ambassador around to help you should you need that help.
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Rarely do.
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Um but you're you're through and checked in with it within a matter of maybe one or two minutes.
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Um it actually feels uh quite uh um uh quite like a game actually when you're when you're checking in, kind of it recognise you the screen and you're interacting together, and then you create your own uh room key.
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It's very uh innovative, and I've I've not seen it in too many places.
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Now to the left of me I see the uh meeting room areas, um, the Society uh M as they're called and I've used these a number of times.
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Great rooms, um, great facilities.
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Really understand kind of what matters most.
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You get a wonderful stationary box um full of post-its and blue-tack and all the things you kind of need, as well as a decent espresso machine.
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Um, too often uh in meeting rooms in hotels, you have to go outside, you have to use coffee that's gone cold outside.
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There we go, it's always hot, it's an espresso machine.
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There's areas of the hotel that they don't compromise on, and it really shows they know what matters most to their guests.
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Um, now uh if as I often do go into a room, I stop and I try and get some orientation to look around.
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It's kind of a natural thing to do if you're not sure where you go, you tend to look down.
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Um now when you look down here on the floor, I see ahead of me a doormat.
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Uh nothing particular special about that, apart from this door mat, and I've never seen it anywhere else.
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It says back to me, nice shoes.
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So it's already creating from the very moment you walk in an appreciation of the balance of the humour that's associated with the brand here at Citinem.
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So I'm gonna go over now and check in, and then I'll uh catch up with you next when I go into my bedroom.
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So, an aspect of the hotel that we have to look at is the bedroom.
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So I'm just entering my bedroom.
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And the thing that is very reassuring about a Citizen M hotel is that every room is the same.
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The layout is the same, the size is the same, the facilities are the same.
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Which means that when you arrive and check-in, your choice is much simpler.
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Which floor would you like to be on?
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There's no haggling, there's no need to, because every room is the same.
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Which means, in terms of brand consistency, irrespective of where you stay in the hotel and which hotel you stay in, you get a constant uh same experience.
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Which is both reassuring but also very welcoming.
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So as I enter the room, the first thing that uh um stands out is that uh the bed is actually as wide as the room.
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Considering it's a long and quite thin room, at the end I have a window and uh I'll share with you uh an interesting um small gesture uh in terms of experience that the window includes.
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But the bed itself is actually of a high quality.
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Um it's a good comfortable bed, but it's probably looking at it a queen or a king, even a king size.
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So as you come into the room, initially you have a very small area on the left where you can hang um a couple of items and a couple of hooks on the right.
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So immediately it's telling you this is not a hotel that you come to to stay for a number of days.
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And in fact, the Citizen M traveller is very much a stop and go type traveller.
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When you walk through the room, you notice it's very clean, it looks like a luxury um cabin you might have on a on a cruise ship.
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Um the shapes are very ergonomic, they're all round, there's no sharp edges in this room.
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When you get to the the sink area, which is on your right, it's a small sink, the sort you might find in a in a downstairs um uh water closet.
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Um, and in front of you you have soap.
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Now, soap is pretty standard.
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When you go to a hotel, most soap sits there outsourced with a brand on it you do or don't recognise, or the label for the hotel on it.
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Well, here at Citizen M, they use these items as opportunities to communicate.
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Our soap says uh Citizen M soap, designed to turn even the longest haul traveller into a sparkling, clean, and nice smelling human being again.
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There's that humour, that personal touch, that humanity, that empathy.
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It's a very clever device.
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And throughout the hotel, you find many examples of this.
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So we move from the sink down and we find ourselves with a uh a couple of towels, um, and we find ourselves with a hairdryer.
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Now the hairdryer's in a bag again, it's a dead space, but not of the Citizen M.
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It says Citizen M says the hairdryer is hiding.
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You could argue unnecessary, but it's delightful.
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You then continue, and I've only walked two or three paces into the main area in the room.
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Now, on the left hand side, as I'm walking forward, is the shower cubicle, and it is a cubicle, but in there it's clean, it has the option of two shower gels.
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Again, amusingly, one is referred to as Citizen AM, designed for citizens who embrace the day, wrestle with the light of dawn, or who are jet lagged and thinking it's morning even though it's middle midnight.
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Citizen M shower gel and shampoo will make you feel like you've just opened your eyes after the best dream-filled sleep your life, and perhaps you just have.
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And then there's a Citizen M PM shampoo and shower gel as well.
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Now, the shower has the rainforest shower effect and it has a light capacity in here which can change.
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Now, when I first started to come to this hotel seven or eight years ago, that was something you didn't see in very many hotels.
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Appreciate now with smart technology, we're gonna have that sort of capability in our room, but it's still a nice touch.
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When you continue into the main bedroom area, you have a curtain.
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So if you wish to block out the bathroom area, be more discreet if there's two of you staying, you actually can without the need for a separate room.
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In the room, we have a small chair, we have a small desk.
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Now, as I've mentioned coming into the hotel, there's a stunning area downstairs for you actually to work at, plug into Macs, print, etc.
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There is no real need to sit in your room, you can enjoy working here.
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It's very different to many hotels where you you just work there.
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Um, in the room ahead of us, we have a very tall blind.
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Now, excuse the noise, but I'm actually going to open the blind, and here we go.
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It does feel James Bond-esque, to be honest.
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As the blind is raised, I can get a view out over part of the Glasgow skyline, and there we go, a wonderful view, and I can bring it down again if I do so choose.
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The other key aspect of this room is the media capability.
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Now, there's an iPad again, or a tablet device.
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Again, when I first came here, that's not something you found in rooms.
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You normally had a remote controller, and there is one here as a backup, so if it isn't working, then you can have a backup.
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But the device is fabulous, it allows you to access the television, and the television has an array of channels as you normally find, but it also has a selection of movies, Netflix style almost.
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So you can actually sit here in your bed and watch the films, and that's how it works.
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The bed is from side to side of the room, the television's on one of the walls, the opposite end of where the pillows are, and you can sit on your bed and you can watch the television.
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You can also use that smart tablet to have a look around the region to pick up messages about what's going on here at Citinem, as well as use it to adjust the lighting, adjust the blinds, adjust the heating.
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It's a very, very useful device, and considering the size of the room is compact, it is a luxury.
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So we've got a couple of affordable luxuries in here which really make the room stand out compared to others.
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And then from a practical perspective, we have a safe.
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Underneath the bed, we also have because we have limited we have limited cupboard space, we have a massive drawer underneath the bed, which really does give it the capacity to to put stuff in there and um and store it, and with the safe you obviously feel more secure.
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The only other little touch I'd like to mention here is that there is in every room, and I've noticed these changing over the years, a Teddy.
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It typically is quirky, it's very much of the style of the designer of the hotel.
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And these things, perhaps in some hotels, have a habit of walking.
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I don't suppose they would in a citizen M, but just in case, the label actually says on it, take me home, so you'll never sleep alone.
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Want to adopt me?
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So it makes it clear it's for you to take, but please pay before you go.
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So that gives you a whistle stop tour of the room.
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As I say, it's very familiar to me, and it's very very appropriate for uh uh city travellers as well as business travellers.
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So there are a number of breakout areas here at CNM.
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Um one of particular interest to me is the work area.
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Now it's right at the back of the communal areas so it doesn't get interfered with.
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It's got a a shield, uh bookcase kind of shield to it.
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But in front of me are eight really good quality desk spaces.
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Four of them have Macs on them, and at the end is a printer.
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Um with Gmail you can simply uh attach your documents, print it straight off, there's no limitation, it's just there for you to use.
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Really helpful, really good space.
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So I'm in the um restaurant area.
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Now uh it's a very standard looking restaurant area.
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Um there's a central bar with two or three ambassadors uh always in it.
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And around the edge is a serving hatch and a number of um cold chiller uh areas um with uh sandwiches, with soft drinks in them, with fruit, uh and a and a fridge with some some ice cream in it as well.
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And and the way it works here, when I first came to Citizen, I kind of looked at the menu and said it's quite limited, and the lady uh behind the uh the counter just smiled at me and said, You're in Glasgow, there's so many lovely restaurants, why not go out and explore it?
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And and that very much is the spirit here is that they'll put on some food and there is a a decent uh limited range of quite easy things to produce, but actually they really want to encourage you to get out and enjoy the um city itself.
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So it's breakfast.
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Um breakfast menu is is fairly standard, um, it's a nice array of uh food, some healthy stuff, uh a bit of cooked breakfast, uh whatever you want.
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Um the slight difference with this is uh is that you help yourself, you pop it on a tray, and when you're finished, you bring the tray back, a bit like a canteen, and really kind of emphasising sort of self-service.
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Now, what this means is there's a duty of care by guests to tidy up after themselves and and put the food away.
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But the way in which you collect it, it's got again an amusing little uh um uh reference on the on the side of the uh the storage area where the trays go back.
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But no one here seems to leave their trays on the tables, everyone finishes their food and takes it back.
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Breakfast is served till 11, just help yourself.
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Someone said to me, keep coming back for as much or as little as you want.
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So, actually, for a reasonable price, you can get yourself fed for the best part of the day.
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Coffee's good here as well.
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Always like the coffee here.
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So, a nice area, plenty of different uh levels.
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There's low-level sofas, there's stalls with working areas, there's single spaces facing out of the window.
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So a real variety of opportunities in terms of how you want to enjoy your breakfast, which I think is very, very important that you're not sort of all sat around the same type of table in a uniform way.
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Really reflects a kind of relaxed atmosphere here at Citizen M all the way through.
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So we're in the lounge area.
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Now, something that's very important about the lounge area is the eclectic mix of items that are out.
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Um they're not low-ticket items, there's some really interesting furniture in these uh in this hotel.
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Um there are some fabulous books as well, which really give you uh an appreciation of the design icons that inspire the Citizen M.
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There is a real treasure trove of literary items here: books, old books, typewriters, lamps.
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It's almost as if it's meant to be an inspirational creative space.
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It's facts another desks, school desks.
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So I'd imagine there would be writing going on here.
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We've got uh books on design by uh Allegra Hicks, and there really is a sense of style about the place.
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Um, another book here is an affordable luxury, uh actually a Citizen M book, a book on game changers, the evolution of advertising.
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It's a real creative space here.
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And uh when I've been of an evening, people come along here and they gather after the theatre, you see groups coming in here, book club reviews, so it really is a wonderful space that many people use.
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You find copies of wallpaper magazine lying around, and as you kind of browse around, you'll see um books by Christian Lacarre, you see Leroy Granis, there really is a good sense of style and design running through it.
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Um there are breakout rooms, uh, there's a screening room, so I think it conveys a real sense of creativity.
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That the guests here at Citizen M are perceived to have creativity running through their veins, which is very exciting to feel that you're seen to be part of it.
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Citizen M certainly are in the bracket of CS superhero to me, and they are my go-to uh brand for Booty Hotels, and I continue to be impressed by their consistency and their brand style and their commitment to guest experience.
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Thank you very much for joining me for this podcast.
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My name's been Christopher Brooks, and if you would like to hear other episodes in this series, we have completed one three engagement with a very um productive uh case study on Celia Melbourne, and we will also be completing a fabulous interview with um James Dodkins, the CX Rockstar, uh, as well as diving into the complex world of customer journey mapping to understand what the real value of mapping is for an organization.
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Thank you very much for joining us and see you again.
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Welcome to the second in clientships customer experiences superheroes podcast series.
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In this episode, we will be meeting Citizen M.
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Citizen M is a hotel with a difference, a boutique, a brand that has really redefined the category.
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Since opening in 2004, they've spread their love uh far and wide across the world and now have a following of Citizen M fans globally.
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Um I've been a fan for a long time, uh and it's going to be my pleasure in this episode to take you to the Citizen M and take you around the hotel so you can get a feel for different interesting.
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When you get to the hotel, you can see it run through everything that they do.
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The thing that I've always been impressed with is the band of ambassadors that you get to deal with in the hotel.
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But obviously behind the scenes there are those who had the dream and the vision, and and those I'm kind of familiar with by following them uh on the socially are um Ratten Chadder and uh Michael Levy.
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Now Ratan was formerly the uh CEO of Mexico brand, and him and Michael have uh had this focus of uh creating an affordable luxury for the people.
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Um there's now a much bigger team, uh but I guess kind of they're the the originators and um it's their vision uh creatively brought to life that we as uh guests have the benefit of enjoying every time we walk into a citizen.
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So I'm going to uh bid farewell for two seconds, uh hop on a plane, and uh next we'll be speaking as I'm arriving in Citizen.
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I'm standing here on Remthrew Street in Glasgow.
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Um I'm arrived for a um meet the customer workshop.
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Um whilst I'm here, I'm gonna take the opportunity to introduce you to certain aspects of the Citizen Mouti Rem.
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Um it's a hotel which means that I've been using the light to see what it has to be.
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This is a year and so I'm in the hotel now and ahead of me is a very striking portrait of Kate Moss, fabulous photograph, and really striking lots of uh vibrant colours.
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Um and to the left of me is a pillar, and on that pillar are a list of the awards won by uh Citizen M, Condi Nest and Wallpaper amongst them, uh European uh design hotel awards to showcase that Citin M is is a is a benchmark, it's a it's a it's arrived, it's not a fringe hotel anymore.
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Um now uh to the right of me is the check-in desk area.
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That's very straightforward, it's self-checking, but there's always an ambassador around to help you should you need that help.
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Rarely do.
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Um but you're you're through and checked in with it within a matter of maybe one or two minutes.
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Um it actually feels uh quite uh um uh quite like a game actually when you're when you're checking in, kind of it recognise you the screen and you're interacting together, and then you create your own uh room key.
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It's very uh innovative, and I've I've not seen it in too many places.
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Now to the left of me I see the uh meeting room areas, um, the Society uh M as they're called and I've used these a number of times.
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Great rooms, um, great facilities.
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Really understand kind of what matters most.
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You get a wonderful stationary box um full of post-its and blue-tack and all the things you kind of need, as well as a decent espresso machine.
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Um, too often uh in meeting rooms in hotels, you have to go outside, you have to use coffee that's gone cold outside.
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There we go, it's always hot, it's an espresso machine.
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There's areas of the hotel that they don't compromise on, and it really shows they know what matters most to their guests.
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Um, now uh if as I often do go into a room, I stop and I try and get some orientation to look around.
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It's kind of a natural thing to do if you're not sure where you go, you tend to look down.
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Um now when you look down here on the floor, I see ahead of me a doormat.
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Uh nothing particular special about that, apart from this door mat, and I've never seen it anywhere else.
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It says back to me, nice shoes.
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So it's already creating from the very moment you walk in an appreciation of the balance of the humour that's associated with the brand here at Citinem.
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So I'm gonna go over now and check in, and then I'll uh catch up with you next when I go into my bedroom.
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So, an aspect of the hotel that we have to look at is the bedroom.
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So I'm just entering my bedroom.
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And the thing that is very reassuring about a Citizen M hotel is that every room is the same.
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The layout is the same, the size is the same, the facilities are the same.
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Which means that when you arrive and check-in, your choice is much simpler.
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Which floor would you like to be on?
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There's no haggling, there's no need to, because every room is the same.
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Which means, in terms of brand consistency, irrespective of where you stay in the hotel and which hotel you stay in, you get a constant uh same experience.
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Which is both reassuring but also very welcoming.
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So as I enter the room, the first thing that uh um stands out is that uh the bed is actually as wide as the room.
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Considering it's a long and quite thin room, at the end I have a window and uh I'll share with you uh an interesting um small gesture uh in terms of experience that the window includes.
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But the bed itself is actually of a high quality.
00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:10.240
Um it's a good comfortable bed, but it's probably looking at it a queen or a king, even a king size.
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So as you come into the room, initially you have a very small area on the left where you can hang um a couple of items and a couple of hooks on the right.
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So immediately it's telling you this is not a hotel that you come to to stay for a number of days.
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And in fact, the Citizen M traveller is very much a stop and go type traveller.
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When you walk through the room, you notice it's very clean, it looks like a luxury um cabin you might have on a on a cruise ship.
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Um the shapes are very ergonomic, they're all round, there's no sharp edges in this room.
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When you get to the the sink area, which is on your right, it's a small sink, the sort you might find in a in a downstairs um uh water closet.
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Um, and in front of you you have soap.
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Now, soap is pretty standard.
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When you go to a hotel, most soap sits there outsourced with a brand on it you do or don't recognise, or the label for the hotel on it.
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Well, here at Citizen M, they use these items as opportunities to communicate.
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Our soap says uh Citizen M soap, designed to turn even the longest haul traveller into a sparkling, clean, and nice smelling human being again.
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There's that humour, that personal touch, that humanity, that empathy.
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It's a very clever device.
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And throughout the hotel, you find many examples of this.
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So we move from the sink down and we find ourselves with a uh a couple of towels, um, and we find ourselves with a hairdryer.
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Now the hairdryer's in a bag again, it's a dead space, but not of the Citizen M.
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It says Citizen M says the hairdryer is hiding.
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You could argue unnecessary, but it's delightful.
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You then continue, and I've only walked two or three paces into the main area in the room.
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Now, on the left hand side, as I'm walking forward, is the shower cubicle, and it is a cubicle, but in there it's clean, it has the option of two shower gels.
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Again, amusingly, one is referred to as Citizen AM, designed for citizens who embrace the day, wrestle with the light of dawn, or who are jet lagged and thinking it's morning even though it's middle midnight.
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Citizen M shower gel and shampoo will make you feel like you've just opened your eyes after the best dream-filled sleep your life, and perhaps you just have.
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And then there's a Citizen M PM shampoo and shower gel as well.
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Now, the shower has the rainforest shower effect and it has a light capacity in here which can change.
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Now, when I first started to come to this hotel seven or eight years ago, that was something you didn't see in very many hotels.
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Appreciate now with smart technology, we're gonna have that sort of capability in our room, but it's still a nice touch.
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When you continue into the main bedroom area, you have a curtain.
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So if you wish to block out the bathroom area, be more discreet if there's two of you staying, you actually can without the need for a separate room.
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In the room, we have a small chair, we have a small desk.
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Now, as I've mentioned coming into the hotel, there's a stunning area downstairs for you actually to work at, plug into Macs, print, etc.
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There is no real need to sit in your room, you can enjoy working here.
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It's very different to many hotels where you you just work there.
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Um, in the room ahead of us, we have a very tall blind.
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Now, excuse the noise, but I'm actually going to open the blind, and here we go.
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It does feel James Bond-esque, to be honest.
00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:24.320
As the blind is raised, I can get a view out over part of the Glasgow skyline, and there we go, a wonderful view, and I can bring it down again if I do so choose.
00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:30.000
The other key aspect of this room is the media capability.
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Now, there's an iPad again, or a tablet device.
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Again, when I first came here, that's not something you found in rooms.
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You normally had a remote controller, and there is one here as a backup, so if it isn't working, then you can have a backup.
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But the device is fabulous, it allows you to access the television, and the television has an array of channels as you normally find, but it also has a selection of movies, Netflix style almost.
00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:03.120
So you can actually sit here in your bed and watch the films, and that's how it works.
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The bed is from side to side of the room, the television's on one of the walls, the opposite end of where the pillows are, and you can sit on your bed and you can watch the television.
00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:26.720
You can also use that smart tablet to have a look around the region to pick up messages about what's going on here at Citinem, as well as use it to adjust the lighting, adjust the blinds, adjust the heating.
00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:35.759
It's a very, very useful device, and considering the size of the room is compact, it is a luxury.
00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:41.679
So we've got a couple of affordable luxuries in here which really make the room stand out compared to others.
00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.200
And then from a practical perspective, we have a safe.
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Underneath the bed, we also have because we have limited we have limited cupboard space, we have a massive drawer underneath the bed, which really does give it the capacity to to put stuff in there and um and store it, and with the safe you obviously feel more secure.
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:13.519
The only other little touch I'd like to mention here is that there is in every room, and I've noticed these changing over the years, a Teddy.
00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:18.720
It typically is quirky, it's very much of the style of the designer of the hotel.
00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:23.200
And these things, perhaps in some hotels, have a habit of walking.
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I don't suppose they would in a citizen M, but just in case, the label actually says on it, take me home, so you'll never sleep alone.
00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:34.399
Want to adopt me?
00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:44.320
So it makes it clear it's for you to take, but please pay before you go.
00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:47.440
So that gives you a whistle stop tour of the room.
00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:57.440
As I say, it's very familiar to me, and it's very very appropriate for uh uh city travellers as well as business travellers.
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.879
So there are a number of breakout areas here at CNM.
00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:07.039
Um one of particular interest to me is the work area.
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.799
Now it's right at the back of the communal areas so it doesn't get interfered with.
00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.080
It's got a a shield, uh bookcase kind of shield to it.
00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.519
But in front of me are eight really good quality desk spaces.
00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.679
Four of them have Macs on them, and at the end is a printer.
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:33.120
Um with Gmail you can simply uh attach your documents, print it straight off, there's no limitation, it's just there for you to use.
00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.759
Really helpful, really good space.
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.159
So I'm in the um restaurant area.
00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:43.600
Now uh it's a very standard looking restaurant area.
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:47.679
Um there's a central bar with two or three ambassadors uh always in it.
00:14:48.000 --> 00:15:02.399
And around the edge is a serving hatch and a number of um cold chiller uh areas um with uh sandwiches, with soft drinks in them, with fruit, uh and a and a fridge with some some ice cream in it as well.
00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:15.120
And and the way it works here, when I first came to Citizen, I kind of looked at the menu and said it's quite limited, and the lady uh behind the uh the counter just smiled at me and said, You're in Glasgow, there's so many lovely restaurants, why not go out and explore it?
00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:28.159
And and that very much is the spirit here is that they'll put on some food and there is a a decent uh limited range of quite easy things to produce, but actually they really want to encourage you to get out and enjoy the um city itself.
00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:29.679
So it's breakfast.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:38.399
Um breakfast menu is is fairly standard, um, it's a nice array of uh food, some healthy stuff, uh a bit of cooked breakfast, uh whatever you want.
00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:48.240
Um the slight difference with this is uh is that you help yourself, you pop it on a tray, and when you're finished, you bring the tray back, a bit like a canteen, and really kind of emphasising sort of self-service.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:55.039
Now, what this means is there's a duty of care by guests to tidy up after themselves and and put the food away.
00:15:55.200 --> 00:16:04.720
But the way in which you collect it, it's got again an amusing little uh um uh reference on the on the side of the uh the storage area where the trays go back.
00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.960
But no one here seems to leave their trays on the tables, everyone finishes their food and takes it back.
00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:13.840
Breakfast is served till 11, just help yourself.
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Someone said to me, keep coming back for as much or as little as you want.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:23.440
So, actually, for a reasonable price, you can get yourself fed for the best part of the day.
00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:24.960
Coffee's good here as well.
00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.320
Always like the coffee here.
00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:29.759
So, a nice area, plenty of different uh levels.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:37.759
There's low-level sofas, there's stalls with working areas, there's single spaces facing out of the window.
00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:48.399
So a real variety of opportunities in terms of how you want to enjoy your breakfast, which I think is very, very important that you're not sort of all sat around the same type of table in a uniform way.
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:53.840
Really reflects a kind of relaxed atmosphere here at Citizen M all the way through.
00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.399
So we're in the lounge area.
00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:03.279
Now, something that's very important about the lounge area is the eclectic mix of items that are out.
00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:12.160
Um they're not low-ticket items, there's some really interesting furniture in these uh in this hotel.
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:22.640
Um there are some fabulous books as well, which really give you uh an appreciation of the design icons that inspire the Citizen M.
00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:31.119
There is a real treasure trove of literary items here: books, old books, typewriters, lamps.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.799
It's almost as if it's meant to be an inspirational creative space.
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.359
It's facts another desks, school desks.
00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.240
So I'd imagine there would be writing going on here.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:48.640
We've got uh books on design by uh Allegra Hicks, and there really is a sense of style about the place.
00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:56.640
Um, another book here is an affordable luxury, uh actually a Citizen M book, a book on game changers, the evolution of advertising.
00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.960
It's a real creative space here.
00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:12.480
And uh when I've been of an evening, people come along here and they gather after the theatre, you see groups coming in here, book club reviews, so it really is a wonderful space that many people use.
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:27.839
You find copies of wallpaper magazine lying around, and as you kind of browse around, you'll see um books by Christian Lacarre, you see Leroy Granis, there really is a good sense of style and design running through it.
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:37.119
Um there are breakout rooms, uh, there's a screening room, so I think it conveys a real sense of creativity.
00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:48.000
That the guests here at Citizen M are perceived to have creativity running through their veins, which is very exciting to feel that you're seen to be part of it.
00:18:50.559 --> 00:19:08.720
Citizen M certainly are in the bracket of CS superhero to me, and they are my go-to uh brand for Booty Hotels, and I continue to be impressed by their consistency and their brand style and their commitment to guest experience.
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.559
Thank you very much for joining me for this podcast.
00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:43.920
My name's been Christopher Brooks, and if you would like to hear other episodes in this series, we have completed one three engagement with a very um productive uh case study on Celia Melbourne, and we will also be completing a fabulous interview with um James Dodkins, the CX Rockstar, uh, as well as diving into the complex world of customer journey mapping to understand what the real value of mapping is for an organization.
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.680
Thank you very much for joining us and see you again.
