Until fairly recently, Mexico City’s most in-demand hotels were found in one of two areas: moneyed Polanco or along the skyscraper-lined Reforma Avenue. But over the last few years, a number of small, independent properties have emerged in the trendier (and expat-heavy) boroughs of Condesa and neighboring Roma, many of them moving into the graceful old buildings that characterize this verdant pocket of the sprawling capital. The most appealing hotels in this new crop tend to favor low-key charm over unbridled luxury but in a part of town that’s notably serious about design, they fit right in. Here, three of the newest standouts.
For their first hotel project, the 10-room Casa Cuenca, which opened in September just off Condesa’s leafy Avenida Veracruz, the photographer Mara Sánchez-Renero and her sister the interior designer Gala Sánchez-Renero were determined to renovate a historic property. “It’s about preserving Mexico City’s architectural heritage,” says Mara, “and [honoring] our culture’s legacy as a melting pot of influences.” The sisters, along with Gala’s husband, the architect Ivan Esqueda, transformed a 1930s mansion turned office building into a minimalist retreat that combines Beaux-Arts grace notes — like the grand staircase in the outdoor courtyard — with midcentury modern décor and furnishings. Guest rooms are divided between the main building and a newly built addition, where brick-lattice walls border private patios, and throughout the property, the rooms are outfitted in mostly neutral tones while the bathrooms feature a mix of colorful tiles. The hotel restaurant, Maleza, launched last month with a menu overseen by the American chef Christina Lecki, who draws from her varied influences, serving Spanish-, Portuguese- and French-inspired dishes with Mexican ingredients. Among recent highlights: grilled prawns spiced with chiles and topped with mandarin oranges. Rooms from about $175 a night.
The largest hotel of the bunch, Casona Roma Norte offers 32 earth-toned guest rooms set inside a 1920s building in the heart of Roma Norte, a neighborhood packed with lively restaurants and bars. After re-emerging last fall from an 18-month top-to-bottom renovation, Casona is now a culinary hub in its own right. Past the lobby, with its original marble floor and bank of velvet sofas, is a Japanese and Sinaloan restaurant (with dishes like crispy tofu and sweet-and-sour pork belly). Also on the ground floor is a matcha tearoom and, in a light-filled atrium, Aquiles, an upscale Mexican restaurant run by the chef Aquiles Chávez, while downstairs, there’s an agave bar. And in the spring, both a grill and a cocktail bar are scheduled to open on the hotel roof. Rooms from about $455 a night.
The 17-room Hotel Dama, which opened last summer in a converted 1950s apartment building on a mostly residential street in Condesa, exudes a retro glamour. There’s a small sunken living room right off the lobby furnished with a banquette sofa and a bookcase filled with Mexican literature, as well as Oaxacan ceramics and textiles. Rooms, spread across three floors, feature handsome checkerboard floors and rust- or mustard-colored accents. There’s also a shady rooftop with a lounge area and a restaurant where you can order mezcal-based cocktails and small plates like sea bass ceviche and squash blossom fritters. Rooms from about $280 a night.
