mexico city cool places to stay

Airbnb options in Mexico City by kelly witmer

airbnb treehouse

One of the great things about being an Airbnb host is that you can rent out your place, go to another city and rent an amazing apartment that's completely different than your own. The options in Mexico City were plentiful, so much that it made my head spin.

I ended up renting three different places, and while they were all great, next time I think I'll stay in one spot longer. Since most have a check in time of around 3 or 4pm and a check out time around 11am (as they need time to turn it over, like a hotel), it makes for a complicated tango in the middle of the day with your luggage. Luckily, the hosts were accommodating and early/late check outs worked out, but I know what a hassle it can be for them and hated asking. And moving to a new place in the middle of the day ate up a lot of site-seeing time.

 

Tom's Airbnb roof

I wrote in a previous post about my first host - Tom, who was a super nice ex-pat from NY, and he immediately set me up with a map and suggestions of where to go. He really made me feel at home, which is something that's really invaluable when arriving into a foreign country you're not familiar with. The next night we hung out with some wine and commiserated on the ups and downs of being a host. Exchanging Airbnb horror stories is always fun. Above is a photo of his beautiful roof deck, which was a great place to hang out and read his guidebooks.

Airbnb in Mexico City

Next I stayed at a place that was like a glass tree house in the middle of the city (the patio shown on the top of this post, with me looking pensive). There was also a private rooftop patio with a BBQ, but I only used it to dry my laundry. I can BBQ at home.

There was a huge double jacuzzi tub off to the right, but since it was so large, the hot water would run out by the time it got to about two inches deep. So I would try to flatten out and splash water on myself, like a sad sea lion.

There was a huge double jacuzzi tub off to the right, but since it was so large, the hot water would run out by the time it got to about two inches deep. So I would try to flatten out and splash water on myself, like a sad sea lion.

tiled bathtub in Mexico City

One thing I didn't expect was to be so cold in Mexico... January days were still pretty mild during the day, but it got chilly at night and apparently heating in homes is rare.  So one of the reasons I booked the 3rd place was for the old clawfoot tub (just like I have at home), and it was perfect to warm up in. And that TILE! I'm a sucker for concrete tile. This whole apartment was visually amazing.

Everything in this place was thoughtfully and beautifully designed. Love how this beautiful wood counter was also a bottle rack. And the drawer under the sink pulled out and drawers fit in around the plumbing - an excellent use of space (something I…

Everything in this place was thoughtfully and beautifully designed. Love how this beautiful wood counter was also a bottle rack. And the drawer under the sink pulled out and drawers fit in around the plumbing - an excellent use of space (something I've done in the past when converting a vintage dresser into a bathroom counter).

stairs

The downside was the stairs to get up to this rooftop apartment, which was more like a ladder. Difficult with luggage, but the worse part was the many doors with tricky locks and different keys to get past. My keys kept getting stuck in the door, so I would have to hide my valuables and hope for the best. This unfortunately led me to forgetting my hidden cash and passport when I checked out, and a resulting 2 extra long Uber rides across town to retrieve them. Duh.

One more shot below of Tom's roof patio... these open metal walkways are popular around Mexico City. An excellent use of space again, but stresses my vertigo.

Tom's Mexico City airbnb