Mama Shelter will be launching their latest hotel in Dijon, the capital city of the historical Burgundy region in eastern France. 
HOTEL & AMENITIES
Guests can head to the ground floor 202-seat restaurant to enjoy tasty, local cuisine such as charcoal grilled meats, signature cocktails, and classic Mama Dishes, as well as the Toile de Jouy-inspired décor. Guests can enjoy Mama’s signature restaurant which opens onto two outdoor areas: the veranda terrace and the planted patio.
Another highlight of the 120-room property is Mama Shelter’s CineMama, the hotel’s very own private 28-seat cinema where guests can hold private screenings or video conferences, as well as two karaoke bars, four meeting rooms and a petanque court.
Available exclusively on property, Mama Shelter has created its own mustard in collaboration with Edmond Fallot, a family-run, independent company created in 1840. The Edmond Fallot house only uses seeds grown in the region and the traditional stone ground to preserve all their gustatory qualities. Guests can purchase the mustard to spice up their dishes, with a mix of flavours from Mama and Burgundy.
LOCATION
Dijon is surrounded by rolling countryside where the most famous vineyards in the world, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Côte de Beaune, and more, rub shoulders with mustard fields and blackcurrant orchards, from which the famous Kir of the eponymous canon is made. Dijon, 1 hour 34 minutes by TGV from Paris and 1 hour 59 minutes from Lyon, has plenty to offer visitors and locals alike, including remarkable architecture, with the highlight being the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, the oldest part of which dates from the 14th century.
Having been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, Dijon is the International City of Gastronomy and Wine due to its unique culinary traditions and the “climates” of the Burgundy vineyards. From exceptional vintage wines to small dishes, everything is a pretext for rejoicing and sharing.
Serge Trigano, co-founder of Mama Shelter with his sons Jérémie and Benjamin, says: “For almost 15 years, Mama Shelter has worked to anticipate its enthusiasts’ desires for discovery, encounters and happiness. Even more so after a pandemic that has turned the world upside down, shaken up our way of life, thinking and working, Mama has been ahead of society’s evolution, understanding the desire to see elsewhere, by setting up in towns, in regions, renowned for their gentle way of life, their traditions, their better ways of living together. It is therefore only natural that the latest addition to the Mama Shelter family should come to life in Dijon, where we look forward to welcoming you.”
Cédric Gobilliard, Managing Director of Mama Shelter, says of Dijon, “I can’t wait! This motto of Philippe le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, reflects our impatience to open our latest Mama in Dijon. Mama and Dijon share the same values of warm hospitality, festivity, and enjoyment. Mama Dijon hijacks the strong symbols of this wine region with humour, impertinence and respect to reveal it to its French and foreign guests.”
DESIGN
Mama Shelter, on rue du Maret, next to Saint-Bénigne Cathedral and Jardin Darcy, is located in the former health insurance offices, a brutalist building from the 1960s, listed as a historic French building. “A large, luminous glass box, 6 minutes’ walk from the station, in the heart of the city,” explains Benjamin El Doghaïli, lead architect of the Mama Shelter design studio, reflecting on his latest “playground” and adding, “the atmosphere of Dijon is uplifting, inspiring, light and playful.”
“My aim was to capture the Burgundian landscape and invite it into the walls of Mama. To be inspired by the undulating vineyards, the geometric patterns of the polychrome glazed roof tiles, known as “toits vernissés” – or “glazed roofs”, which are the hallmark of this region. Tasting the wine, caressing the bottles to transcribe my emotions born of a terroir shaped by generations of craftsmen, growers, to humbly add my stone, that’s how I thought of this Mama with the help of revered artists and craftsmen,” says Benjamin El Doghaïli.
The property’s black and white carpeting is designed by Lila Mercier, representing Burgundian vineyards, and the patterns and colours on the caning on the headboards represent the glazed roofs found in buildings around Dijon. “This Mama is a spoiled child, playful, adorned with warm colours, terra cotta, powder pink, and green. Each of its rooms and suites is distinguished, for the first time at Mama, by separate toilets, Tom Dixon basins, large showers and, in some cases, baths. Further details that affirm its personality include: a charming bench, a desk with a chessboard-shaped top that can be removed to play… even in bed. But above all, they are flooded with natural light, generous, magical, which ennobles every corner, gives relief and depth, even to the concrete.”
Playing with the existing structure and honouring its history, while respecting the rules of the French building code, was quite the exercise. “When you find yourself with a forest of concrete posts supporting the impressive structure, you rack your brains. ” Like an alchemist transforming lead into gold, the architect has transformed each pillar in the lobby and restaurant into works of art, decorated with frescoes by Beniloys, and golden ceramics by Arnold du Bazar d’Alger, a graphic artist, all of which compliment the cut-out silkscreens by Atelier Bingo. In the restaurant, attention is also drawn to the floor by two symmetrical carpets by Laureline Galliot where jacks clash, a reference to the archaeological digs that took place during the construction.
“We juggled again, on the one hand to avoid wandering around in a space that was too vast, we made the ceiling as dark as possible and put lights at eye level. Authentic grape harvest baskets were turned into light fittings and a monumental chandelier was hung with 136 pieces of enamelled ceramic reminiscent of traditional roofs, a unique object made by the Faïencerie de Charolles, a local company. In the lower part of the ceiling, a romantic score is played, with alcoves lined with Juliette Seban’s toile de Jouy, inspired by the paintings of Jérôme Bosch, gargantuan allegories.”
