Mama Shelter Prague

From unlikely beginnings in an inauspicious corner of Paris to expansions across France and as far afield as Los Angeles and Rio, it’s been a journey for Mama Shelter — and now they’ve advanced to the east, first to Belgrade and now to Prague, that most pleasant and picturesque of Central European cities. And while the historic city center might be a bit quaint for Mama Shelter’s purposes, the hotel’s setting, in an up-and-coming neighborhood on the north side of the Vltava, provides just the right amount of perspective.

The guest rooms, in keeping with the Mama Shelter recipe, are one part postmodern whimsy, one part boutique minimalism, and one part Prague visual history. For the most part they’re reasonably sized and modestly appointed — the intended audience here has little need for five-star extravagance — but the XXL Mama and the Mama Penthouse spread out to truly large proportions.

Here, though, the guest rooms are almost secondary to the hotel’s public spaces. An expansive lobby includes billiards and foosball, a small library, and plenty of space for lounging — weather permitting, the action spills out onto the terrace. Meanwhile the restaurant and bar plays host to a mix of hotel guests and in-the-know locals — just the kind of blend that is the Mama Shelter specialty.