Mama Shelter Dijon

In the city of Dijon, just across from the 14th-century Gothic Saint-Bénigne Cathedral, is a rather more modern building: a 1960s Brutalist office building that’s now home to the colorful and irreverent Mama Shelter Dijon. This is a brand with a reputation for playfulness, and it’s richly deserved — the décor is full of light-hearted references to Dijon and the Burgundy region, and the hotel has gone so far as to collaborate with local makers Edmond Fallot on a house brand of Dijon mustard.

To turn an insurance office into something so warm and inviting is no mean feat; architect Benjamin El Doghaïli and the rest of the Mama Shelter team are in top form here, lending visual interest to seemingly every square foot of the space. Long gone is the stark minimalism with which Mama Shelter was once associated, replaced by a charmingly madcap maximalism.

And while it’s no luxury hotel, neither is it a spartan affair — the rooms are as comfortable as they are efficient, and the public spaces are thoroughly welcoming, from the garden patio to the multi-purpose restaurant, terrace, and bar, serving everything from breakfast and brunch to late-night dinner, wines, and cocktails.