The grass is green. The gardens are pretty. Learn why your next trip should be to Mexico City (and the hotels you should stay in when you get there).
Mexico City is often compared to New York. Dense, sprawling, edgy, filled with first-class culture and cuisine and huge public parks. It’s also sometimes compared to Los Angeles for the vibe and the mountain views (and again, the sprawl). But there’s really no need to compare it to anything. Other world capitals like London, Paris, and Tokyo all stand on their own and speak for themselves — Mexico City can as well. It’s easily the equal of all those places.
Over the past few years, publications ranging from Forbes to Time Out to the New York Times have listed Mexico City as the planet’s #1 destination for art and culture, for business travel, and for where your next vacation should definitely be. This month even marks the long-awaited debut of Mexico City’s first MICHELIN Guide restaurant selection, confirming what most already knew, that Ciudad de México is a true culinary mecca.
The hotels ain’t bad either, as you can see in our full selection for Mexico City. Below, we’ve singled out some of the best boutique hotels from the bunch. They’re intimate. They’re interesting. They’re all authentic expressions of this beautiful and beguiling metropolis.
Downtown Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico
Occupying a brick-fronted 17th-century palace a short walk from the Plaza de la Constitución, Downtown Mexico has as central a location as a Mexico City hotel could ask for. Inside, the original high ceilings remain intact, among other charmingly weathered period details, but the prevailing atmosphere is that of a very clean, very contemporary modern boutique style.
Colima 71 Art Community Hotel
Mexico City, Mexico
Not only is Mexico City one of the cultural capitals of the Western Hemisphere, it’s long been a showcase for inventive homegrown boutique hotels. And a fine example of both of these tendencies is Colima 71, a 16-room boutique hotel in a building designed by the celebrated local architect Alberto Kalach, featuring interior design by the local studios Nomah and Karla Celerio Interiorismo.
Brick Hotel
Mexico City, Mexico
The upscale residential neighborhood of Roma is home to more than a few century-old mansions, but this one is unique — made from bricks shipped over from England, it was the custom-built residence for the head of the Bank of London & Mexico. It was later owned by one of Mexico’s presidents, and today, after a thorough but sensitive renovation, it’s one of Mexico City’s finest small luxury hotels.
Casa Polanco
Mexico City, Mexico
Casa Polanco is an understated name, but it says all it needs to say. This small and intimate boutique hotel is set in one of Mexico City’s poshest neighborhoods, and it occupies two formerly private houses — a Forties Neocolonial mansion and the modernist addition next door. Together they contain 19 rooms and suites, all unique and all decorated in a style that’s unmistakably luxe but maximally tasteful.
Volga
Mexico City, Mexico
It’s named for the road it’s on, which is in turn named for the most famous river in Russia. And if there’s something a bit Eastern Bloc about this concrete tower, it’s probably down to the associations of Brutalism, or maybe the Tarkovsky-like tableau of its minimalist interior atrium garden. But Volga, the hotel, is a pure expression of today’s Mexico City — a city that’s as cosmopolitan as it is unique.
Hotel San Fernando
Mexico City, Mexico
The Texas-based Bunkhouse group has ventured over the border once before, with Baja’s Hotel San Cristobal. Now the boutique hotel legends are making moves in Mexico City. The San Fernando keeps the name of the building it calls home, a distinctive 1947 apartment building in Condesa, while its interiors have been thoroughly reimagined by Bunkhouse and local firm Reurbano.
La Valise Mexico City
Mexico City, Mexico
Let the big chains scramble to outdo each other with huge spas and restaurants, sparkling fitness centers and Olympic-sized pools. An achingly hip little hotel like La Valise doesn’t need any of that. The three-suite property, located above a shop in a 1920s townhouse, makes a virtue of its small size with unique amenities like a king-sized bed that rolls out to an open-air terrace.
casa9
Mexico City, Mexico
You’d be hard pressed to find a more exemplary hospitality success story than casa9. Originally built in the early 20th century as a decadent private residence for a wealthy family, the house was left neglected for decades and slowly fell into total disrepair before a new family gave it a top-to-bottom makeover. Now, years later, it exists as casa9, one of the most exquisite B&Bs in Mexico City.
Pug Seal Anatole France
Mexico City, Mexico
Pug Seal Anatole France is set in the upscale western neighborhood of Polanco, and while it’s a new build rather than a historical structure, it’s not lacking for personality — it’s the rare house in Polanco that’s painted in eye-popping Wimbledon purple and green. But once you’re inside you’ll see that the color scheme is perhaps the least extravagant thing about it.
Campos Polanco
Mexico City, Mexico
An unusual Art Deco building in one of the capital’s poshest districts is now home to Campos Polanco, a luxury boutique hotel that aims for nothing less than an authentic residential experience — albeit an extremely high-end one. Its setting is unique, facing the green expanse of the Garden of the Republic of Lebanon. And its design is striking, the result of an all-star team of local creative talent.
Ignacia Guest House
Mexico City, Mexico
Ignacia Guest House is no ordinary guest house. Set in the upscale Colonia Roma, the mansion that’s stood on this site since 1913 was already impressive enough. Now, thanks to an ultra-modern expansion by architect Fermín Espinosa and designer Andrés Gutiérrez, it’s the kind of house that gets written about in architecture magazines — and one of the most unique hotel experiences in Mexico City.
Círculo Mexicano
Mexico City, Mexico
Grupo Habita and architects Ambrosi Etchegaray have converted a 19th-century building in the Centro Histórico into Círculo Mexicano, a striking and unique 25-room boutique hotel. The accommodations, on the second and third floors, are arranged around a central patio, and in the public spaces the contrast of weathered period materials and brand-new modern construction is at its strongest.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.