Review of the CitizenM Boston North Station Hotel
View of downtown Boston from the lobby terrace of the CitizenM Boston North Station Hotel.
Debbie and I found a great fare on Amtrak’s Acela train to Boston for the July 4th holiday, so we decided to take a short trip.
Finding an affordable hotel in Boston is always a challenge. When my usual hotels like the Cambridge Marriott were prohibitively expensive, I found the CitizenM hotel chain, specifically their North Station hotel.
CitizenM is a Netherlands-based company that operates over 30 hotels across North America, Europe, and Asia.
While researching for this blog post, I found out that Marriott just announced they are purchasing the company, wow - more on that later in the blog post.
The CitizenM hotel sits above North Station train station and TD Garden. A vibrant area, especially on game days.
We stayed in the CitizenM Boston North Station Hotel. The hotel is located in a massive development project surrounding North Station train station and TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics and Bruins.
As a former newspaper photographer, I used to visit the TD Garden if one of our NYC teams was playing the Celtics, and the area looks nothing like it did just a short time ago. Luxury housing and office towers, along with many restaurants, surround the arena now. It looks great!
Boston is a very walkable city, but there is a subway stop (the Green Line) right across the street. So the area is very convenient.
One of the many areas to sit in the lobby.
The hotel is very chic with cool design elements everywhere. The designers put a lot of thought into making the hotel look great.
We stayed at the hotel for 4 nights, including July 4th. The average cost per night was under $200. Most other hotels are well over double (and higher) per night. The photos and reviews looked good, so we gave it a try.
The lower cost has to come with some drawbacks - the main one is size. The room is small, really small. It’s clearly designed for solo travelers and couples.
The bed is fantastic, very comfortable, but it’s located directly against the window. So the person sleeping on the window side has to crawl over the other person.
If you are 80 years old or don’t know your travel partner very well, this might be a deal breaker.
The room doesn’t have an actual bathroom. There is a “room” of frosted glass that contains the toilet and shower. Just enough room to use either.
The sink is located in the main room area.
For a little more privacy, there is a curtain that you can pull across separating the bed area from the “bathroom” and sink area.
The bathroom, as well as the whole room, was very clean.
Under the bed is a large drawer for storing clothes. There is also an area for hangers next to the door. (Small pet peeve - why do hotels - all hotels - give you so few hangers? Especially a hotel where space is at a premium? )
The room’s temperature, lighting, television, and even the shades on the giant window are controlled by an iPad.
It was very convenient to have everything in one spot.
Although I was unable to connect my phone or laptop to the TV, the snazzy system to connect just wasn’t working.
Also, the sound and picture on the tv was out of sync, kind of annoying.
CitizenM offers a self-serve check-in process, but staff are always available to assist. You even make your own room key.
We ate breakfast in the lobby twice, and it was very good. For $18 it gave us a good start to the day.
We also had drinks and snacks in the lobby two nights, and they were very tasty, and the atmosphere was very cool.
There is a large balcony with chairs and tables overlooking the downtown Boston skyline - a nice treat.
The staff was young, cool, and incredibly helpful and attentive.
Burrata with fig jam and a side of dumplings was an excellent treat with a drink at the bar.
With the recent announcement that CitizenM is joining the Marriott family, I’ll be happy to receive Bonvoy points for our stays.
Marriott has other hip brands, such as Moxy, and allows them to keep their style so I hope they continue hiring great people and keeping an eye on the details.
If they do, then CitizenM will be a solid choice if you know your travel partner well and don’t mind a small room.
We’ll be staying at a CitizenM hotel when we visit London in a few weeks. We’ll let you know how that visit goes.
Well-reviewed Boston tours:
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