citizenM Washington DC NoMa

citizenM opened its second Washington, D.C. hotel in September 2022, a 10-story, 296-room new build at 1222 First Street NE in the NoMa neighborhood, a short walk from Union Station. The property follows the Dutch brand's 2020 debut on Capitol Hill and gives citizenM two footholds in the capital within two years. A facade mural by D.C. artist Hannah Whitaker and a design built around Concrete's usual compact-room, big-lobby formula set the tone for a lifestyle-upscale stay aimed at travelers who want a design-led base near the Hill and the Union Market district.

The place

The hotel stands at 1222 First Street NE, in NoMa — the office and residential district that has grown up north of Massachusetts Avenue around Union Station over the past decade. Union Station itself, with its Amtrak and Metro connections, is a short walk away, as is the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro stop on the Red Line. The location puts guests close to Union Market's food halls, the National Postal Museum and the eastern edge of Capitol Hill, while sitting about two miles from the White House and roughly 25 minutes from Reagan National Airport. It is a workaday, still-developing corner of the city rather than a postcard one, which is largely the point: NoMa has become one of D.C.'s more active hotel-development zones.

The concept

citizenM Washington DC NoMa is the brand's second D.C. property, following its 2020 opening near Capitol Hill, and applies the same formula citizenM has used since its 2008 Amsterdam launch: compact, standardized guest rooms paired with an oversized, art-filled lobby meant to double as a workspace and social hub. Concrete, citizenM's longtime Amsterdam design partner, designed the interiors; the 296 rooms are spread across 10 floors and fitted with king-size beds, rain showers and an iPad that controls lighting, blinds and in-room entertainment — the tech-forward, space-efficient template that defines the brand globally. The building leans on local identity more than citizenM properties sometimes do. D.C. native Hannah Whitaker created Circulations, a facade installation wrapping the exterior, and Vibrations, a companion piece that carries the same visual language — silhouetted figures set against striped, technicolor fields — into the interior. Guest-room artwork was sourced from a roster of local artists, including Andy Yonder, Charles Jean Pierre, Melvin Nesbitt, Nekisha Durrett and Tim Doud. Three societyM meeting rooms, available to both guests and outside groups on a half- or full-day basis, extend the property into the district's office and events market.

Dining & wellness

Food and drink run through canteenM, citizenM's round-the-clock bar-and-kitchen concept, here opening onto an interior courtyard and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner alongside craft cocktails such as a cognac-based sidecar and a whiskey old-fashioned made with local ingredients. A 24-hour barista station covers coffee, and a paid breakfast buffet includes unlimited espresso drinks. There is no separate destination restaurant, rooftop bar or spa — as elsewhere in the portfolio, citizenM concentrates food, drink and lounging into the ground-floor lobby rather than a dedicated outlet, alongside a 24/7 gym.