Brick Hotel Mexico City

Rooms and decor

Picture a tree-lined street in Roma Norte where cafes and galleries open one after another down the block, with a 100-year-old red-brick mansion standing quietly in the middle of it — that is the first thing that makes Brick Hotel Mexico City stand out before you even check in. The mansion was built in the Porfiriato era of the early 20th century in Belle Epoque style, once home to a well-to-do Mexican family, before being restored into a 17-room boutique and Small Luxury Hotels of the World member. Inside, the rooms surprise almost everyone: rather than going full retro, all 17 rooms and suites are built around a minimalist gray-cream-brown palette laid over the original wood floors, with rotating work by contemporary Mexican artists. Ceilings reach roughly 4 meters, which makes the rooms feel more open than the square-meter count suggests, and the king-size beds with high-quality linens draw a lot of praise for sleep. The detail is where Brick really pulls ahead — Toto washlet toilets from Japan in every room, a Marshall speaker by the bed for Bluetooth music, a deep soaking tub in some suites, and a minibar stocked with Mexican snacks and drinks rather than the usual dry goods.

Food and amenities

The heart of the food side is Cha Cha Cha, set on the terrace and around the mansion's central garden, serving contemporary Mexican food. It is a real local evening hangout, not the sort of place that feels like eating inside a tourist hotel. The minibar carries Mexican touches like small mezcal bottles and chocolate from Oaxaca, and the lobby bar runs to mezcal and tequila — order a flight in the evening and the staff will pick by your taste. On amenities, be clear-eyed: this is a boutique, so there is no full-size pool for lap swimming and the gym is small, sized to the old building. What you get instead is a 24-hour concierge and the kind of one-on-one attention that comes with only 17 rooms — staff who recognize you by name from the moment you pass the lobby. Breakfast is a la carte rather than a big buffet, which suits anyone who likes ordering a plate at a time but may feel modest if you were expecting a Polanco-style spread.

Location and getting there

If you want the neighborhood that travelers and locals alike now call the hippest in Mexico City, the answer is Roma Norte — and Brick sits right in the middle of it, on Orizaba street under a canopy of big trees, with specialty cafes, boutiques and art galleries lining the block. It is under a 10-minute walk to Pujol, chef Enrique Olvera's restaurant ranked among the 50 best in the world, and to Maximo Bistrot from chef Eduardo Garcia. Parque Mexico, the neighborhood's green lung where locals walk their dogs in the evening, is only a 5-7 minute walk. For getting around the city, Insurgentes station on Metro Line 1 is about an 8-minute walk, which gets you to Centro Historico or Polanco easily, and an Uber further out is not expensive. Mexico City traffic is hard to predict, so leave buffer time in the evening; the international airport, Benito Juarez (MEX), is a 25-35 minute drive depending on traffic. This location is exactly why many people choose Brick over a big 5-star chain in Polanco — step out the door and you are in real Mexico City life, not a business district.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide — the clearest limit at Brick is its boutique size of just 17 rooms, which means it fills up fast and prices climb in high season (November-April) and on weekends; if you are serious about staying, book at least 2-3 months ahead. There is no full-size pool for lap swimming, no kids club, and the gym is small, so if your trip is about lounging poolside all day, look instead at Sofitel Mexico City Reforma or Las Alcobas in Polanco. Some rooms facing Orizaba can pick up restaurant noise and passersby at night, since Roma Norte stays lively late — light sleepers should ask for an interior room facing the central garden. One small point reviewers raise is that the elevator in this restored old mansion is fairly narrow and slower than a modern hotel's, so with big luggage you may wait for a second trip. And on breakfast, it is a la carte rather than a large buffet, which can feel ordinary if you were hoping for a Polanco-level spread but is a good fit if you like ordering one plate at a time.

Our take

From reading through real guest reviews and the building's history, Brick Hotel Mexico City sells the character of a hundred-year-old mansion in the hippest neighborhood in Mexico City, and it does it with full confidence. If the trip in your head is waking up to a cafe on a tree-lined street, dinner at Pujol or Maximo Bistrot, then coming back to soak in the tub with the Marshall on in a quiet mansion, this is about as right as it gets. The recognize-you-by-name service that comes with Small Luxury Hotels is something the big chains cannot match. But if you are traveling as a family with young kids, or you expect a large pool, a full gym and a generous breakfast buffet, the 17-room boutique scale here may not be the answer. Overall we give it 9.0/10, best for couples, solo travelers and luxury travelers who value character, location and design detail over the full amenity list of a big resort.