Benjamin Trigano
Benjamin Trigano co-founded budget-boutique chainlet Mama Shelter with a 172-room hotel on the outskirts of Paris in 2008. With four French properties and one in Istanbul, Mama Shelter sold 35% of its stake to Paris-based hotelier AccorHotels last fall for an undisclosed price, with plans for 20 new properties within the next five years. The company opened its first U.S. property in Hollywood in early July. Trigano's father and brother are co-founders of Mama Shelter, while his grandfather Gilbert Trigano served as CEO of Club Med from 1963 to 1993. Benjamin Trigano, 44, spoke to Hotels Editor Danny King about two weeks after the Hollywood property's opening.
Q: What kind of demographic are you trying to attract with the new Hollywood property?
A: Our demographic is kind of all over the place, but we'll see how it is in the States. We offer a lot for the money, so the spectrum is wide. We don't cater to hipsters or the business crowd. We work hard to get a mixed clientele, because we think it's more fun in the common areas. We stand out in the neighborhood. You have the W [nearby], but this is an alternative for people who are visiting production offices or the CNN building [two blocks away]. We also have a mix of European tourists as well as young producers.
Q: Why did you choose Hollywood for your first U.S. location?
A: We only want to open in places where we'd like to live. Hollywood is perfect. We tried to go to a neighborhood that's not trendy. Hollywood has so much history and culture, yet in terms of hotels, you don't have that many places. This is something that's warm, welcoming and more personalized. There's the Dream Hollywood and a Thompson coming in [both hotel sites are a block away from Mama Shelter], but I think we can stand out.
Q: Where else are you considering in the U.S.?
A: As many places as we could [laughs]. We'd like to go to places like Detroit and New Orleans, the less-usual suspects. Miami and New York are so saturated. We'd rather concentrate our dollars on places that are in need of a place like ours.
Q: Who's your competition?
A: Our brand fits a pretty big niche in what's missing. You have a lot of boutiquey design hotels, but they lack the hospitality we have. And the more high-end places sometimes lack the fun. We're not trying to sell something cool; we're trying to sell something fun. The brand has been extremely successful in Europe because people see it as having the charm of a design place, the warmth of a mom 'n' pop and the facilities of a higher-end hotel. It's kind of an urban kibbutz.
Q: How does your family's hospitality history, specifically with Club Med, inform your approach to Mama Shelter?
A: There's always a communal spirit in what we do, and a fun aspect to it, because we've been in the industry for so long. You can teach people to say hello, but you can't teach people to want to serve people. It's in our DNA. Like with Club Med, we look for people to have a good time but in a more casual, less scripted way.
Q: How did you come up with the name Mama Shelter?
A: We were looking for a word that was warm, welcoming, caring and loving. What better name than "Mama." It just made sense to us. Our mom knows when you're in a good ... [or] bad mood.