Mama Shelter: a new warm and stylish shelter in Lyon

Just a stone's throw from Rue de l'Université and Place Jean-Macé, and ten minutes from Perrache and La Part Dieu stations by public transport, this Lyon establishment has retained all the elements that made the concept such a success. Its 156 rooms, including four suites with terraces, have a clean, unfinished concrete look, but they are also very comfortable, with top-of-the-range bedding and percale sheets, a large shower cubicle, a minibar, a multimedia iMac, etc.

But the main part of the restaurant is downstairs, in a huge living area with an endless bar in the middle, one of Philippe Starck's trademarks. Opposite, behind the stoves in the open kitchen, the team works to reproduce a menu signed Alain Senderens, a combination of revisited childhood dishes - cocotte de coquillette, jambon, oeuf mollet -, more elaborate recipes - cod roasted with spices - and, Lyon obliges, the traditional quenelles. As in Paris, Marseille and Istanbul, the ceiling, graffitied freehand by calligrapher Tarek Benaoum, adds to the energy of the place.

This is where business travellers can rub shoulders with local life, listen to live music in the evening, sit down at one of the tables d'hôte and chat with their neighbours. And why not play a game of table football together? "The guest's first priority is to get a good night's sleep, and we give them everything they need to do that. However, as the rooms are relatively small and there is no room service, everything is done to ensure that they don't stay alone in their room", explains Serge Trigano, who returned to the hotel business after the Club Med years, in the company of his sons, Benjamin and Jérémie, the group's current managing director.

The atmosphere created appeals to a wide range of people. The Lyon establishment is aiming to emulate the success of the Paris showroom, which attracts a diverse clientele of all ages, from business travellers to urban tourists, with a footfall of over 80%. Its restaurant, too, is always busy, serving 400 diners a day. However, the hotel is not very central, located on rue de Bagnolet at the end of the 20th arrondissement. The price of the rooms, from 79 euros on weekdays, is no small part of this success. "We wanted to make the experience affordable to as many people as possible, to create something between inaccessible palaces and tasteless chain hotels," explains Serge Trigano.

As far as seminars are concerned, companies are also getting in on the act. "In Paris, our 40-person room attracts companies from the very chic 8th arrondissement, who come to the popular 20th arrondissement to let off steam", Serge Trigano laughs. In Lyon, a major business hub, the Mama Shelter is also counting on MICE customers and is initially offering three rooms, three "workshops". Two more will be added when work is completed on the "Villa Mama", a building currently being converted just opposite the hotel. The largest of these workshops can hold 80 people, but above all it is linked to the 'library', a fun and friendly space with table football sofas and a dart board. "Companies need to project themselves into the future and develop their strategy. We set the scene to encourage inventiveness," explains Serge Trigano.

Almost a textbook case for hoteliers in search of inspiration, the "Mama Shelter" epic could never have seen the light of day. It owes a great deal to the stubbornness of Serge Trigano and his partners Philippe Starcj and Cyril Aouizerate, who saw the doors of many banks close before they could bring the original project to fruition. This reluctance can be explained by a concept that broke many established codes. Location is everything, as Conrad Hilton once said? The first Mama Shelter was in a working-class district, far from La Défense or Notre-Dame. Does a hotel make nothing from its catering? In Paris, it generates half of all sales. "They didn't know it was impossible, so they did it": Mark Twain's phrase illustrates the success of a group that is setting the standard and is expecting new establishments in Bordeaux in early autumn 2013 and in Los Angeles in 2014. Before putting its design stamp on Brussels, Berlin or Rome?