Tucked into the upscale Bosque de las Lomas neighborhood of Mexico City, Live Aqua Urban Resort Mexico offers a chic, adults-only boutique stay just 10 minutes from the Santa Fe financial district.
While many of the properties in the area are purely business hotels, this Forbes Travel Guide Recommended retreat provides a luxurious alternative for those who like to mix work with a little fun.
Here is why we’re checking into this urban hot spot right now:
The Design
Walking into Live Aqua Urban Resort Mexico’s lobby is like stepping into a cozy, elegant living room. Dark wood, plush furnishings, walls of books and records, a fireplace, water features and a smattering of lamps and cushions will make you feel welcome.
Forget the idea that a lobby is just a place to traverse through. The Live Aqua lounge, which is designed to represent the four elements (earth, water, fire and air), is a destination you will want to hang out in.
And the design highlights don’t end there. Leather, wood and metal give the hotel’s 135 rooms a modern feel, while the 200-thread-count sheets, deep tubs and personalized aromatherapy kits (selected at check-in) add to the sumptuousness.
Musical Delights
As you exit the elevator, you might notice sweet sounds filling the air. Look out for record players filling the space with music, which varies by day and floor.
The dulcet tones enhance the feeling of being in an incredibly sophisticated yet comfortable home. Music lovers can also borrow record players for their room and select beats from the huge collection of vinyl on display in the lobby.
The Spa
If you love to be pampered (or just need a rest after exploring the bustling megalopolis), you could easily spend an entire day at the Feel Urban Day Spa by Aqua.
Start with a little hydrotherapy, moving from the dry heat of the sauna to the rejuvenating vapor of the steam room to a back massage from the Swiss shower’s high-pressure jets. Top it off by relaxing on the thermal sun loungers (under a seemingly star-filled ceiling) to warm your body and melt stress away from your mind.
Massages range from Ayurvedic options that stimulate your chakras to a four-hand fusion rubdown that provides the extravagance of two therapists working on you in unison.
For a sweet indulgence, opt for a chocolate-themed service that pampers with a cacao scrub, a deeply aromatic cacao mask and culminates in a chocolate moisturizing treatment.
The Food
The main restaurant overseen by Italian-Mexican chef Francesco Cavicchi is a must-visit. Savor modern Mexican fare with an international flair, like a bean soup served over a melting chocolate truffle or filet mignon in fig sauce.
If you have a hard time choosing what to order for dessert, the chef’s Surprise Box makes for a wonderful touch. Simply pick a stone out of the box to determine which treat you will enjoy. With options like Mexican churros and a dulce de leche fondant, you can’t really go wrong.
The Shopping
Those in need of a little retail therapy can slip into something more delightful by ascending the escalator within the lobby to arrive at the upscale Paseo Arcos Bosque mall.
Shop till you drop at boutiques from Swarovski, Kate Spade and Lululemon, or dine on a smorgasbord of international fare — a Parisian bakery and Mexico City’s Nobu outpost can both be found here — without being too far from your room.
