"Mexico City’s first design boutique hotel was cool before the capital was hot. Before international chefs made pilgrimages to Pujol to eat grasshopper and self-proclaimed foodies posted photos of mouthwatering tacos al pastor. And the fact is, 20 years in, Condesa DF is still—if not the shiniest or most elegant hotel—the coolest. In large part, this comes down to excellent design. Grupo Habita (the homegrown hospitality brand behind low-key Oaxacan beach retreat Hotel Escondido and retro-hip The Robey in Chicago) took a neoclassic, 1920s apartment building with arched windows and French balconettes and tapped Mexican architect Javier Sanchez and Iranian-French designer India Mahdavi to transform it. The pair created a space so contemporary it still feels trailblazing. Sleek metal shades close off the guest rooms from the open-air atrium. Mod, Jetsons-like furniture (a white semicircle-shaped leather couch, lacquered tables that look like Bishop chess pieces) paired with bold but spare hits of color, like turquoise walls and lemon-yellow chairs. The hotel, encircled by palms and pines and just a few steps from Parque España, one of the city’s prettiest squares where creatives stroll with their dogs mid-day and teenage couples steal kisses, is itself a retreat from the constant whirl of the surrounding megalopolis while still being in the middle of one of its liveliest neighborhoods. Of the five different room types, the corner suites with wrap-around terraces stand out, especially in the spring when the jacaranda trees erupt in a riot of purple. The vintage 1950s Chevy, which is permanently parked in front, is the sign that you—along with stylish Capitalinas dressed in oversized Carla Fernandez tunics who come to nibble some of the city’s best sushi on the now iconic rooftop bar—have arrived" - Susannah Rigg, Michaela Trimble
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