Home, suite home

Ten years ago someone somewhere was given the task of coming up with a name for a new hotel chain in Central and Eastern Europe. Whoever thought of “Mamaison” – a top-end advertising executive? The boss’ girlfriend? – we hope they were suitably rewarded for their inspiration.

Ma maison is, of course, strictly two words, and careful market research must have shown that most people are well aware it is French for “my house”. Thus in one neat eight-letter word it invokes France, which generally is considered as being rather chic, and it implies that your stay in a hotel probably far from home will have something of home about it.
Finally, “Mamaison” is short and sweet, and eye-catching because it has been altered into one word. And in the world of commerce a bit of alliteration always comes in handy when giving a brand a memorable name (think Coca-Cola, Rolls-Royce, Weight Watchers, BlackBerry, PayPal, Kit Kat, M&Ms and Dunkin Donuts; nuff said).
Mamaison Hotels and Residences has ten select hotels from the midscale to upscale deluxe category, classified into three types – Mamaison Boutique Hotels, Mamison Business and Conference Hotels, and Mamaison All-Suites Residence Hotels. Two of them are in Budapest, namely the 61-room/7-suite Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest and the 38-suite Mamaison Residence Izabella Budapest.
The other eight, by the by, are Pachtuv Palace, Hotel Riverside and Residence Belgicka, all in Prague, Hotel Pokrovka in Moscow, Hotel Le Regina and Residence Diana in Warsaw, Hotel Imperial in Ostrava and Residence Sulekova in Bratislava.
Wherever they are, the idea is to offer individualised hotel and suite accommodation that appeals to business, family and leisure travellers for short and extended stays. This is the “boutique hotel” concept: a non-standardised hotel chain that sets itself apart through design, buildings true to their original surroundings, personal flair and first-class service.
Back to the Hungarian capital, Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest sits on the corner of stylish Andrássy út and Munkácsy Mihály utca, named after the famed painter. This is one of the city’s high-end areas, as seen by the number of embassies around about. This particular building was designed in Bauhaus style and was erected in 1937.
The 68 accommodations have 56 balconies, and the ones on the Munkácsy Mihály side overlook the South Korean embassy (perfect for those North Korean visitors). Effective soundproofing ensures that the steady Andrássy traffic goes unheard.
The hotel boasts room sizes from 20-70 square metres with fabrics and carpeting made to last, so that guests aren’t disturbed by refurbishing every couple of years. With comfy furnishing and bed, good-size TV with in-room films, complimentary Wi-Fi, a safe and a smart bathroom with massage shower, this maison shouldn’t make you regret leaving your maison for a few days.
A nice plus is the hotel’s chic La Perle Noire Restaurant and Lounge, which has distinguished itself twice this year by beating more than 100 top restaurants in Hungary to win both Public Choice awards at the spring and autumn DiningCity Étterem Hét (Restaurant Week) events.
The Mamaison has a conference room with all the facilities, and catering at events here is provided by La Perle Noire.
Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest is on the stretch between Oktogon and Heroes Square, which puts it on the Metro 1 “yellow” line. Eight hundred metres away nearer Oktogon and on the same Metro line is Mamaison Residence Izabella Budapest. In 2003, when this opened, the hotel-residence concept was a new addition on the market and this Mamaison was among the first.
The idea here is something between a hotel and a house for individuals or families who are away from home for longer periods – expats on business assignments, diplomats – perhaps weeks or even months.
They want somewhere less confining than a hotel and the average stay is around two weeks. The record stay by a guest at Mamaison Residence Izabella Budapest is four years. The atmosphere is more like home and this feeling begins in the earth-tones reception, which isn’t your usual reception but is set up more like a living room, with fireplace and logs. With just 38 suites and the tendency for longer stays, the receptionists and guests get to know each other more.
The choice is yours: with housekeeping, room-service meals from a nearby Sicilian restaurant and 24-hour reception, guests don’t have to be too independent if they don’t want. But with a well-equipped kitchen with microwave, toaster and jug, nice lounge and dining area, glass-top tables, quality TV and stereo, free WiFi and even a washing machine, they can completely look after themselves too.
The rooms are spacious and the ambience is cosy. Suites overlook a nice landscaped courtyard garden, accessible from the ground-floor rooms. They are bigger than your normal hotel room: one-bedrooms are 45 square metres (classic), 55 sqm (deluxe) or 65 sqm (grand deluxe), the two-bedroom Ambassador suite is 78 square metres and the three-bedroom Presidential suite 98 square metres. All bedrooms are separate from living rooms and guests get the same number of bathrooms as bedrooms.
If you’re staying a while and need, say, a blender for the kitchen, they’ll consider getting it for you… or opera tickets or airport transfer, whatever. Wellness is catered for with a sauna and the 360Gym with its three fitness rooms containing plenty of kettlebell weights, machines to make you sweat, medicine balls to toss around and straps dangling from ceilings. Non-resident guests are welcome at the daily classes: Fully Body, Kettlebell and TRX before work (7-9am) and in the evening (4-9pm).
Both Mamaisons have parking. Their swimming pool, they say, is the Széchenyi baths in the nearby City Park, “giving us the largest swimming pool of any hotel in town”.
Mamaison Hotel Andrassy Budapest