how
To Get There
Mexico City
Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez is located within the city limits, but during rush hours, the trip downtown can take more than an hour. Hire only registered taxis at one of the airport taxi booths. Fares are set according to zones. US citizens do not need a business visa. There are separate $18.74 arrival and departure tax charges.
Monterrey
Aeropuerto Internacional Mariano Escobedo is 14 miles northeast of the city center. A taxi ride should take approximately 45 minutes and should cost about $20.
To Get Around
Mexico City
Mexico City’s main financial and commercial offices are located along the Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida Insurgentes and Paseo de las Palmas. Government offices are scattered throughout the city. The National Palace is on the Zócalo. The easiest and way to get around is hiring a taxi or private car service for the day. Rates are about $12/hour. Avoid hailing taxis on the street, and use only hotel or radio taxis.
Monterrey
This is a very modern city, though it has the requisite historic center called Barrio Antiguo, by day a busy pedestrian mall rife with boutiques, galleries, and beautiful historical buildings. By night it is the city’s hotspot for cool bars and hip nightclubs. The main financial center is located in the Garza García district while the main commercial and hotel area is known as Zona Rosa.
where
To Stay
Mexico City
We recommend the Four Seasons (Paseo de la Reforma 500, Col. Juárez, Tel: 5225-230-1818, www.fourseasons.com). Nestled in the swank Polanco district near Chapultepec Park, the hotel spares no details in luxury and service.
Escape the hotel chain gang and check out the sleek and architectually inspired Hotel Habita (Ave. Presidente Masaryk 201, Tel: 52-555-282-3100, www.hotelhabita.com) also in the heart of the Polanco district. Here you can sink into an Eames chair or meet colleagues for a drink at the open air roof-top lounge.
Casa Vieja (Eugenio Sue 45, Polanco, Tel: 5282-0067, www.casavieja.com) provides a singular stay in Mexico City. This two-story mansion has 10 spacious and uniquely decorated suites, and all modern amenities including Internet access.
W Hotel (Campos Eliseos 252, esquina Andres Bello, Tel: 5242-5534) will open its first Latin American hotel following its concept of providing anything, anytime to help its guests mantain their lifestyles when away from home.
Monterrey
Quinta Real Monterrey (Diego Rivera 500, San Pedro, Tel: 52-8 368-1000) is an all-suites hotel with luxurious common areas.
Presidente Inter-Continental Monterrey (José Vasconcelos 300, Oriente San Pedro, Tel: 52-81 8368-6000, www.interconti.com) offers the latest in services and technology.
To Eat
Mexico City
If you have a long evening available, San Angel Inn (Diego Rivera 50, San Angel, Tel: 5616-0973) is a 45-minute drive from downtown and worth the trip. This 18th century hacienda is one of the city’s most attractive restaurants. The atmosphere is appealing, particularly when sipping drinks in the courtyard, and the restaurant serves excellent margaritas and local cuisine. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s former home and studio is next door.
L’Olivier (Presidente Masaryk 69-C, at Torquato Tasso, Tel: 5545-3133) is one of the Polanco district’s most popular upscale restaurants. A sprawling open kitchen serves up nouvelle cuisine with a French-Mexican flair. Izote (Presidente Masaryk 513, Polanco, Tel: 5280-1671) is attracting considerable local buzz. Traditional dishes here are livened up with contemporary flavors.
Au Pied du Cochon, a fashionable 24-hour bistro in the Hotel Presidente Inter-Continental (Avenida Campos Eliseos 216) is popular with Mexico’s beautiful people. Modeled on the Parisian original, the restaurant offers sumptuous seafood platters, including oysters and lobster, as well as steaks, pigs’ trotters and snails. Décor is Art Nouveau and the service is pleasant.
Hacienda de los Morales (Vazquez de Mella 525, Los Morales, Polanco, Tel: 5281-4703) is a Mexican institution in a 16th century hacienda. Estoril (Alejandro Dumas 24, Col. Polanco, Tel: 5280-9828) serves top-notch French cuisine with a Mexican twist in a 1930’s town house. Its menu features very unusual combinations such as perejil frito or fried parsley.
Tezka (Hotel Royal, Amberes 78, Zona Rosa, Tel: 5228-9918) is known for its contemporary Spanish cuisine and a Basque chef conjures up novel culinary combinations.
Monterrey
Hawaii (Av. Roble, 501, Col. Valle del Campestre, Tel: 378-6450) is an alternative to conventional retaurants for its atmosphere and great variety of exquisite dishes. Other choices are Luisina (Hidalgo Oriente 530, Centro, Tel: 340-3753) for superb regional cuisine and El Granero (Calzada del Valle Oriente 333, Tel: 378-4408) well-known for sushi, seafood and Mexican beef dishes.
To Drink
Mexico City
El Bar at the Four Seasons (Paseo de la Reforma 500) is a favorite of local executives. The bars at Champs Elysées (Paseo de La Reforma 316, Tel: 5525-7259) at L’Olivier (Presidente Masaryk 69-C, Polanco, Tel: 5545-3133) are also trendy hot spots.
The AREA Bar in the Habita hotel is one of the hottest spots for tequila and cosmopolitans. The legendary El Estribo in the Hacienda de los Morales offers premium tequilas including very rare ones. It has an impressive selection of aged reposado and añejo tequilas mostly distilled only from agave azul or blue agave.
Hunan (Reforma 2210, Lomas, Tel: 5596-5011) and Sir Winston Churchill’s (Avila Camacho 67, Polanco, Tel: 5280-6070) are known for their distinctive atmosphere.
Monterrey
For good atmosphere and drinks head to the bars of Hawaii, Luisina and El Granero (see addresses and telephones above).
what
To Buy
Ceramics and silver are classic Mexican products. We recommend talavera, a high-quality, glazed earthenware. Artistic pottery and jewelry by Sergio Bustamante ( Tel: 5282-2638) make fine gifts, as does Tane silver jewelry and decorative objects. To buy handwoven fabric and folk art, go to Fonart (Juarez 89, Col. Juarez, Tel: 5521-0171) for its selection and quality. And don’t leave Mexico without a couple of bottles of mole, a spicy condiment that is a staple in Mexican cooking.
To Unwind
Mexico City’s historic center is a fascinating window into the culture of the Aztecs. The Metropolitan Cathedral, for example, was built over the remains of an Aztec temple. Next door is an ongoing excavation of the ancient city of Tenochtitlán. The National Museum of Anthropology (Reforma Avenue in Chapultepec Park, Tel: 553-6285) is world-renowned. For something offbeat, check out the Leon Trotsky Museum (Rio Churubusco # 410, Coyoacan) in the house Trotsky occupied during his fateful exile to Mexico.