The first one burst onto the scene in Paris five years ago, followed by a second in Marseille. Lyon and Istanbul were next and the latest one recently opened its doors in Bordeaux, France. The Mama Shelter adventure is well and truly thriving and it looks like this is only the beginning as the Mama takeover is going across the Atlantic to West Hollywood, back to France’s Lille and quite possibly Berlin.

Still in its soft-opening phase, we went to take a look at the latest Mama Shelter in Bordeaux. The ninth largest city in France, Bordeaux is the gateway to the sud-ouest (south-west) and its long stretch of sandy beaches. The Mama Shelter building, the former headquarters of France’s national gas company (GDF/Gaz de France) was built in the 1930s and is still, somewhat eerily, known as ‘La Tour du Gaz’ (the gas tower). Although seemingly non-descript from the outside, the building has a large roof terrace with views that stretch across Bordeaux all the way to the horizon.

The Mama concept is simple: one restaurant and bar, and of course, the guestrooms. Add to this friendly personal service, comfortable contemporary spaces and interiors by Philippe Starck, and you have the right combination that is sure to win hearts over and over again...

With 97 rooms, four categories and prices ranging from 49 euro per night, the Mama Shelter Bordeaux is another sure budget winner with a certain amount of frills where guests really do get more for their buck. Founded by Serge Trigano (also behind the Club Med venture) and his sons Jeremy & Ben and internationally renowned designer Philippe Starck, the Mama story is fast-expanding and isn’t about to stop here.

With the same, at first daunting, atmosphere as at its sister hotels, the Mama Bordeaux’s discrete entrance, signalled only by a plain silver plaque, leads into a darkened room which seamlessly splits off into different spaces created by well studied lighting. The open kitchen looks out onto the bar wrapped in light panels which is also the centre piece of the room (that and the oversized signature table football). Diners are then led to several wooden canteen style bench tables, tables enclosed by banquettes before ending in the very back of the room (complete with the long high bar table, also the pizzeria corner). Although this is a room with a lot happening within it, its different spaces and styles all work in perfect harmony. After an initial feeling of disorientation upon entering, a comforting homely feeling takes over completely. The Mama is, after all, like no other place in Bordeaux.

As cheerful and aesthetically pleasing as the main space might be, the pièce de resistance is hidden from view. Behind a powder pink door and down an aluminium staircase deep in the basement, are the toilets – the toilets and an entire area dedicated to a favourite national sport that’s fast making a comeback in the French capital: ping-pong.

Upstairs in the rooms, it’s all about the powder pink walls that glow at sundown once the lighting in the mirror frames and the bed head is lit, lime green bathroom walls, signature Mama chalk-effect black and white chequered carpets, views over the terracotta tiled Bordeaux rooftops, Mac interactive entertainment systems (with free films) and of course Darth Vader and Batman masks (that double up as lampshades) for some unprecedented fun.  Comfortable with quality mattresses and crisp white linens, the slick minimalistic style of the rooms aren’t supposed to be anything more than a space for getting ready to go out and to get some shut-eye. The main cluster of activity is downstairs in the shared hotel living area – which mutates throughout the day from coffee shop to diner, to bar, to restaurant, concert venue and even club, depending on how jazzy the Bordelais crowd feels on the night.

Discover Mama Shelter in Bordeaux through the pictures that follow: