Interview with Hugo Martin, Sales Manager, citizenM Switzerland
Good afternoon Hugo. Thanks for finding a few moments for the ASTM. For those members who have not yet experienced your properties in Geneva and Zurich or elsewhere what makes citizenM unique?
We say of ourselves that we provide "business hotels done right". citizenM started with an idea to disrupt the traditional hotel industry by creating a luxury hybrid hotel for today’s modern travellers – eliminating the frustrations these travellers shared. In 2008, we opened our first hotel and designed it around a new type of traveller – one who values a luxury hotel experience in central city locations, but at an affordable price. We offer our guests a living room with books, art and designer furniture. They can enjoy 24/7 food and drinks at our canteenM. We operate cloudM rooftop bars with fantastic cocktails and amazing views and most properties offer societyM creative meeting spaces. To round this all off our friendly ambassadors are always here to support our guests with any wishes they might have.
You opened a new hotel in Geneva in the middle of a pandemic. How did that go? Obviously normal conditions would have made life a lot easier but one of our central features that we implemented years ago has been a great helper in these complicated times. At all our properties our guests can check in themselves without having to be in touch any of our ambassadors. Our check in booths are cleaned after every check-in and this gives our guests an additional sense of safety. Through our highly appreciated self service concept we became covid proof "by accident". We have had fantastic feedback from our guests on the new Geneva hotel so far and the numbers are picking up as well.
A lot of hotels have been introducing new offers to generate extra traffic during these complicated times. What about citizenM?
We have indeed designed a smart new option for smart companies. Corporate subscription by citizenM is a seriously clever alternative for all companies with travelling employees. Stop paying those big hotel, office space or co-working bills – we have created the perfect work-sleep-meet-entertain hybrid. The offer consists of: guaranteed 3 nights per month anytime – no blackout dates – at all citizenM hotels worldwide. 3 hours of meeting room use – anytime during the subscription month. A daily workspace in the living room – anytime during the subscription month. Also a free welcome drink is included with each stay. Breakfast is of course also in as is super fast Wi-Fi. The price is a flat fee of 550 EUR per month and user. If you prefer to sort somebody out all year round you can get 12 months at the price of 11. the offer is perfect for your company if your remote workers regularly need to travel to big cities and need a fixed price, work, sleep deal. You will not have to pay for a traditional office space or an expensive co-working subscription. On top if your team members need to meet with their clients we have the meeting spaces covered as well.
Thanks for the update Hugo. We like the idea very much. We might be calling you soon to negotiate a very special ASTM rate!
