Mama Shelter hotel brand to debut in Bahrain in 2020
Hotel will feature 160 rooms and is the first Mama branded property to face the sea
Mama Shelter has inked an agreement with hotel group Accor and GFH Financial Group (GFH) to manage the Kingdom’s first Mama Shelter brand in Manama. The deal is said to align with GFH’s commitment to expanding the Kingdom’s lifestyle and tourism sector.
Mama Shelter Bahrain will take shape at a waterfront location at GFH’s Harbour Row development within the $1.5bn Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) project. BFH is billed as one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mixed-use projects and is located within the heart of Manama.
Serge, Benjamin and Jérémie Trigano, co-founders of Mama Shelter recently visited the island.
“When we visited Bahrain for the first time, we found men and women who were open to the cultures of other people and who were tremendously excited at the prospect of welcoming the Mama experience to the city,” explained Chairman Serge.
Mama Shelter’s CEO Jérémie added, “We also discovered a beautiful site in the city of Manama on the banks of the Arabian Gulf and a modern, forward-thinking partner, GFH properties, brought to us by the Accor team. The chemistry was there and we, therefore, decided to bring the Mama magic to the country, with the hope of opening in 2020.”
The hotel will have 160 rooms and will place emphasis on comfort and simplicity.
“Mama Shelter Bahrain is the first Mama hotel which will face the sea. The design has been thought out in two ways. Firstly, the relationship with the sea as it is a waterfront hotel. The second is to propose a lifestyle experience which refers to the nomadic aesthetic and the hospitality from the inner part of the region. Just like a chic camp that just stopped in front of the sea to play table football and dance with our artists,” remarked Benjamin El Doghaïli, head of Mama’s Design Studio.
Once complete, the hotel will offer views of the harbour and is poised to become the place to gather, meet friends and make new ones in the financial and diplomatic district, the statement said.
“Our partnership with GFH continues to flourish with the signing of Mama Shelter Bahrain as well the debut of the Raffles brand, which was announced earlier in the month. Accor believes that Mama Shelter marks a definitive first in lifestyle hotels in Manama and has the potential to be a global showcase for this dynamic brand,” said Mark Willis, CEO Accor Middle East & Africa.
Hisham Al Rayes, CEO GFH Financial Group concluded, “Our projects continue to move from strength to strength with the partnerships we are forging with world-leading hotel and lifestyle brands. We’re extremely pleased with this partnership with Accor and the value proposition it creates not only at Harbour Row but for Bahrain, where GFH continues our focus on supporting development goals in the lifestyle and tourism sector, which is set for continued expansion. Debuting a Mama Shelter branded hotel in Bahrain crystalises our commitment to introducing cutting edge brands that resonate with both local residents and the community at-large as well as appealing to the needs and helping to attract an even greater number of regional and international travellers to Bahrain.”
