Where to stay in Mexico City: which area for a hotel room

What a hotel room costs, area by area

The otter's latest hotel trips in each area: two adults, 3 nights, Dec 18–21, hotels with three stars or more and a rating of 8 or better, each one checked on the map. Totals are all-in, taxes and fees included, as read from the booking site. Your dates will differ.

Refreshed on the otter's rota; each area links to its trip on the Mexico City hotels page.

Roma Norte

The pick most guides give first-timers: early-20th-century streets, a dense run of restaurants, cafés, bars and galleries, and enough English spoken that getting by is easy. It's lively, especially along Álvaro Obregón on weekend evenings, and it's one of the parts of the city most visitors stay in, so expect company. Condesa is a short walk away and the historic center a short ride. Prices sit near the top of the city's range, though hotels run from hostels to boutique.

Condesa

Roma Norte's calmer, greener neighbor, built around Parque México and Parque España with tree-lined streets made for walking. It suits couples and anyone who wants quiet evenings: there are plenty of cafés and restaurants, fewer packed bars. The calm is strongest near the parks and fades toward the big avenues. Its hotels tend to be small boutique places, and they usually cost more than Roma Norte's.

Juárez

Next to Roma Norte and along Paseo de la Reforma, Juárez is the most central of the three and among the best connected, with Metro, Metrobús and bike-share stations a few minutes' walk from most streets. It changes block by block, from residential to office to nightlife: Zona Rosa stays loud until late, so ask where in Juárez a hotel is if you want quiet nights. Reforma itself carries some of the city's big international hotels, and marches or parades can close it.

Centro Histórico

The historic core: the Zócalo, the cathedral, Templo Mayor and Bellas Artes within walking distance, and the best transit connections in the city. It's crowded and noisy by day, and some streets empty out at night while the stretch between the Zócalo and Bellas Artes stays busy, so it's worth checking how lively the street outside a hotel is after dark. Hotel prices are usually the lowest of these five areas, which makes it a good base for a sightseeing-heavy trip or the first nights of a longer one.

Polanco

Upscale and orderly: wide sidewalks, Parque Lincoln, luxury shopping on Avenida Presidente Masaryk and some of the city's best-known restaurants, with the museums of Chapultepec close by. It's calm at night and suits luxury, business and family trips; some find it too buttoned-up. It has fewer Metro stations than the areas above and heavy traffic at rush hour, and it's the most expensive area here.

Before you book

• Compare all-in totals. Mexico charges 16% VAT on lodging and Mexico City adds its own lodging tax, so a nightly rate can grow by a fifth or more at checkout. The totals above already include them.
• Check the street, not just the area. Every area here has quiet blocks and loud ones; the otter reads the street outside every pick (quiet, moderate or lively, from the road and the venues around it) and counts what's within a ten-minute walk.
• Read the official advice. The U.S. State Department rates Mexico, Mexico City included, at Level 2, exercise increased caution; check its current advisory before you go.