Mexico City Chic by Matt Morley

For some, Mexico City is a no-go area. Crime, pollution, over-crowding and a reputation as little more than a reluctant corporate destination, in PR terms it’s not a good look.

Scratch the surface of this oh-so-cautious negativity however, and the reality is rather different. To really find out what is happening here, no poorly researched article from the Baltimore Gazette is going to do the job, you have to come for yourself.

Known to Mexicans simply as the DF, short for Distrito Federal di Mexico, this is one of the world’s most extreme cities. Twenty million inhabitants, a logistics-defying growth rate, the world’s second largest public square after Moscow and a lung-tightening altitude of over 2000m.

Despite, or perhaps because of all this though, the city has previously had a hard time keeping hold of its young creative and business elite. Only in the post-millennium era has the DF seen the table-turning repatriation of a generation of talented thirty-something chilangos (DF locals).

Fresh out of Ivy League MBAs, Wall Street investment banks and Downtown design studios, this small but influential group is currently injecting a much-needed dose of cosmopolitan chic into their previously neglected home city. Somewhat belatedly then, the DF is about to take its place as a major player on the world stage.

Rafael Micha, entrepreneur-turned-hotelier and owner of Mexico’s four hippest design hotels, is on the movement’s frontline. His effervescent personality reflects just how much momentum the scene has behind it today. Both he and his peers are now investing in their own country instead of chasing the America Dream north of the border. Micha at least, has plenty to be smiling about.

His five year old Habita hotel in the upscale district of Polanco was the capital’s first minimalist hospitality offering. Today it is the undisputed hub of Mexico’s fastest growing industries, the three M’s: models, music and media.

Overtly serene with its Anoushka Hempel-like white on grey colour scheme, the interior was deliberately designed to juxtapose with the cacophony of sights, sounds and smells outside the front door. Just one example of how the pragmatic Habita gently suggests it is operating at the top of its game.

Thirty-six rooms and junior suites delicately balance understatement with individuality; while the top two floors let their hair down with eye-catching wall murals, open air lap pool and funky split-level bar.

Endless prestige product launches fill the aperitivo hours, late breakfast at the ground floor restaurant involves more editors than a Tom Ford press conference and the staff are remarkably ‘on brand’ considering Mexico’s less than perfect service rep.

Add in a bird’s eye view of the surrounding metropolis and you have one of the city’s hottest all day hangouts. You won’t need to table hop long here though before picking up on the current buzzword among local habitués,"Condesa".

Lying to the south of the more heavily commercialized zones, the Condesa area is a bohemian outpost with bourgeois pretensions, and it rocks. Making the best of the city’s altitude, its tree-lined residential boulevards are largely smog free and utterly endearing.

A beguiling mix of art nouveau and no-holds-barred modernist architecture, the area has recently attracted the attentions of restaurateurs, gallery owners and, yes, Rafael Micha.

His hotel Condesa DF is located at the heart of the action near Avenidas Amsterdam and Mexico. Habita’s design-grad of a younger brother was clearly conceived with a different target market in mind however. Just check out the mock Cadillac parked out front complete with dummy chauffeur and mock wind-up handle.

A select team of young designers from the DF, Paris and New York oversaw the transformation of the hotel’s unusual 1920’s V-shape frame. Having been packed out with easy-on-the-eye 60’s pop references and faux-naif humour, this is one hotel that could never be accused of taking itself too seriously.

In-room i-Pods, private cinema, an underground nightclub and buzzy restaurant keep both residents and guests more than entertained. Again though, it is the roof top lounge where the real fun is to be had. A samba-sweet soundtrack floats over the retro outdoors furniture, while a compact sushi bar leaves scant justification for curbing those extended siesta sessions in the afternoon sun.

Before heading to the upper deck, grab the stack of complimentary magazines from your room to get an idea of exactly how much is going on around you. Try BabyBabyBaby for a glimpse of the cutting-edge art and design scene, DF mag for a hipper version of Time Out and BE magazine for the latest high-so comings and goings.

One lunchtime, skip the proliferation of over-designed restaurants around Polanco and head instead to Restaurante El Bajio where the much-vaunted Doña Carmen Titita produces some of the best trad-Mex cooking in the city. For an evening outing, try Aguila y Sol, a staple of the contemporary dining scene that deserves a visit, if only to see what all the fuss is about.

Unpretentious, unspoilt and still remarkably free from stars’n’stripes influence, a three-day stay in the DF can be a real joy, if you know what you are doing. Do your research, take pre-ordered taxis everywhere and plug the concierge for party invites as soon as you land. The aim is to become "local upon arrival" says Rafael Micha, otherwise there’s a very real risk of being mercilessly swallowed up by the sheer magnitude of the place.

Just like NYC’s Meatpackers and Berlin’s Mitte district then, the barrio of Condesa deserves to be right up there on your 2006 short-break short list. Yes, the city still has a nasty sting in its tale, but no more than the wrong end of London or L.A. Besides, this is Mexico, everything is served with chilli here anyway. A dash of spice is simply part of the experience.