Círculo Mexicano

Círculo Mexicano is a boutique hotel in the historic centre, on Calle República de Guatemala, in a 19th-century residential building with a story of its own. The photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo was born and grew up at this address, and in 1931 he took his photograph "El Ensueño" inside the building. Grupo Habita, which the hotel describes as a pioneer of lifestyle hotels in Latin America, converted it into a 25-room hotel, one of five the group runs in Mexico City, with architecture and interiors by the studio Ambrosi Etchegaray, working with La Metropolitana and Carlos Couturier.

Eighteen of the rooms have a private patio that brings in natural light, and the remainder have balconies with views of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Rooms come in two types, patio or balcony, so decide which matters more to you before booking. A cathedral-view balcony is worth requesting if you want to wake up to one of the city's great facades.

The rooftop is the main draw. It has a pool and a terrace restaurant, Comedor Mexicano, with views of the cathedral, the Palacio Nacional, the Templo Mayor and the Torre Latinoamericana. The menu changes with seasonal, local ingredients from across Mexico. The restaurant opens from 11:00 to 22:00 from Sunday to Wednesday and until 23:00 from Thursday to Saturday, so it works for a late breakfast, lunch or an evening drink. Because it opens at 11:00 every day, early risers will want to look for a first coffee nearby before heading up later.

The hotel suits couples, design lovers and travellers who want to be able to walk to the main sights of the centro. The cathedral, the Zócalo and the Templo Mayor are all a few minutes away on foot, which makes it easy to be at the Templo Mayor when it opens at 9:00. The hotel also takes enquiries by WhatsApp, which is handy for arranging arrival times or restaurant bookings.

Hostel Mundo Joven Catedral is on the same street, and the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, with its stained-glass ceiling, is a short walk away on 16 de Septiembre if you want to see another of the centre's landmark buildings.