A Wee Camping Trip In The Highlands Part 3 - The CitizenM

Here we were, feet on the ground in Glasgow, 7:30 in the morning on Easter Sunday, and quickly realizing that nobody gets up that early around there.

I was absolutely positive about which direction to march in to find our hotel, and had high hopes they would let us leave our bags inside until check-in time. Pam had a lot of experience with my map reading ability and was not quite so sure. We had a little discussion about it and took off in the direction I had chosen, while I crossed my fingers hoping I was right. The outside temperature was just about what I had expected: cold beyond belief, and from the looks on the faces of the few people walking by, they weren’t too happy about it either. I decided right then not to tell anybody that we had just left Spring-Break-Florida for this environment.

For once, I wasn’t wrong, and soon we were at the doorstep of the CitizenM Hotel. It’s difficult for me to nail down exactly what they have going on there, but if you like the Apple Store, you would love this place. There is a techy-but-we’re-not-taking-it-serious approach to everything. Upon entering, my eyes were immediately drawn to a large bookcase facing the entrance that contained many interesting items that were black, white or other muted colors and a vibrant solid bright red statue of a raven. We were greeted by a young man with a very well groomed beard, by the name of Owen. He was standing at the head of a long boardroom table that was loaded with large iMac computers. We were told that the hotel was totally self-check-In, but that he would be glad to help if we needed assistance with the technology, us being oldsters in a hipster hotel and all. He was enchanted that a couple of seniors chose their hotel and were planning on camping in the Highlands. “For Two Weeks?!” he said, delighted. I was beginning to think we might set a record for how long someone has survived the highlands…if we made it. I noticed right off that the entire hotel seemed to be staffed by intelligent-looking hipster young people. Lots of smiling faces, and not one with a look of "how come I'm working while you're on vacation?", you know, the kind of look you get from people in the Florida keys. 

He took our bags to stow away and said we could hang out in the meeting rooms or explore the town until check-in time. The whole place was something to take in. Most of the architecture we had seen already looked as if it came from the 1700’s and was made from rock. No need to go looking for castles, just a walk around Glasgow made you feel as if there was no building in Florida that was worth looking at.

CitizenM was in a large new building in an old-looking building area. At street level, I almost walked right past it. I didn't even think it was a hotel,  and inside the look closely resembled the high-tech workplace. Lots of little meeting rooms, 3 big living rooms with couches, egg chairs, and big screen TV’s. We crashed on the couch, trying to find that make-up sleep we needed while a endless stream of young couples came through.

The toilets in Scotland, never call them restrooms unless you want laughter in response, are quite different. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but everything appears to have been designed by IKEA.  The minute I knew that I was somewhere else culturally, wasn't from the fixtures, or the clothing, it was when I walked out of a stall in the men's toilet, and there was a beautiful young woman with long silver hair cleaning the mirror at the sink. That was when I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. 

I was already in love with the CitizenM and I hadn’t even seen the room. It felt warm and safe and nothing like driving on the wrong side of the road. I was prepared to sleep on the couch the rest of the trip and call it Scotland, but after 3 hours of me snoring out loud while Pam tried to cover my mouth when people walked by, she had enough and demanded that we get out there and see the town. It was a good thing that she did, because I almost missed it…