Change in the air for the quirky Mama Shelter hotel brand

If I need somewhere to stay in Paris that doesn't break the budget, then Mama Shelter is my "go to" address. 

And a friend who stayed last month on my recommendation reported that it is as good as ever - although things may be about to change. 

Mama Shelter Paris is both stylish and affordable - but it is in the 20^th arrondissement, a district that is not even on the radar of most visitors to Paris. It’s gritty, ethnically diverse and unashamedly working class.

It’s the other side of the tracks from the chic five-star hotels of the Avenue Montaigne, Champs-Elysees and Left Bank and the only reason most tourists would have for coming to this part of town would be to explore the huge Pere Lachaise cemetery, where Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and composers Chopin and Bizet are among the residents.

Until Mama Shelter; a former derelict, graffiti-covered multi-storey car park that overlooks a disused railway line, opened six years ago

With Philippe Starck doing the design and the Trigano family of Club Med fame running the operation, this former eyesore has morphed into one of Paris’s hippest hotels. 

All the rooms have mini bars, iMacs with TV and wi-fi internet access, microwaves and CD/DVD players. The beds, too, are hugely comfortable with crisp cotton sheets – many guests ask for details of where to buy the mattresses.

The theme is quirky design chic – but that’s all part of the fun. The lifts are wallpapered with trivia – in English and French and the rooms are small but functional.

Best of all the prices, at the first Mama Shelter and its offshoots, are rock bottom.

There’s nothing remotely stuffy about Mama Shelter, the bar area is covered in faux graffiti, a nod to the real thing on the old rail track that runs beside the hotel.

It is a 10-15-minute walk to the nearest Metro stations (Gambetta, Alexandre Dumas and Porte de Bagnolet are equidistant). Handily, there’s a stop at the front door for a bus that meanders its way to the rue de Rivoli and The Louvre.

Now the Mama Shelter portfolio, which also includes hotels in  Marseille, Lyon, Istanbul and Bordeaux range, is about to get bigger. 

The massive multinational hotel group Accor has just acquired a 35% stake in the company - and about 20 new Mamas are due to open over the next five years.

The partnership gives Mama Shelter access to Accor's development and distribution network with Los Angeles, Lille, Zurich, Mexico City, Seoul, Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York and London in the pipeline, as well as a second Paris address.

But Mama Shelter's charm is its quirkiness. Accor is the world's leading hotel operator with more than 3,600 hotels and 470,000 rooms in 92 countries. 

Will the two combine successfully? Only time will tell. 

Mama Shelter Paris, 109 Rue de Bagnolet, 75020. +33 1 43 48 48 48. www.mamashelter.com, Rooms from €79 single and €89 double. Luxe rooms from €109. 

How a cocktail mixologist from Los Angeles found his way home to Thailand

He's a Los Angeles-born and -raised hipster with a degree in psychology from UCLA who has worked as a bartender in some of the coolest joints in California. So what, then, is the man who goes by the name of Golffy doing creating exotic tipples like a New York Thymes - complete with its own mini newspaper - at one of Phuket's hippest resorts?  New York Thymes complete with paper It's a long story, but mix-master Golffy is also Dhasan Prabhanandan, American to the core but the son of Thai parents. A short vacation to explore his roots in Thailand in 2007 ignited a passion for his parent's homeland and an urge to explore Asia. Shortly thereafter, Golffy packed his bags and moved to Bangkok, establishing himself as a cocktail and culinary consultant.  Just last month, the "Conceptual Beverage Designer" moved to Indigo Pearl, in the quieter north of Phuket, where he is creating liquid artworks in the resort's Dirty Monstera cocktail bar and the more laid back Rebar in the same hotel complex.  His signature New York Thymes is a combination of Ketel One vodka, vanilla bean, cranberry juice, aromatic lemon thyme and citrus air. And while it may sound pretentious, it tastes delicious.  Mixmaster Golffy Golffy sources as many rare and unusual ingredients for his cocktails as possible, drawing on his experience at venues such as The Beverly Hilton, The Standard, Koi and Geisha House.  He says it was while working as a bartender in LA that he began to develop an interest, and then a passion, for mixology. "It was curiosity at first," Golffy says. "I wanted to know more and I've always had a creative streak and I just became fascinated by the untapped possibilities of mixology and of combining that with my knowledge of food and flavours." Along with the New York Thymes, I also sampled a Call Me A Cab, named because most people need one after sampling a couple of glasses of this potent but lip-smackingly good combination of calvados, Captain Morgan spiced rum, Amaretto, Demerara sugar and Angostura bitters. The dangerous Call Me a Cab While Golffy can mostly be found behind the bar at Dirty Monstera with LA-style leather booths and clubby upholstered chairs, he can occasionally can found strolling around the resort with what might be mistaken for a shoeshine box or a picnic hamper. In fact, he's turned himself into a one-man walking wet bar. "This is an innovation I'm proud of," he says. "I can stop and make impromptu bespoke cocktails anywhere on the property, with whatever ingredients are fresh and in season. It's a great way to connect with guests and give them something to remember."  Indigo Pearl Resort is situated within its own tropical gardens just 10 minutes from Phuket International Airport. www.indigo-pearl.com # The writer was a guest of Indigo Pearl

How Jetstar launched a special offer and alienated thousands of travellers

It seemed a simple enough idea from Jetstar's point of view. Counter an introductory offer of a $99 each way flight between Melbourne and Denpasar in Bali from AirAsia with an even cheaper offer of flights from $88. 

At around 5pm on Monday night, Jetstar sent emails to those in its database offering the $88 flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Darwin to Denpasar on a range of dates in 2015. The trick was you had to book within 30 hours. 

When you clicked onto the site, you discovered that return flights from Bali were available for $28. Great! 

The internet offer that sparked chaos

This was Jetstar so would-be-travellers knew they would be up for extras like checked luggage, but it was still a great deal and an offer that would surely generate much goodwill for Jetstar, which has been known to have its critics. 

Except for the fact that Jetstar had not thought through the logistics. Its website was not able to handle the volume of traffic that the offer engendered. 

I spent from 5.30pm until midnight trying to book a cheap holiday for my wife and myself. 

The website simply didn't work; either stalling, timing out or simply offering an error message.

And I wasn't alone. Right across Australia thousands of other potential customers were having the same problems; and taking to social media to express their anger and frustration. 

Twitter was hit by an avalanche of vitriol; Jetstar's Facebook page was swamped with abuse (over 10,000 complaints at the latest count). 

What had been a positive publicity opportunity turned into a heap of dung. I went ahead and booked the slightly more expensive flights on AirAsia, whose website worked perfectly.

News.com reported that "a Jetstar spokesman said the system had been placed 'under stress' by the fare offer but was unable to provide further details of the crash." 

But don't expect to read too much about this debacle in the mainstream media. Remember that Jetstar are major advertisers and MSM media will not want to upset them too much in case it damages their revenue stream. 

    

    

And now for something completely different: A Japanese restaurant breaks the rules

Doing something different can be a double-edged sword for restaurateurs; either people flock to the new offering, or they are disappointed not to find what they expect and stay away in droves. 

So imagine what bafflement a Japanese restaurant that doesn't regularly serve sushi, sashimi, gyozas, soba or ramen noodles, tempura, tonkatsu, okonomiyaki or even steamed rice has caused in the conservative restaurant environment of Hobart, Tasmania.

In a brave attempt to serve "Japanese food like people would eat in Japan" Three Japanese Charcoal Grill dishes up a six-course set menu for $60 on Friday and Saturday nights - and you can be pretty sure none of the traditional favourites will make an appearance. 

We open with a plate of three appetisers served with 30ml of chilled sake; the selection of pickles is outstanding, the other two dishes unfamiliar but interesting (prawn and asparagus on pickled eggs; and pumpkin salad). I'm told the selection of "amuse" changes regularly. 

Next comes chawanmushi, a delicious savoury duck egg custard with dashi and sea urchin that offers a kaleidoscope of different flavours and textures with just a hint of chilli punch. 

That's followed by "today's special", which turns out to be some rather chewy and over-cooked tuna in breadcrumbs.The flavour is fine but the dish fails to thrill and is replaced by a stunning dish of eggplant painted with sweet miso and crunchy vegetable crumbs. Brilliant! 

The main course is "5-skewers" - five skewered meat dishes cooked on the charcoal grill. Strangely, four are chicken dishes (including chicken heart and chicken cartilage), which might be a little confronting for the squeamish.The fifth skewer was baby tomatoes.

I'd be keen to see a little more variety here, and maybe some sauces and/or wasabi/soy. 

The final savoury dish is yakinogiri chazuke, a rice ball in a kelp and bonito broth.One of us loves it, the other not so much. 

Dessert comprised little green tea madeleines, cute but restrained in the flavour department. Strangely, we were not offered green tea. 

Earlier in the week there is an al a carte menu, but sushi and sashimi only appear when the chef is happy with their freshness (usually on Wednesdays when Mark Eather's fishing boat docks). 

And apparently tempura does also make an occasional guest appearance. 

There is a small wine list with a Tasmanian focus (the 2014 Chartley Estate Pinot Gris was a good buy for $38), and a range of cold sakes.

The service is brisk and helpful and business was good on a Saturday night, but not so that anyone had to be turned away. 

If you enjoy challenging flavours and textures, it is well worth a visit. 

Three Japanese is a casual place where it's easy to kick back for an hour or two and enjoy something different, but the prices are definitely up there for Hobart, where the locals are used to their Asian restaurants (Me Wah excepted) being in the "cheap and cheerful" category.

Three Japanese Charcoal Grill, 133 Elizabeth Street, Hobart. (03) 6231 8035. Monday-Saturday from 5.30 pm. 



  



   


     

Why the wine industry is obsessed by little gold stickers

They arrive in my email in-box with meticulous, monotonous regularity.

After just about every wine show (and there are now more than 70 official shows in Australia and several others that hand out accolades) I receive a barrage of press releases saying that: "Our chardonnay is the best in Australia after winning the trophy at the [Insert Any Name You Like Here] Wine Show."

Or if the show is in London, New York or Ljubljana and has an international field: "Our shiraz is the best in the world." 

Just to put the record straight: Winning a trophy at a wine show does not make your wine the best in Australia, or the world. It makes it the favourite of the small group of judges who tried it at that show. At a certain temperature, and almost certainly without food.

Most wines, as you know, are enjoyed with food. And the whites and sparkling wines are almost always drunk chilled by consumers. 

The reality is that a wine can win a trophy one week, and get a score of 14/20 the next. Different judges; different scores. But no one ever sends out a press release saying: "Our wine wasn't even good enough to win a bronze."

The reality is the wine show system in Australia is extremely good, particularly at the regional level, for winemakers to benchmark their wines against others from the same area. And for punters to get to know some new producers. 

If more than a couple of panels (different judges; different shows) award trophies or gold medals to a particular wine then there is a pretty strong basis for assuming that it is a wine of excellent quality that appeals to winemakers, sommeliers and, sometimes, wine writers with educated palates. 

If the judges of one show share similar palate opinions to you; excellent news all round. But they may not. 

A gold medal, meanwhile, does not mean that a wine was the best in a show. It merely means it was in the top bracket. Maybe 15% of entries at any one show might reach the gold standard. 

And please bear in mind that many wineries, particularly those in the upper echelons, do not enter their wines into shows. At all. Other wineries, often small ones, find entering shows is just too expensive.

If they do enter, big brands are on a hiding to nothing and potential headlines like: "$15 shiraz is better than Penfolds Grange". 

The fact is that a lot of very good people with palates far better than mine give up a lot of their time to judge at shows "and help improve the breed". I'm in awe of the number of wines they can taste each day.

There is also the fact that consumers love the little gold, silver and bronze stickers awarded to wines that are successful at the show level. Stickers help sell wines. And that's the bottom line. But look closely and that gold-coloured sticker may just say "Good with fish".   

So please, next time you are thinking of proclaiming your trophy-winning gruner veltliner as the best in Australia, maybe think twice.    

Business class on a budget airline: one of the great travel bargains

It can cost up to $10,000 to fly business class between Australia and Europe. But a business class seat between Australia and Kuala Lumpur can cost as little as an extra $300 on top of the budget fare. 

I'm talking the AirAsiaX version of business class - which does not have all the bells and whistles of Singapore Airlines or Emirates but does provide a lay flat bed and the possibility of grabbing seven hours of precious sleep. 

A comfortable night of sleep in business class 

I'm a bit of a fan of Air Asia, although I always tend to invest in a premium seat for extra leg room and one in a "quiet zone" if available. 

If you prepare well for budget flying then the low fares throughout Asia are a big money saver. 

So when I read this blurb I was immediately keen to try the new, re-branded business class: "Indulge in complete comfort and stretch out with a spacious seat that reclines to unveil a full flat bed in our business class cabin. Our business class thoughtfully features a universal power socket, a personalised reading light, and a foldaway table for maximum productivity and convenience. Adjustable head and foot rests make it easy for you to arrive at your destination feeling more refreshed and ready to go."

I knew I wasn't going to get Champagne or a menu devised by Neil Perry, but I did get an extra baggage allowance (a whopping 40 kilograms), priority boarding, two complimentary hot meals (the Asian dishes are a better bet than the western options), a fluffy pillow and blanket/duvet. 

And there was plenty of room on the Airbus A330 to stretch out - I slept almost the entire way, missing out on breakfast. While the bed is lie-flat is doesn't extend 180 degrees, but it is a million miles away from economy - and I could charge my laptop while sleeping, always a bonus. 

The air crew on my flight were charming and helpful - and bottled water kept coming at regular intervals. 

My fear is that business class may eventually become too popular. There are currently only two rows (12 seats in total) on A330s.

The cost to upgrade to business is MYR 899 ($313 at today's exchange rate) on flights from Australia to Kuala Lumpur and MYR 499 from Kuala Lumpur to destinations like China, Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Landing at Sydney Airport

And if you simply want extra leg room, or a seat in the quiet zone, you will pay an extra MYR 119 on top of the budget fare, or included as part of Air Asia's new premium flex package, which also allows changes of schedule. 

AirAsia Group Head of Ancillary, Kenny Wong, said: “There is growing demand for business travel and we are excited to offer a truly relevant and high-valued travel experience deeply appreciated by business travellers."

With flights now landing and departing at Kuala Lumpur's swish new KLIA2 terminal rather than the decrepit LCC Terminal, AirAsia and AirAsia X also have 139 Fly-Thru routes that eliminate the need for multiple check-ins, transit visas and tiresome baggage transfers.

Fly-Thru guests are also able to enjoy guaranteed connections in event of delays. 

Air Asia X flies from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Gold Coast and Darwin to Kuala Lumpur with connections to the likes of Phuket (five times a day) and Krabi (three times a day) as well as destinations in China, Japan, South Korea and other Asian cities. For details and fares see www.airasia.com.au  Current offers include Sydney-Kuala Lumpur from $189 one way and Sydney-Bangkok from $199 one way.

# The writer was a guest of AirAsia