What is your idea of luxury? Is it a thousand amenities, an on-site spa, a fitness and business center, uniformed maids running here and there, and a full-service restaurant? Or do you look for richly appointed rooms and hotels that narrow in on the most important aspects of your stay and make those great? If you fit in the second category, La Valise should be your hotel in Mexico City.
Located in the eclectic, chic and quickly gentrifying Colonia Roma, La Valise sits just a few blocks from Rio de Janiero plaza, one of the neighborhoods many parks. The hotel is housed inside an antique Mexico City mansion with only three suites — el Patio, la Luna, and la Terraza — that offer the kind of paired down luxury that you can only find in a hotel of this size. Each room has been carefully designed for both visual and physical pleasure by Chic by Accident, the one-man design firm of Emmanuel Picault. Decor pieces reference other eras (retro lamps and couches) as well as showcase local talent (objets d’art, hand-painted Mexican tiled bathrooms).
Each room has a full range of high-end amenities — king size beds, white marble tubs, high-quality linens, Ipod and MP3 sound systems, minibars, 40′ TVs, coffee and tea makers — but each is also unique. El patio is their first floor chill suite, with a Yucatecan hammock outside and lounging furniture for everyone. La Luna or the Moon suite, has a giant revolving moon that separates the sitting area from the bedroom. La Terraza is
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All three rooms are 1000 square feet so there is plenty of room to settle in and each has a great outdoor patio space, a bonus for a city where the climate is always mild and (during the dry season) the evenings a pleasure to spend out of doors. The hotel prides itself in being able to give its guests anything they could want during their stay, even without many on-site extras. They offer room massages without a spa, they have access to a nearby fitness facility to make up for the lack of hotel gym, and the 24-hour room service is provided not by an in-house restaurant but by the citywide famous chef of Rosetta, Elena Reygadas.
A few drawbacks depending on your travel plans, there is no business center (although they do provide free wi-fi), no kids allowed, and no elevators. The third floor room in fact, is arrived at through a narrow staircase that might be difficult for anyone with mobility issues. They do, however, allow pets for a fee and even pet sitting (also a daily charge) Rooms run from about $225-270.
La Valise hotel is most appealing for upscale travelers looking for the authentic neighborhood experience of an Airbnb but with the service and hassle-free luxury of a high-end hotel. Go to their website for more info. Go to Expedia or Booking.com to compare rates and make a reservation.