Mexico City’s Hotel Habita is the very face of urban boutique cool, wrapped in an outer layer of frosted glass, extending the old apartment block’s volume out into space, making corridors of the old balconies, keeping the cool air in and the street noise out. From outside, the silhouettes of the well-heeled hotel guests can be spied moving from room to room, inside what in daylight resembles a block of ice, and at night an outsize paper lantern. Archi-tourists will be charmed, while traditionalists may ask when the construction is scheduled to finish—in any case, it’s a radical departure from the stately residential buildings of the upscale Polanco neighborhood.

The interiors are, of course, just as startling, with the Mexico City colonial style nowhere in evidence, replaced by a sparkling white minimalism, with hardwood floors and an almost Scandinavian coolness—corridors are painted a calming sea-foam green that adds an icy tint to the daytime exterior. Rooms are stark and stylish, with Eames or Jacobsen-style chairs and another plane of glass as a desk.

Hotel Habita is a place to see and be seen, playing host to well-off locals as well as actors, musicians and media types—as such, it’s the public spaces that truly sparkle. AREA, the rooftop bar, is one of Mexico City’s hottest nightspots, with sweeping city views and appropriately theatrical setting, and a single-lane lap pool and jacuzzi occupy the lower terrace. The lobby is home ... more