An international hotel chain that touts unique restaurants and bars, as well as shared (and private) fun, has recently announced the opening of three more hotels, bringing the number of their properties up to twelve.
Lobby of Mama Shelter Belgrade
Established in Paris in 2008, Mama Shelter currently boasts close to 2,000 rooms in twelve properties in six countries:
- Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
- Czech Republic (Prague)
- France (Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Paris East, Paris West, Toulouse)
- Serbia (Belgrade)
- United Kingdom (London)
- United States (Los Angeles)
The Lille property opened in July and they’re putting the finishing touches on the London and Paris West locations. Mama Shelter is currently taking reservations for both of the latter, as they’re scheduled to open later this fall.
Roof Top Bar, Mama Shelter Los Angeles
From Mama Shelter’s website:
More than simply rooms or restaurants, Mama Shelter is a living and meeting space, a true urban refuge that’s not just beautiful, modern and lively but also popular, friendly and sexy. Curl up on our sofas and savour our sharing plates, enjoy a drink and relax, you can sleep like a baby… Mama takes care of everything!
Yes, they certainly do “take care of everything” – besides having their own brand of condoms available, Mama even offers free streaming porn in each room.
“People were going to watch anyway,” Mama Shelter co-founder Jérémie Trigano told Fast Company last year.
Trigano, his brother Benjamin and their father, Serge, developed Mama’s Shelter after being ousted from Club Med, which was the company Serge’s late father, Gilbert, had helped create in the 1950s (there was a takeover a few years later, and the Trigano family was forced to leave).
Foosball at Mama Shelter East Paris
“We really tried to focus on creating a fun environment for guests,” says Jérémie. Mama Shelter took some pages from the Club Med playbook, but with a 21st-century vibe. So they offer lots of opportunities for shared fun, from oversized foosball tables for eight players, to live music in the restaurants, yoga classes, rooftop bars, and a low-key party vibe.
They also have meeting and co-working spaces available for those who need those sorts of atmospheres.
Unlike other small establishments that put little to no thought into onsite restaurants, Mama Shelter has made food and beverage a centerpiece of its hotels, complete with popular, trendy restaurants and rooftop bars. With those, they’re able to convince guests to stay (and spend) on site, and possibly get some locals to come visit, too.
As a brand, Mama Shelter has become a reference for design-oriented lifestyle hotels (design-wise, they remind me a lot of the Moxy hotel we stayed at, a few years ago). Decorated with the help of local artists, their properties are located in out-of-the-way corners in iconic cities around the world, which allows guests to discover neighborhoods they may not otherwise even know about, never mind visit.
Lobby of Mama Shelter Lyon
Oh, and about that free in-room porn? It can be shut off at the front desk upon request. It has nothing to do with prudish customers (although if you’re afraid you’ll freak out if you accidentally find some X-rated movie on TV, I suppose you can ask them to shut the option off). It’s moreso because, besides everything else they have to offer, Mama Shelter also prides themselves on being family-friendly establishments. So they have family suites, changing tables and child activity packs, and the staff doesn’t get upset when kids play with the foosball and are totally laid back if they’re a little too loud in restaurants; it’s all part of the charm of the brand.
Rates for Mama Shelter vary from location to location but tend to be on the lower end of the scale (for example, as of this writing, they run from $159 to $299 per night in Los Angeles, their London location varies from 79£ to 199£ per night, and you can expect to pay from €79 to €299 per night in their Paris East hotel). Amenities such as ice machine, parking, business center, etc. also vary from location to location, however, all locations offer free WiFi and in-room movies (including XXX adult movies).
Future Mama Shelter locations are scheduled to open in Lisbon, Paris La Défense, Luxembourg and Dubai by 2020.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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