Party Dispatch Report :: CitizenM Hotel's Grand Opening in Amsterdam

June 30, 2008 at 3:47 PM | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: Our Scandinavian correspondent Coulter was on the scene for the opening party of the first-ever CitizenM Hotel. Enjoy.]

Last week CitizenM opened it's first hotel at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. This location is one of 20 new hotels CitizenM plans to roll out through Europe in the coming months and years.

This being the hotel's first major event, CitizenM did their best to impress and after a few hours of non-stop drinking, I found myself fairly well-impressed.

For Rattan Chadha, founding partner and CEO Michael Levie, this event was all about branding and from the multiple speeches to the increasingly drunk PR people walking around, you couldn't escape the words "affordable luxury."

With the idea of CitizenM being a modern design hotel at budget prices, you must be wondering--did the hotel meet their tag line? You'll have to read the hotel review tomorrow for that answer, but the party itself did a good job of showing off the hotels finer points.

More party dispatch and pictures after the jump.

There was a constant flow of spectators on the room tours to play with the Phillip's integrated digital entertainment center "mood pad" and check out the in-room transparent capsule shower and opaque capsule toilet, great if you're staying with your super-model girlfriend, less great if you're staying with your mom.

The hotel opened up it's 24-hour pre-prepared food center for the guests to try and being the professional that I am, I sampled several different items. My impressions ranged from the not too bad, to surprisingly good.

The presentation was excellent and if you're coming home at 4 in the morning from Amsterdam's many nocturnal activities, or simply need a quick preflight snack I'm sure it'll hit the spot just fine.

At some point the opening went from a press event to an open club atmosphere as locals began piling in. There was a grand opening ceremony where the press speeches were rehashed and small bottles of champagne were passed among the crowd, corks were popped and the hotel opening became official.

From that point on everything got a bit blurry and a wee bit too techno-y, but the alcohol remained free and the PR people kept pushing the hotel until everything faded into a sweet sweet blackness, only to be followed by the shame of waking up at the bottom of a capsule shower.

Go to the Flickr page for more opening party photos.

Tags: Party Dispatch / Hotel Parties / CitizenM Hotels / Hotel Openings / Airport Hotels / Amsterdam Hotels

by Coulter

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