Readers of First Stop in the New World know that the Santa Fe section of the city is, to say the least, a controversial area. Formerly a garbage dump, in the early 1990s it began its renovation as a postindustrial zone where multinationals have their corporate headquarters. Among others, Hewlett Packard, General Electric, Goodyear, Sun Systems, Kraft, Pepsi, Federal Express, Philip Morris, Unisys and IBM have offices in Santa Fe.

 

 

 

 

People doing business with those companies need a place to stay while in town, and recently, the Hábita Group, which has several boutique hotels in Mexico, opened the 40-room Distrito Capital in the area. My friend Rafael Micha, one of the owners, gave me a tour the other day.

 

 

 

 

The lobby includes the sculpture pictured above by Thomas Glassford, a Texas artist who has lived in Mexico for more years than he would probably care to count.

 

 

 

 

There is a groovy bar and restaurant on the terrace level of the hotel, with a menu by Enrique Olvera, one of the city’s star chefs.

 

 

 

 

The rooms are showpieces. Spacious and comfortable, they have incredible views, fit for corporate titans who have heard all those terrible things about Mexico City, and might not want to actually sully their experience with a ground-level view. Distrito Capital is by far the hippest hotel in Santa Fe and will doubtless be a great success.