A place to live as much as a hotel. The MOB Hotel, which has just opened in St Ouen, a stone's throw from the flea market, stands in stark contrast to the average mid-range hotel. With organic produce from agricultural cooperatives, shared gardens available to neighbours, pop-up stores where independent designers come to showcase their creations, and a coworking space named Kolkhozita, in reference to the community spirit that underpins this hotel concept: "the hotel reflects what's going on in the world", describes Cyril Aouizerate, its founder.
"We're at a crossroads. The hotel industry no longer has a future. You can't think about paying dividends and at the same time looking after your customers", says Cyril Aouizerate. The man who was once a partner in the first Mama Shelter hotels sees this new project as a mission, to offer a welcome inspired by the "Mediterranean tradition", joyful, festive and full of life.
Every effort has been made to encourage encounters between one-night visitors and local guests. Starting with the banning of the sacrosanct television in the room, residents can compensate for this absence by using their mobile tools thanks to WiFi - guaranteed "competitive" by the hotel - or by hiring a tablet or overhead projector from reception. When the weather is fine, film buffs can take advantage of the open-air cinema in the hotel courtyard, a large screen where themed cycles, such as Japan in June, will be shown.
Cyril Aouizerate, a former philosophy teacher, has also created a cultured atmosphere. A library containing all the great classics of French literature, cushions decorated with a photo of Emmanuel Levinas - "my mentor", says the founder - and curtains with an iconoclastic take on Veronese's Marriage at Cana: the references are numerous, even in the toilets where speakers broadcast lectures given at the Sorbonne by Vladimir Jankelevitch. This approach will be regularly renewed with cultural and musical events designed by artistic director Aline Afanoukoé.
You'd almost forget that the MOB is also a hotel, with rooms - 92 in all and priced from 89 euros - and a restaurant. With seating for 100 inside and as many in the courtyard on sunny days, the restaurant offers an affordable menu consisting mainly of salads, mezzés and pizzas baked in the oven, which is also used to bake the bread served at breakfast.
Designed by Kristian Gavoille in collaboration with the founder, the design of the place is simple and warm, as are the rooms, in predominantly yellow, blue, pink or orange. Ranging in size from 13 to 17m2 - and 35m2 for the four suites - and extended by more than a third of the terrace, the rooms focus on the essentials, with high-quality bedding and headboards that evoke the red curtains of theatres.
On the small desk, guests travelling from afar will find a telephone at their disposal for the duration of their stay, allowing them to make unlimited international calls and roam around Paris with a 4G connection. Another practical feature of the hotel for business travellers is its AirMOB lounge, where guests arriving early in the morning or leaving late at night can put down their suitcases, take a shower and recharge their tablets while waiting for their room to be ready or for the taxi to pick them up and take them to the airport. The MOB also offers four seminar rooms.
After this first MOB, other MOBs will follow. The second will open next May in Lyon, next to the Musée des Confluences, before the concept crosses the Atlantic. MOB with openings expected in 2018 in Pittsburgh, 2019 in Washington and 2020 in Los Angeles. The MOB Washington DC Union Market will be designed by Philippe Starck, one of the backers of the MOB concept along with Michel Reybier and Steve Case, the founder of AOL. As for the more distant future, Cyril Aouizerate explains that "it won't necessarily go any further. On the other hand, I'm working on a federation of hotels with the same spirit as ours, the same idea of sharing.
