64 Rue de la Loubière, 13006 Marseille

Mama Shelter Marseille

Name: Mama Shelter Marseille
Address: 64 Rue de la Loubière, Marseille, 13006, FR
Price range: 97 EUR
Rating: 4.1

Hotel-restaurant 3-star in Marseille

Presentation

Mama Shelter Marseille is tucked away around the corner on a street in the sixth arrondissement, between Cours Julien and its concert halls and the road that leads to the Vélodrome. The building, six stories of concrete and aluminum, long served as a warehouse for the city’s meat supplies. You enter through a rather discreet, almost anonymous door.

Then you push it open, and the tone changes all at once. On the floor, a sardine-patterned carpet. From the restaurant ceiling, hanging inflatable buoys. On the walls of the common areas, metal octopuses keep watch, inherited from Philippe Starck’s signature touch, who designed every nook as a nod to the Mediterranean. To get to your room, you follow directions painted directly on the floor, along white, black, and gray corridors. In the elevator, a lexicon of Marseille slang covers the walls. Aïoli, friends, you can read on the way up.

The 125 rooms are spread across five formats, from the most compact (15 m²) to the XL version designed for families, with convenient connecting options when traveling with several generations. Bare concrete walls, fuchsia poufs, deliberately mismatched tiles: the decor does not seek symmetry. You’ll find comfortable bedding, solid organic toiletries, a selection of on-demand films (including some reserved for adults, even in the TV menu), and an iMac that centralizes radio, internet, and Skype. Comfort delivers on its promise, but soundproofing varies from room to room: some, near the bar or facing the street, let through the bass from Saturday-night DJ sets or the morning traffic. For a truly quiet night, it’s better to ask for a high floor, away from the ground level.

On the ground floor, everything revolves around a large light-wood table and benches covered with multicolored cushions, beneath a ceiling scribbled on with chalk. The open kitchen serves Mediterranean dishes (octopus, homemade panisses, grilled sea bass) meant more for sharing than for eating alone. On Sundays, brunch takes over the whole room and spills out onto the patio: pastries, scrambled eggs, fresh juices, cheeses, homemade hot chocolate. The standard weekday breakfast is not included in the room rate (allow about twenty euros), but the buffet, generous and varied, more than holds its own.

In the evening, the patio pastis bar fills with hotel guests and local residents, drawn by cocktails with improbable names or a game of giant foosball. Several times a week, a DJ or live band takes over until one in the morning. For work, three rooms called Ateliers host meetings and seminars, equipped all the way down to the ping-pong table.

In the early morning, the terrace becomes quiet again. It is probably the best time to have a coffee facing the neighborhood, before heading off to the Old Port or the calanques.

Summary of a few positive reviews read on the Web

Quick check-in, the person at reception gave us a map of the neighborhood and two or three nearby addresses. Good interaction, not robotic.
Comfortable bedding, one of the best beds tested at this rate. Efficient shower, Kiehl's products in the bathroom, thick towels.
Generous breakfast buffet, fresh fruit, good pastries, sweet and savory options. Fair price for what is offered.
On-site parking, a plus right in the center of Marseille. Seven minutes on foot from the Notre-Dame du Mont station.
Generous Sunday brunch, sweet and savory, especially good desserts. One of the best in the city, in our opinion.
DJ set on Saturday night, lively atmosphere in the patio. For those who like music and crowds, it works well.