Ennismore, the fast-growing lifestyle hospitality company, and Landlab, the Dubai-based Design and Development Group, have entered exclusive negotiations to bring the flamboyant Paris-based Mama Shelter to Liverpool.
The brand’s first hotel outside of London, Mama Shelter Liverpool will be located at the beloved George Henry Lee building, formerly John Lewis, off Williamson Square, and is expected to open in 2025 following a £25 million redevelopment.
Started in 2008 in Paris as a concept developed by Serge Trigano and his two sons, Jérémie and Benjamin. Mama Shelter is a place to live life to the full: it’s affordable, irreverent, popular, sassy, and sexy. Mama Shelter is known for its playful, live-life-to-the-full approach to hospitality, featuring looney tunes masks in the bedrooms to karaoke rooms, in-house cinemas, DJ sets, and signature rooftop bars.
Vic Alfa, UK Director of Landlab, said: “As a Liverpudlian, I’m incredibly proud and excited to be bringing Mama Shelter to my hometown. Having worked with Accor for the best part of 10 years, Mamas is a brand our team knows well.
“With its colour, vibrancy, and off-the-wall approach, it will inject life and energy back into one of the city’s most iconic buildings and offer something completely new to the people of Liverpool and visitors to this amazing city.”
The new home of Mama Shelter Liverpool, the George Henry Lee building, has been largely vacant in recent years since John Lewis moved its operations to Liverpool One. Built in the mid-1800s, the building began as a bonnet store before being sold to John Lewis Partnership in 1940. The building’s interior will undergo a £25 million redevelopment which will see the 153,000 sq. ft space transformed into 175 rooms as well as a unique Sports Bar concept, Spa Mama Skin, karaoke rooms, 10-pin bowling, a Cinemama, co-working space and a signature Mama rooftop bar and restaurant. In typical Mama Shelter fashion, expect a few more surprises by the time the hotel opens.
Located within walking distance of Liverpool One, Concert Square and Liverpool’s various historical landmarks, Mama Shelter Liverpool will be the global brand’s first hotel to open in the North of England and only its second in the UK, following the opening of Shoreditch, London in 2019. Liverpudlians and travellers to Liverpool can expect their own Mama Shelter to serve as a community hub of activity, bringing a sense of occasion to the everyday, with our party vibe through music, entertainment and urban design.
Cedric Gobilliard, Brand COO of Mama Shelter at Ennismore, said: “We knew Liverpool was the perfect destination for Mama Shelter’s next hotel in the UK because the city embodies the Mama spirit with its energy, party spirit and its rich heritage of music and pop culture. It’s the perfect match for Mama’s fun-loving fans.”
Since its launch 15 years ago, Mama Shelter has sparked a revolution in the hotel industry, with its flamboyant design-led concept leading to 17 operating hotels across France and in cities including Los Angeles, Lisbon and Rome. Continuing with its global expansion, Mama opened two new properties this year with Rennes and Dijon, France, and in 2024 and beyond will open in Dubai, Nice, Medellin, Casablanca and Zurich.
