La Valise Mexico City

The Polaris Suite's bed does not keep to the bedroom. The king-size glides out onto a large private terrace of wooden decking, where trailing vines and a copper mural cover the black wall behind the headboard, and a glass tower stands beyond the potted trees. Below is a 1920s French-style townhouse on Tonalá, a quiet street in Roma Norte, with stone pine cones carved under its cornice and nothing on the door to say it is a hotel. Yves Naman opened it in 2014, to a design by Emmanuel Picault, and in 2023 added a spa and two pools, one indoors and one out. The lounge is panelled almost black, with white mesh chairs on a red rug and French doors open to a wrought-iron balcony over the street. There are eight suites, from 46 to 95 square metres, and none takes more than two.

Recommended for couples who want a townhouse of their own in Roma Norte and can manage the stairs: there are three floors and no lift, and nobody under twelve stays. Breakfast is included, La Valise Café keeps French pastries and coffee going through lunch, and for dinner the concierge will have food brought in from nearby, Rosetta or Taquería El Califa among them. The galleries of Colonia Roma and the bars along Avenida Álvaro Obregón are a few minutes out of the door. In the Cilene Suite a white clawfoot bath stands out on the deck among potted trees and a stone balustrade, and the bed rolls too, so it can follow the bath outside.