The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City

Rooms and decor

Picture stepping into the lift, shooting up nearly 40 floors, and opening your door to floor-to-ceiling glass framing the green forest of Bosque de Chapultepec running against the towers along Reforma. That is the first feeling The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City hands you. The hotel opened in 2021 across floors 37 to 47 of the new Chapultepec Uno skyscraper, which rises 58 storeys as one of the tallest buildings in Mexico City, so all 153 rooms and suites float above the city in a way nothing else here matches. Rooms are contemporary and warm, with wood and good fabrics and touches of Mexican-inspired art, high ceilings, soft beds that several reviews single out for an unusually good night's sleep, and marble bathrooms that feel premium. The one thing everyone lands on is the view — the park bathed in morning light, and the whole skyline lit up after dark, an image many call hard to forget.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is the shared space high up with city views all around. The highlight is the Club Lounge on the top floor of the hotel, the best view in the building, serving food and drinks across the day from breakfast through afternoon snacks to evening cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Guests in club-level rooms and above agree it is worth it and the atmosphere is good enough that you barely want to leave. The hotel restaurant serves both main meals and an Afternoon Tea that reviews praise for the view, while anyone after downtime has an indoor pool looking over the city, a spa for relaxing treatments and a full fitness center. Swimming or working out with the skyline as a backdrop is a real treat. What wins guests over most is the service, the trusted Ritz-Carlton standard, with many reviews calling the staff warm, attentive to detail and helpful beyond expectations.

Location and getting there

Location is another strong card here. The hotel sits right on Paseo de la Reforma, across from Bosque de Chapultepec, the enormous central park that acts as the city's lungs. A few minutes' walk takes you to the green space, the lake, Chapultepec Castle on its hill, and, importantly, the National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropología), one of the best museums in the world and a must on any Mexico City trip. From here it is easy to reach Polanco, full of upscale restaurants and high-end shopping, and the hip Roma and Condesa neighborhoods full of cafes and pretty parks. Chapultepec metro station on Line 1 is about an 8-10 minute walk. One small tip: on Sundays parts of Reforma close to traffic for cyclists and walkers, and the atmosphere is great. If you want a central location that is both on the prettiest avenue and beside the biggest park, this nails it.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The first thing reviews flag often is the price and the extras, which sit high, from food and drinks to valet parking in particular, which some feel is steep against normal local rates. If you drive in yourself or plan to eat and drink a lot in-house, budget for it, or swap in some of the good restaurants in Polanco and Roma/Condesa. The second is finding the entrance, since the hotel sits on the upper floors of Chapultepec Uno, a mixed-use office-and-residential building, so the lobby and guest entrance are hard to find on a first visit and you pass through the building's security checkpoint. Note the building name to tell your driver and arrange to be dropped at the guest entrance directly. Last, because this is a downtown high-rise, there is no outdoor space or garden to wander in the hotel itself, and the pool is indoors rather than an open-air sun pool. If you dream of sunbathing by a pool in a garden, this may not be the answer, but if you value a high city view above all, it is barely an issue.

Our take

After reading through plenty of real reviews, The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City sells the best high city view in Mexico City, contemporary rooms in a new tower, and trusted Ritz-Carlton service, and it earns every bit of it. If the trip in your head is waking up 40-plus floors up, opening the curtain to the forest of Chapultepec park and the full skyline, heading to the top-floor Club Lounge for a drink and the view, then walking across to the park and the anthropology museum in the morning, this is the most complete pick in the city. But if you are after a hotel with an outdoor garden to stroll or a sun pool, and you want to avoid the fairly high extras, weigh it up. Overall we give it 9.2/10, best for couples, luxury travelers and business guests who want a striking high city view as the main draw.