el crispito

It's always hard to leave a W hotel and not make negative comparisons at the new place. For example, our room at Condesa df costs more, but is 1/4 the size of our room at the W. The view isn't as cool. At the W, they give you plenty of bath towels (5) and at this place, you get the bare minimum (2). There is no concierge here, just the front desk staff. To get an iron and ironing board, one has to call down to the front desk and ask for one to be brought up (and when it is, it's built for someone 5'2" tall). But it's not entirely fair to make such criticisms because the W is a huge chain with plenty of employees to make sure things go smoothly, and even then, they sometimes don't.

The Condesa df, on the other hand, has but 40 rooms. While the W is plush and pretty nicely put together, the design in Condesa df done by India Mahdavi makes one say, "Wow!" They have a particular print pattern that they use, and a few very specific colors, throughout the whole hotel. The W retains a little business stuffiness, while the Condesa df is more playful, like André Balazs' Standard hotels. You get that feeling from the staff too. On occasion, the staff at the W, while always professional, seems a bit cold. At Condesa df, you get the feeling that the younger staff, while not always 100% professional, is having a good time and they want you to have a good time too.

But let's not waste any more time on making comparisons. There are plenty of funky things to note about the Condesa df.

The keys have a strange fob on them, like a stainless steel bolt. When you're in the room, you have to insert it into a hole in the wall so that it enables the power in the room. When you leave, you have to pull it out to get the keys, which subsequently shuts off the power in your room. Obviously that has pros and cons.

Guest Services Directory, Condesa df

The guest services directory is put toghether of folded pages of paper with their specific print pattern, but it also has sleeves for various things that are removable from the directory. For example, there's a Codigo-branded map of the local area. It also includes a little sleeve of postcards, which are all glossy color photo cards of local neigborhood scenes like fruit on display at a nearby abarrotes.'

Postcards, Condesa df

Signature Pattern, Condesa df

The bathroom is hidden away behind a wooden veneer wall panel, giving it a Bruce Wayne estate feeling.

Hideaway Bathroom, Condesa df

They have an iPod in each room, loaded with a great mix of music (Tainted Love by Gloria Jones, Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen, Dear Prudence by The Five Steps, Frontin' by Jamie Cullum, These Days by Nico, Walk on By by Dionne Warwick, A Forest by Nouvelle Vague, Elle et moi by Max Berlin, Summertime by Montréal, I Can't Wait Until I See My Lover by Dusty Springfield, Climb Up the Walls 07 Remix by Radiohead, The Truth by Handsome Boy Modeling School, Alzheimers by Joy Zipper). It plays through the plasma television speakers. They also have DVD players in each room and films on DVD that you can borrow from the front desk.

They have a sushi bar (and a regular cocktail bar) on the fourth floor (roof terrace).

They have a closed-circuit channel with a looping independent video art piece (like the Standard).

Their guacamole has pomegranate seeds and comes with homemade plantain, potato and yam chips.

There is a 1950s Chevrolet parked (permanently) in front of the hotel.

It's in Condesa, which is a very hip (in some cases so hip they're too popular), but there's more on that to come.