Mama Shelter, Marseille

64 Rue de la Loubière, 13006 Marseille, France (show on map)

Expert reviews

Frommers review:

“Tucked into the hipster cours Julien district, this unique hotel is the brainchild of designer Philippe Starck. Rooms are bright and cool, from the modular furnishings to the wall-mounted Macs offering dozens of free on-demand movies. Downstairs, Egyptian graffiti artist Tarek has tagged the industrial-chic restaurant’s ceiling.”

Lonely Planet review:

“Part of a funky mini-chain of design-forward hotels, Marseille’s Mama Shelter offers 125 Philippe Starck–imagined rooms over five floors. It’s all about keeping the cool kids happy here – with sleek white-and-chrome colour schemes, a live stage and bar; and a giant babi foot (fussball) table.”

Telegraph review:

“The Marseille member of the fast-growing Mama Shelter clan rocks this mini-chain’s popular formula of low(-ish) prices and light-hearted, high-concept urban chic. Zesty public areas and neat Zen bedrooms combine to offer a pleasurable cocooning experience in an outlying district of the city.”

Guest rating

This an aggregated customer review rating of Mama Shelter, Marseille. We have taken customer review ratings from hotel booking sites, search engines, the official hotel website and other travel platforms. This is the average of all those ratings. We only list places that have a customer review rating of at least 4.0 out of 5.0

4.2 out of 5.0

Ranked 7th in Marseille

74£66$92¥9752C$71A$71HK$720S$121SFr86¥584kr759kr555kr716

What guests liked

All you need to know

Mama Shelter is a fantastic fit for this vibrant port city, and its location, halfway between the Old Port and the arty Cours Julien district, puts you close to both known tourist attractions and cultural institutions. This is a destination that’s hard to leave, located right in the city center, near the Cours Julien district. The urban art feels and mix of concert halls and sunny terraces make it one of the popular hotels to stay in.

In Mama Shelter, whimsical and wacky design style is on full display. They certainly have mastered the art of bringing these small, bare-bones places to life. The hotel is primarily about socializing, buzzing, and keeping its members entertained. Definitely, the hotel is not for pure luxury addicts. But, Mama Shelter is far from boring.

Mama Shelter isn’t a palatial hotel, but it’s also not uncomfortable. This is the budget boutique done perfectly, with just a hint of opulence where it counts the most. There are 125 cozy rooms distributed across six stories, with smart displays, and contemporary schemes inspired by the Mediterranean palette. The ground floor restaurant, is Mama’s hub, with its large bar, open kitchen, and generous dining tables, seasonal specialties accompanied by live music several evenings a week. Three Ateliers, a sunny patio, and lots of break-out places or a fast game of table football can all be found here. The bar tones down the pretentiousness and aspires for a game-room vibe. Mama’s Shelter knows how to provide a relaxed yet entertaining atmosphere.

Location

Recent guest reviews

3.5

James

19 March 2023

good location. good vibe at the hotelbar

location. friendly reception. good vibe at the bar in the weekends. friendly barkeeper

the setting of the room is bad. the bed is opposite the windows so very confuesing. there was also too little space to pass the bed. i really didnt like this part

3.5

Conor

13 March 2023

Pleasant

In an eco-friendly move the hotel had turned off the air con / fan system even though it was 23 degrees. Made no sense to me

4.5

Sophie

23 February 2023

perfect and friendly

adorable staff, smiling and super helpful great food incredible bed spacious room (23 sqm) available very convenient location

some rooms are noisy (last floor due to air pipes, service lift) but manage to change to lower floor a bit more amenities in the bathroom would be nice

4.0

Marion

14 February 2023

Very good

The style of the room, the location.

The cocktails at the bar were quite deceptive.

4.0

Roberto

16 December 2022

A lovely stay in a lovely city: Marseille is a real gem, and Mama Shelter is a locely

A very nice design hotel, in a very hip location

Rooms tend to be on the small side: I suggest you book a L or XL room

4.0

Louie

15 October 2022

Great stay, great vibe, super friendly staff but beware the burger!

The reception staff were fabulous, friendly and helpful. The vibe of the place and decor was very cool and seemed also very popular with outsiders as well as guests. They had a few DJ nights and special events going on. The bed was comfy, room clean and nice common area to work. The breakfast buffet was good and had lots of choices. It was nice they didn't clear it all away at 10am on the dot like most hotels do, so you could have a leisurely brekky. The location was a short walk to other restaurants and cafes but we mostly took taxis to other places of interest... but ubers were super difficult to get (seemed only a few in the whole city and often cancelled) so I suggest getting reception to order a taxi for you. Mama have some hot tips on their website that I suggest reading. One of our highlights was their suggestion to go to the Hotel Bords de Mer to the cafe, but we went instead to the rooftop and had a glass of the Marseille local drink Pasti and overlooked the beach.

The rooms were very small and awkward to accommodate 2 x large suitcases. We got an upgrade at one point due to a problem in our room (sink drainage issue which was dealt with promptly) and the next room was only marginally bigger and still had the same prob with cases. The worst thing about my stay was that I got very bad food poisoning from a medium raw hamburger at the hotel. (I only ate hotel food that day so I know 100% it was from the hotel) It meant that for 2 days of my 5-day holiday, I was out of action which was very unfortunate. The chefs should be checking burgers with a thermometer if serving raw as this particular food item is very common to cause food poisoning. Some of the staff in the cafe/restaurant seemed on another planet sometimes and not very attentive or available when needed - not just on one occasion but each day at breakfast, more staff needed and better hospitality training.

3.5

Claudia

13 October 2022

Good value for the money

grosses Zimmer

Lärm wegen Party am Freitag jnd Samstag

4.5

Murray-ure

10 September 2022

Always a great place to stay, u/ground parking, distance to the local neighbourhood.r

The relatively dear cost of food and beverages in the bar/restaurant

4.5

Nicola

5 September 2022

value for money it was excellent! very funky great for a wedding group to stay! the food was excellent! the staff amazin

The staff were fantastic and friendly and helpful!!

The bathroom was tiny and the door opened inwards and I kept getting myself jammed in! the foyer floor and carpet seemed like it needed a good clean!

4.0

Max

5 August 2022

Lovely

Staff we're incredible. So amenable. So friendly and helpful.

Rooms are quite basic but very comfy. TV service was extensive

3.5

N

4 August 2022

Nice hotel, but very paniful process to get your invoice for professional travelling

Modern room design. The hotel is comfortable despite not so close to public transportation, nor to the most interesting spots of the city.

Accomodation booked via Booking.com. When I left I requested the invoice for the company by email. Mama Shelter didn't deem to answer me. I therefore contacted them directly and they informed that the invoice has to be generated by Booking.com. I therefore contacted Booking.com to receive the invoice. Booking informed me that Mama must provide the invoice, not them. Indeed, I always got the invoices directly by the hotel. Today, I still haven't received the invoice by Mama. So, if you are travelling for your company be aware that getting your invoice can be a very painful process.

3.5

Marianne

3 August 2022

we paid an additional 80 euros (taxes, breakfast and parking) for a one night stay - would have been good to know about

very clean bedrooms and VERY nice and helpful staff

parking is quite expensive

4.0

Isla

31 July 2022

Very good

location

4.5

Patrick

23 July 2022

Fabulous

Cool place, great location, very helpful staff.

Very minor: no shampoo

4.5

Carlo

21 July 2022

Very friendly staff. Fantastic location!

Very confortable room. Very practical parking available.

4.5

Shu

9 July 2022

Great comfortable stay but location is not the best

- room is of decent size - comfortable bed - shower facilities were awesome - by far the best I have encountered in france so far ! - staff were friendly and helpful - hotel restaurant and food was great - secured parking provided

- secured parking was located in a small road which was slightly hard to find for the first time given roads were one way - hotel located abit too far from old port.. about 18mins walk with slope - neighborhood seems dodgy.. we would def feel safer if we stayed in hotels located in more touristy areas like la panier and old port

4.0

Farouk

21 June 2022

Helpful staff and good breakfast

Very nice staff and very helpful. Always smiling. Location is a bit distant from Vieu Port, around 25 min walking downhill and phill on teh way back. Excellent Breakfast

Bed in the middle of the room limiting mobility

3.5

Deborah

23 May 2022

Good value for money, wonderful for a short stay

Loved the room, the mirrors, the bed, the hostel-like quality of the place

Breakfast was just ok. I wish it were exceptional like most other things

4.0

Sheridan

12 May 2022

Very good

The hotel was great and rooms were nice and modern. Loved the additions of the random things like character masks. The hotel bar was really lively on the Saturday night with a good DJ and we enjoyed this. Convenient to have parking in the basement of the building and we had two rooms booked which they did locate on the same floor and only a couple of doors away as requested.

Shouldn’t charge for parking for hotel guests. The location was a bit out of the way and whilst quiet had to walk through some more questionable areas to reach the centre. Hotel breakfast was overpriced for a very basic selection and lots of stuff had run out and wasn’t replaced until asked.

4.0

Arauld

8 May 2022

the place to stay when visiting Marseille!!

the hotel got everything I needed: very clean, comfortable bed, location is perfect, a secured parking. and the Sunday brunch is exceptional !! the lady at the reception managed to get us a table as we forgot to book.

nothing.

4.0

Olivier

25 March 2022

Very good

Fun

Parking too little and always full

3.5

Elodi

8 March 2022

Pleasant

Nice staff. Clean bedroom. The hotel is efficient. Location close to Cours Julien. Good breakfast. Possibility to share a drink in the evening. It seems they have a great brunch on Sundays but we haven't tried it.

4.0

Brian

25 February 2022

Very good

Bed was comfy, everything was good

4.0

Patricia

9 December 2021

We love Mama Shelter

We booked a large room, very happy with it. Very clean. Copious breakfast. 5minutes walk to nearest metro. Great restaurant and fab atmosphere at weekends with djs

Although you get a kettle there are no cups, and no glasses in the rooms either.

4.5

Harriet

25 October 2021

wonderful welcome !

Smallish room under the roof but astutely furnished which made it feel bigger. The room was clean and the lighting was good which is unusual in hotels these days. I give an A plus to the staff who were helpful and genuinely pleasant.

Only drawback were the windows which had been visited by birds.Would suggest a daily check!

Hotel facilities

Food & Drink

  • - Restaurant
  • - Bar
  • - Special diet menus (on request)
  • - Kid meals (additional charge)
  • - Kid-friendly buffet
  • - Wine/champagne (additional charge)

Business facilities

  • - Meeting/banquet facilities (additional charge)
  • - Business centre (additional charge)
  • - Fax/photocopying

Reception services

  • - 24-hour front desk
  • - Luggage storage

Outdoors

  • - Terrace

General

  • - Non-smoking rooms
  • - Facilities for disabled guests
  • - Family rooms
  • - Lift
  • - Soundproof rooms
  • - Car hire
  • - Heating
  • - Non-smoking throughout
  • - Air conditioning
  • - Designated smoking area
  • - Pet basket
  • - Pet bowls

Cleaning services

  • - Laundry (additional charge)
  • - Dry cleaning (additional charge)

Activities

  • - Table tennis
  • - Live music/performance
  • - Live sport events (broadcast)

Parking

  • - Parking garage

Miscellaneous

  • - 24-hour security
  • - Key card access
  • - Security alarm
  • - CCTV in common areas
  • - Fire extinguishers
  • - Delivered food is securely covered
  • - Access to health care professionals
  • - Face masks for guests available
Check availability 74£66$92¥9752C$71A$71HK$720S$121SFr86¥584kr759kr555kr716