Mexico City

Mexico Destinations:

• Los Cabos

• Mexico City

• Riviera Maya

• Introduction 
• Eat 
• Sleep 
• Play 

WHY WE LOVE IT

• Bigger and Better: This sprawling Mexican metropolis (known as DF, for Distrito Federal) grows more hospitable, less polluted and trendier by the year.
• As You Like It: Choose from large, ultra-modern über-chain hotels and several smaller, high-design ones.
• Wine and Dine: Ambitious contemporary restaurants are proliferating, as is the cocktail lifestyle.
• A Feast for the Eyes: Aztec ruins to Frida Kahlo's house.

WHEN TO GO

There's no real tourist season. Temperatures are in the 70s year-round; July tends to be rainy, and the air quality is at its worst December through February.

IZOTE
513 Presidente Masaryk
Tel: 55-5280-1671

The Aztec-styled room is way too brightly lit to be romantic, but the sublime food more than compensates for the jarring ambiance. Located in posh Polanco, Izote serves as a proud showcase for Mexico’s doyenne of reinvented regional cuisine, Patricia Quintana. Must-try dishes include lobster enchiladas and sea-bass ceviche. Prepare to dine in the company of movers and shakers.

CONTRAMAR
200 Avda. Durango, Col.
Tel: 55-5514-3169.

This faux palm-thatched palapa, the brainchild of fashionable restaurateur Gabriela Camara, continues to attract Condesa’s beautiful people in droves. The simple piscatorial menu features some standout dishes, including the signature tuna sashimi tostadas. Contramar is only open for lunch, but that can take care of one very long afternoon on DF time.

LA TABERNA DEL LEÓN
Plaza Loreto, Tizapán
Tel: 55-5616-2110).

A sprawling set of stone-floored gardenlike rooms in upscale San Angel is the setting for big-name chef Mónica Patiño's lovely and eclectic approach to cooking. Diners who want it all will love La Taberna del León’s unorthodox menu, which features a selection of Asian cuisine, pasta dishes, and—best of all—some of Patiño’s grandmother’s recipes. The atmosphere is fairly formal.

MOSAICO
10 Michoacán
Tel: 55-5584-2932

An example of DF’s love affair with European food—the 21st-century version, that is. This bistro is an authentic slice of Paris, with celeriac remoulade and moules frite scrawled on a chalkboard, boulangerie and traiteur counters up front and a nearly constant buzz of animated conversation.

AURA
201 Presidente Masaryk
Tel: 55-5282-3100

This glamorous, glass-walled restaurant, housed inside the slick Habita Hotel, feeds hot-on-the-scene fresas. But Aura offers more than smoke and mirrors: Look past the surface gloss, and you’ll find food that’s much better than it needs to be—whether it’s shrimp tacos or four-cheese risotto. Afterwards, head up to the rooftop pool deck for a nightcap at Area.

AGUILA Y SOL
127 Emilio Castelar
Tel: 55 5281-8354

Aguila y Sol is one of the hottest restaurants in town, thanks to its sleek decor, stylish clientele, and Martha Ortiz Chapa’s inspired cooking. Order a romantic, rosewater-infused cocktail, and get ready for a feast of fierce flavors: Ortiz Chapa’s rotating menu of dishes provides a robust, contemporary take on traditional Mexican cuisine.

RESTAURANTE LAMM
99 Álvaro Obregón
Tel: 55-5514-8501

More than a restaurant, this is a wonderful—and fashionable—spot in the courtyard of a 19th-century mansion-turned cultural center. The property also houses art galleries and a bookstore, but food is at the heart of this building—we recommend the Asian-inflected coconut-crusted giant shrimp and witty chicken Kiev. There’s live Cuban music or jazz many evenings after 9 p.m.

FONDA DEL REFUGIO
Liverpool 166, Zona Rosa
Tel: 55-5525-8128

The grand dame of the Zona Rosa, the Fonda del Refugio has been serving traditional Mexican cuisine in its gorgeously embellished colonial-style dining rooms for more than 50 years. Dishes like chili rellenos al nogalito and pipian colorado are truly unforgettable. Still the best romantic standby in the city.

HOTEL HABITA
201 Presidente Masaryk
Tel: 55-5282-3100
hotelhabita.com

This trendy low-rise in posh Polanco is best suited for couples that prefer chic minimalism to easy comfort. From its happening (too much so if you’re trying to sleep on a high floor) bar-club on the rooftop pool deck, Area, to its 36 pared-down bedrooms, Hotel Habita is a design-lover’s home away from home . Honeymooners looking to experience the frisson of Mexico City’s hipster renaissance will not find a better perch.

CONDESA DF
102 Avda. Veracruz
Tel: 55-5282-3100
condesadf.com

Habita’s sister was the first hotel in hip Condesa, and consequently has been a hot ticket since it opened in early 2005. A 1920s neoclassical building centered around an interior courtyard, the aesthetic, courtesy of designer India Mahdavi, manages to be both warm and futuristic. Get one of the suites with terraces below the ship’s-prowlike rooftop café.

LA CASONA
280 Durango
Tel:55-5263-8888

mexicoboutiquehotels.com/lacasona

This adorable, late-19th-century pink mansion has 29 sweet rooms, all outfitted with wood floors and a smattering of antiques and musical-theme tchotchkes. On-site facilities include a small fitness room, a piano lounge, and a cozy restaurant. This Colonia hotel is personal and homey, not luxurious, but it does have style.

W MEXICO CITY
252 Campos Eliseos
Tel: 55-9138-1800
starwood.com

Located in Polanco, the DF W features all of the expected in-room amenities—Wi-fi, DVD and CD players, and interactive TV—plus a decidedly unexpected hammock in the bathroom. All 237 rooms are white and gray—or incongruously scarlet—and provide easy access to the currently trendy Whiskey Bar and Solea restaurant. There’s also a handy spa.

SHERATON CENTRO HISTORICO
Avda. Juarez 70, Colonia Centro
Tel: 55-5130-5300
starwood.com

As its name suggests, this new 457-room high-rise is near the historical center of the city, which has its advantages, though you may prefer the easy access to romantic Chapultepec Park. Rooms, though spacious, are fairly nondescript—the views, on the other hand, are arguably the finest in the city. An exceptional fitness center scores big points with gym buffs.

PRESIDENTE INTERCONTINENTAL
Campos Eliseos 218
Tel: 55-5327-7700
ichotelsgroup.com

This 42-story, 659-room behemoth of a tower is a solid choice for couples looking for the reliable service, convenience, and anonymity that a chain hotel can provide. Though it’s luxury-grade, the hotel’s decor takes few risks and, as a result, the rooms can feel quite bland and corporate. A favorite of visiting dignitaries, the Presidente Intercontinental houses six restaurants, including the popular Au Pied de Cochon and a Palm steak house.

FOUR SEASONS
Paseo de Reforma 500
Tel: 55-5230-1818
fourseasons.com/mexico

As serene as a deluxe hotel gets in DF, this 240-room Polanco mansion is arranged around a picturesque courtyard with a fountain, which many of the hotel’s choice rooms overlook. As for the décor, the rooms’ colonial-inspired style (think palms and dark wood armoires) offends nobody, while a moderately sized swimming pool plus gym and spa pleases most. Reforma 500, the contemporary Mexican restaurant is too posh for everyday, but fine for a splurge.

EL ZÓCALO

A.k.a. the Plaza de la Constitucíon here are three essential sights. The best is what’s left of the 14th- and 15th-century Templo Mayor, the core of the Aztec city, Tenochtitlán. There’s also the massive Catedral Metropolitana, built during a period of 300 years, and the Palacio Nacional, with great Diego Rivera murals inside. It’s the geographical and functional heart of the city.

COLONIA CONDESA

This leafy Art Deco district began its renaissance in earnest in the 1990s and has evolved into a vibrant neighborhood lined with shops, restaurants, and bars, and populated by creative types and fashionable youth. You’ll no doubt find yourselves spending a lot of time here.

POLANCO

The toniest of the 350 colonias, the wealth of Polanco’s residents is obvious from the grand Spanish-style villas and the array of international luxury-brand stores lining Presidente Masaryk. Most of the grand hotels and many of the happening restaurants are found here.

PRIMA
17 Plaza Villa de Madrid
Tel: 55-5208-2029

A splendid Italian-ish restaurant in Roma (nipping at the heels of neighboring Condesa as the hip colonia) whose cocktail bar is quite the place to be, thanks to its former British-expat mixologist, Jasper Eyears.

BOSQUE DE CHAPULTEPEC

Take a boat out on one of the three lakes, visit the excellent zoo, stare at the President’s palace, explore the seven museums—or just stroll the immense, cool green spaces of what has been the city’s central park for more than five centuries.

MUSEO NACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGÍA
Gandhi and Paseo de la Reforma
Tel: 55-53-6381; open 9–7 Tues.–Sun.

The 1964 building by Pedro Ramírez Vásquez is a fittingly sexy home for the incredible collections of artifacts from Mexico’s pre-Columbian cultures. There are eight areas housing separate eras, but if you have to choose just one, make it the Sala Mexica, where you’ll learn about the fascinating, horrifying history of the Mexica, whom most of us know as the Aztecs.

MUSEO DE FRIDA KAHLO
Londres 247, Coyoacán
Tel: 55-5554-5999

You’ll leave the museum a Frida fan— if you weren’t one already. The Casa Azul, where Kahlo lived with Diego Rivera from 1929–1954, has been preserved as if she still lived here, from the lived-in kitchen to the heartbreaking bed to which she was confined following her accident.

COYOACÁN

The colonia where you’ll find Frida Kahlo’s house—and Leon Trotsky’s—is a picturesque suburb and a day trip in itself. Here is the city’s oldest house: that of Hernán Cortés on Plaza Hidalgo. The indoor market is colorful and there are plenty of little shops. Stop for nieves: ices in flavors like chocolate-tuberose-gardenia or jicama-chile.