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A cool, edgy urban retreat
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LOCATED on the tree-lined avenue in the trendy Condesa neighborhood, Condesa DF is an unusual hotel in Mexico City. It is an elegant yet cool, edgy urban retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the massive city.
Architect Javier Sánchez’s idea was to create a 21st century Mexican Hacienda by renovating an existing 1928 building in an extraordinary location, across the Parque España, in the Condesa neighborhood. And it is also to create an establishment that would become part of neighborhood El Barrio.
The hotel has the original facade of the French Neoclassical style, made of quarry (in its base and some details) and everything else is built with special marble plaster. Quarry ornaments can be found in the windows, cornices and doors.
Walking inside the hotel, the inner courtyard is a light-bathed triangular patio of the property, a center of the atrium surrounded by handmade floor-tile corridors resembling the ones of a “hacienda.” It’s where hotel guests can enjoy breakfasts, casual late lunch or simply unwind.
Everything revolves around the central patio where rows of white shutters create geometric patterns across three floors leading to the open sky. The room walkways across the floors overlook this patio where everybody can see or be seen. The shutters are open in the day and closed at night.
The interiors are designed by Parisian designer India Mahdavi, who centers her work on pure imagination.
“Here, I wanted to introduce the feel of Europe to Mexicans and the feel of Mexico to foreigners in a way that can grow in synergy with the neighborhood — a place that is much more than just a hotel,” she said.
The idea was to re-interpret the work of the legendary Mexican architect Luis Barragan and design serene but comfortable lodgings like “monks rooms,” in order for guests to go out into the public spaces that are also nicely created with a “hacienda style.”
Comfortable, relaxed materials are used as if everything was intended to be in someone’s own house. The interior of the hotel is filled from head to toe with custom-made furniture designed by Mahdavi, stone tiles and an abundance of local color. Velvet, pony skin, wood, embossed leather, porcelain stools, some 20th century antiques are mixed and matched with a few designer pieces.
The 40 rooms and suites were inspired by the tranquility of monastic bedrooms without loosing the latest technology. The rooms are calm and restful, in moss green, cream, and chocolate brown tones, and are spiced up with retro lamps and indigenous touches, such as hand woven rugs from Oaxaca.
There’s a real chill in the air up to the buzzing rooftop bar where hotel guests and a stylish crowd of locals gather for some of the best margaritas in the city. Informal and relaxed, it is one of the most unique venues for a beautiful sunset in the city, away from the touristy trails. Condesa DF is a member of Design Hotels.
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