The Hotel That Got Away

When I travel, hotel selection is just as important as where I am going to eat and the city I am visiting.  I like hotel design and even though I barely spend time in a room, I want to know that I get to come back to an interesting space to sleep.

Last year on my honeymoon, I covered a lot of hotel on my 17 day driving trip. One of the hotels that I was looking forward to staying at was Mama Shelter in Marseille, France.

Mama Shelter M5

Unfortunately due to a change in plans we re-routed our driving trip and ended up skipping Marseille all together.  This hotel would be my only design-crazy hotel on the list.

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I thought Mama Shelter Marseille would be fun to stay at and I was particularly looking forward to exploring its wacky, wonderful, and playful interior design by Phillipe Stark.  I chalked off Mama Shelter Marseille as the hotel that got away.

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The rest of our hotels were tame in design in comparison to Mama Shelter in order to reflect the environment of our drive through Provence and the Languedoc region. I could not bring myself to book a hotel that looked like a night club in the countryside, opting for spots were more rustic and charming instead.

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Photo Source: Mama Shelter Marseille

Today I received an email and learned that the Mama Shelter empire is expanding beyond Paris and Marseille.  It now includes two new cities: Istanbul (March 15th) and Lyon (March 20th).

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Photo Source: Mama Shelter Istanbul

How exciting!  I am secretly planning a trip to Istanbul this year. I don’t know when, I don’t know why- no wait, I know why- and I don’t know how, but sometime before 2013, I think Istanbul and I should have a rendez-vous of food, design and travel. Maybe I will consider revisiting my hotel that got away!

Have you been to Istanbul? Any travel recommendations or stories to share?

 

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