MOB HOUSE

Practically right around the corner from their Mob Hotel, designer Philippe Starck and hotelier Cyril Aouizerate have reunited for a hotel that both is and isn’t a sequel: Mob House shares a brand and a similarly populist design sensibility, but sets its sights on a less transient traveler. Mob House’s aim is to create a new kind of residential hotel, along the lines of the live/work model with which we’ve all become so intimately familiar.

The spaces, then, are a little bit larger, Saint-Ouen not being quite as crowded as central Paris. Mob House’s room categories are numbered by their area in square meters, which is bad news for Americans but refreshingly straightforward for everyone else — the largest one, 152T, is a palatial three-bedroom, three-bath affair, complete with a generously sized terrace (that’s the T). And even the smallest ones, in the 20s, benefit from a utilitarian open plan and thoughtful, efficient comforts.

There’s also space for a large private garden, complete with a proper (though seasonal) swimming pool — it’s an unusually verdant space given its urban setting. And inside, beneath the exposed ductwork of the ground floor’s unfinished ceiling, is the Feuille de Chou, an organic brasserie headed by the two-Michelin-starred chef Jérôme Banctel. There’s much to be gained from venturing a little farther north.

Please note: MOB House’s swimming pool is closed for the season from November 6 through March 24.