The city hotels of the future takes millennial connectivity to new places

Rotterdam – For Sem Schuurkes and Pieter van Tilburg, the future of travel is in its opportunities for connections. The two friends founded CityHub in 2015, a new hotel start-up that first opened in Amsterdam’s Oud-West neighbourhood. From 29 April, the new hotel brand opens its second location in Rotterdam as an approaching European expansion is set to introduce four new international locations within the next two years.

In the Rotterdam location, the design by Studio Modijefsky focuses on the brightly coloured Hangout lounge and reception. This area of the hotel introduces visitors to the innovative autonomous hospitality system unique to CityHub. Here, visitors enter a warm space of brightly coloured furniture grounded by a layered application of different woods and accentuated by inlaid directional light sources. Hotel guests are equipped with wristbands which allow them to check-in, pour themselves a beer, relax and mingle with local Rotterdammers.

In lieu of hotel rooms, guests are assigned to hubs, harkening memories of the sleep regulators in the 1997 film The Fifth Element. The hubs are customized with lights that can be adjusted to warm or cool colour temperatures, for a variably energetic or relaxing atmosphere which can be amplified with music – all controlled through the CityHub app.

The socially fluid concept of the hotel leverages the personal profiles of its visitors. At CityHub, an app connects checked-in guests with locals who suggest events and recommend interesting spots to check out in the city. The arrangement provides a glimpse into the future of hospitality and the opportunities for rich, meaningful experiences it offers to the contemporary connected traveller. The essence of modern, urban hotel design is no longer reliant on creating a space that makes people want to stay, but instead on designing an experience that connects people to the city.