MOB Hotel
4-6 Rue Gambetta, Saint-Ouen, France
Why We Like It
It's young, spirited, chic, and welcoming, with plenty of peace and quiet when you want it and a lively social scene when you don't. A great way to discover, or rediscover, all the many attractions at the newly fashionable Puces.
Fodor's Expert Review
One of Paris's more out-of-the-way hotels is also one of its most original, pioneering, and fun--and a bargain to boot! Set just outside Paris in the heart of Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, Europe's largest flea market, this is the spot for design buffs, antique lovers, bargain hunters, and hipsters, who adore this chic and generous oasis in one of the city's most up-and-coming areas.
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Room
Spacious, minimalist rooms are done up in cheery hues with raw wood and original playthings, like Indonesian shadow puppets and maracas. All rooms come with an air mattress in case an extra guest pops in. There's no TV in the rooms, in the spirit of getting out and meeting people, but larger doubles come with a movie screen and rental films on an iPad. All rooms come with a free smartphone.
Tip Nearly half of the 90 rooms--on two floors--have terraces, either balcony style or private garden terraces on the ground floor with lounger deck chairs and garden dwarf tables.
Bathroom
Functional all-white bathrooms come with rain showers and organic soaps and are partly open, meaning you'll be heard but not seen.
Lobby
Off the reception area there are a bunch of convivial spaces, including a pop-up shop featuring local designers, a bar-restaurant with foosball and live music. In summer, life happens in the huge outdoor patio and roof garden and deck, complete with deck chairs, pingpong, and food stands, and in winter there's a fireplace to cozy up to.
Gym
There is no gym, but the hotel offers yoga and dance classes.
Dining
A reasonably priced organic lunch and dinner is served 7 days a week made with whatever's growing in the garden and from local producers and co-ops.
Drinking
The bar spotlights live music on weekends when things get rocking till 11:30.
What's Nearby
Getting Around
Though technically in the suburbs, the hotel is a few minutes from the Garibaldi metro station, and a five to ten-minute walk from the Porte de Clignancourt and Porte de Saint-Ouen metro stations, all of which get you to central Paris in no time.
Les Puces de Saint-Ouen is really a city unto itself, and in recent years the sprawling flea market has made huge strides in dusting off its image, adding fashion and design boutiques and a bunch of chic bars, restaurants, and cafés. Now the area is hopping at all hours and considered a "destination" for its artsy nightlife and fashion crowd.
Restaurants
Parisians come here just to eat at the adorably cozy and ultra-stylish Ma Cocotte, a Philippe Starck-designed warehouse brilliantly remade into a warren of cozy dining rooms, with a delightful outdoor terrace and charming interiors full of flea-market finds. Delicious salads, soups, hot dishes, or desserts at teatime, make this an excellent choice for before, during, or after haunting the fleas. The charming Une Affaire de Famille bistro is another flea market favorite, serving a tempting seasonal menu of market-to-table French classics in a vintage dining room (both are on the rue des Rosiers a few minutes from the hotel).
Bars
Jazz is the theme at the famous La Chope des Puces, near Django Reinhardt's caravan digs in the 1920s, featuring manouche musicians (Reinhardt's distinctive gypsy jazz) on weekends. Atmospheric Picolo bar and brasserie, the oldest and a favorite at the Puces, is always full of regulars (both a five-minute walk from the hotel).
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Quick Facts
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