Mama Shelter’s owners, who launched the Flèche d’Or indie rock club across the street, turned an outlying location in the 20th arrondissement into an advantage. They enlisted Philippe Starck to design the restaurant, bar, pizzeria, and summer rooftop terrace—which now attract poets, artists, and counterculture types from across the city. The hotel’s street cred is still intact years after the 2008 opening, and the decor—black ceilings turned into graffiti chalkboards bearing literary quotations; Mexican wrestling and Halloween masks turned into lamp shades; tree trunks used as stools—remains relentlessly hipster without being overwhelming; guests could be young parents with sleeve tattoos toting baby carriers in the elevators.
This is truly a budget-priced hotel, but the management doesn’t skimp on smart luxuries: comfortable beds and linens, free Wi-Fi, wall-mounted iMacs for free movies and video editing on demand, and even microwaves for heating, say, that wonderful foie gras–stuffed quail purchased from a neighborhood traiteur. The savvy traveler lifestyle extends to the hotel concept shop selling motorcycle helmets for guests who want to look fashionable while renting a hotel scooter. For more leisurely budget sightseeing, guests take the No. 76 bus, which stops in front of the hotel on the way to the Louvre.
