Sublime view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from the hotel's huge rooftop...
In this article, I tell you about my experience at the Mama Shelter Hotel in Rome, where I stayed for 5 nights with my husband during Easter week 2023. Here we go!
SUMMARY
Booking via VeryChic
Our Medium room
The interior spaces
The bar, the restaurants and the rooftop
The wellness area, the "Mama Baths": gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room
The location
1. Booking via VeryChic
To begin with, I must say that with my husband, we planned our stay in Rome in real last minute during the week of Easter 2023, a very busy week for Rome and the Vatican.
To book, I took a look at the offers proposed on the private sales websites VeryChic and Voyage Privé, but also on Veepee, Choose and The Bradery, and there, miracle, Mama Shelter appeared on VeryChic. I can say that this hotel chain, that I knew by name and reputation, had been eyeing me for a while, so I didn't hesitate long before choosing and convincing my husband! For your information, the Mama Shelter hotel chain belongs to the French group Accor.
So, if you are planning to stay at Mama Shelter Roma (and I'm sure you'll want to even more after reading my article), don't hesitate to check out the private travel sales sites, hopefully the hotel will be offered. If not, Mama Shelter Roma has some interesting offers on their website.
2. Our Medium room
During our stay, we slept in a Medium room which is the "smallest" of the three types of rooms that the hotel offers (the other two being Large and XL) and yet, it was very spacious (22 m2), both in the night space and in the bathroom, which is very appreciable for people like me who like to leave their suitcase lying around on the floor during the whole stay and also spread out in the bathroom :-)
The room was also very comfortable with a very large and soft bed, a practical bed end to put on your shoes before leaving, a huge Italian shower, a double sink, a bistro table and a closet for people who, unlike me, store their stuff in the hotel on vacation! There was also a mini-fridge (containing water) and a safe, as well as an umbrella at your disposal (yes, unfortunately, it does happen that it rains in Rome, we experienced it...). Oh, and I forgot, there was also a huge wall-mounted television on a swivel stand, with satellite and free movies available. But, I would have liked a tray with a kettle and tea and coffee available.
In the bathroom, the focus is on ecology with only solid and organic products available. I must say that I am not a fan of solid formats for shower gel and shampoo, but the whole range offered lathered well, smelled good and was effective, so validated and adopted.
Concerning the soundproofing of the room, I must say that it is good, with however a wrong note. Indeed, during our stay, the restaurant of the hotel which was under our room put on several times either very loud music, or organized a concert on the spot, which did not allow us during two nights to be able to fall asleep before 12.30am/1am. So we systematically went to the reception who always took the problem seriously and allowed each time to lower the volume, so that it became tolerable (I take the opportunity to add here that the staff is very pleasant). In any case, I told the hotel that I didn't understand the concept of organizing concerts below a hotel with guests who want to rest...
Finally, concerning the decoration, in the spirit of the whole decoration of the hotel at the same time unique, shifted and amusing, certain elements of the room lend to smile, such as the masks laid out on the bedside lamps (and which can be bought at the reception for those which absolutely want to leave with) or the sign "Do not disturb", completely adapted to the local situation ;-)
3. The interior spaces
The interiors of the hotel are clearly in a young and trendy spirit, but with a decoration always very careful and unique, adapted to the local context (see the green Vespa at the entrance, the pizzas or the Roman columns on the carpets, among others, the details are numerous).
The plus at Mama Shelter Roma: a relaxation area with table soccer, arcade games, books, armchairs and sofas, ideal to settle down after Roman days spent walking, walking, walking (in our case, we were on an average of 20km/day on foot because we wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible to discover the city, but as much as we can tell you that we appreciated any opportunity to sit down)!
4. The bar, the restaurants and the rooftop
The hotel has a magnificent and immense space bar and restaurants, with always a very worked and original decoration, space in which we want to remain during hours. We also tested one evening the bar of the hotel for a cocktail before going to dinner in town, which was very pleasant.
The vegetated room you see in the pictures is the one in which the breakfast buffet is served every morning between 7 and 11 am. I really appreciated the size of this room, as well as the modularity of the tables which easily allows to adapt to all sizes of tribes coming to breakfast at the hotel. Also, the breakfast offered a lot of choices and quality products, fresh and local. Moreover, I loved the foccacia offered while still warm or the centrifuge with pre-cut fresh fruits and vegetables, which I had never seen in any other hotel before and which is a real plus to get a shot of vitamins before the daily Roman marathon!
As for the two restaurants of the hotel (Giardino d'Inverno and the pizzeria), we did not test them. Indeed, the mixed reviews on the Internet about their being too expensive made us feel cold, especially knowing the huge offer of restaurants in Rome. So we preferred to dine in the city (have a look at my article dedicated to five gourmet addresses in Rome). Also note that there is, very close to the hotel, a large Carrefour open 24 hours a day, yes ma'am!
Last but not least, the hotel has a huge solarium and rooftop with a 360-degree view, ideal for a cocktail or a bite to eat at sunset, in a musical and trendy atmosphere, with a sublime view of St. Peter's Basilica, which is never far away. Note that this rooftop is accessible between June 1st and October 31st, in the evening, from 6pm to 1am.
5. The wellness area, the "Mama Baths": gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room
As for the hotel's wellness area, the "Mama Baths", it is accessible to all hotel residents and, once again, it is very spacious and decorative. It has a gym, a colorful pool heated to 29 degrees all year round, a sauna and a steam room, as well as many areas with chairs, armchairs or mattresses to lie down and rest. Men's and women's locker rooms are also available.
The spa has a wide range of hours: from 6am to 9:30pm, perfect to really enjoy it. You just have to reserve a 60 minutes time slot with the reception to respect the Covid regulation, which allows you to enjoy the place in all tranquillity.
6. The location
A beautiful rainbow when we arrived at the hotel!
The last aspect is the location of the hotel. Indeed, it is a bit out of the center of Rome, but it is located near the Vatican City, and therefore, St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums (between 1 and 2 km away), which I strongly recommend you to discover!
Moreover, the hotel is located just a few steps from the "Cipro" subway station on the red "A" line, which allows you to reach the major tourist sites of the Roman hyper-center in just a few minutes, as well as the Roma Termini train station for those who arrive by train.
In our case, since we used the metro very sporadically, we preferred to buy tickets one by one (1,5 euro each), which was cheaper than buying a pass or a subscription.
In conclusion, I recommend the Mama Shelter hotel in Rome to enjoy a decorative and comfortable atmosphere, as well as a spa with a swimming pool and a quality breakfast, all of which are very appreciable when you spend long days walking around the city of Rome, and what a city!
I am now looking forward to discovering the other Mama Shelter, whether in the big cities of France (Bordeaux, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Rennes, Toulouse), but also abroad: Belgrade, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg or even Prague. See you soon... Mama !
=> I hope this article has helped you in the preparation of your stay in Rome and, if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate, I'll be happy to get back to you!
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