Although not as striking as The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City right across the street, I decided to stay at the Four Seasons Mexico City not only due to its similar proximity to Chapultepec Park, but for the well known verdant courtyard at the center of the hotel. Even though the hotel is definitely starting to show its age, and certainly doesn’t exude the same luxury as other Four Seasons, the service was top notch, and the courtyard really is wonderful.
Table of Contents
Booking Four Seasons Mexico City
Our stay at the Four Seasons Mexico City was part of Mexico City trip in February 2022. We booked the base room, which was the Superior Room. It was ~$350 at the time of booking, but was closer to $600 closer in.
We booked using American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts so that we could utilize the late check out benefit. Of course, complimentary breakfast, as well as property credit, is included in this rate. Although we could have used Virtuoso for this booking as well, guaranteed 4pm late check out made booking through FHR much more advantageous.
Prior to the stay, Four Seasons Mexico City reached out to us asking about our preferences, whether or not we were celebrating anything, and whether or to we had any questions. It was easy to communicate with the hotel either through their official Four Seasons app, or through the seamless connection with WhatsApp. We told them we would be celebrating our one year anniversary.
Four Seasons Mexico City Background
The Four Seasons Mexico City opened in 1994, and contains 240 rooms. The hotel contains 8 floors, and surrounds a beautiful courtyard in the center. The hotel recently completed renovations in 2016 and contains two restaurants, Il Becco and Zanaya, a well-known bar, Fifty Mils, as well as a small bakery, Pan Dulce.
Four Seasons Mexico City Check-in
The entrance to Four Seasons Mexico City is conveniently right off Paseo de la Reforma. The entrance is quite discreet, and it would be quite easy to miss the fact that this is a Four Seasons hotel. Discreet branding with Four Seasons is something we had also experience at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. It is also easy to forget that Four Seasons is a Canadian company, otherwise the Canadian flag hung at the entrance would look oddly out of place.
Upon entrance, we were greeted by a centerpiece arrangement of some beautiful flowers. This is one of my favorite element of Four Seasons hotels, how striking the flowers are at the lobby. The flower arrangement leaves a lot to be desired though, especially compared to other beautiful Four Seasons lobbies out there.
When we reached the front desk, I was kindly asked for my last name, and the moment I said “Cheung”, she said “We have been waiting for your arrival Mr. Cheung”, and immediately two staff members came out to bring us two glasses of sparkling wine, as well as some balloons! They wished us a happy anniversary, and you can see how excited I was from the image below! This is called fantastic service.
Continuing with the check-in process, we were told of the benefits from the FHR booking. This included complimentary breakfast either at their restaurant Zanaya (opened at 7am), or through in-room dining. The hotel also confirmed our 4pm late checkout, as well as the $100 property credit that can be used at any of the eateries, spa, and in-room dining. We were also given a complimentary upgrade to a Deluxe Room on the top floor, floor 8. After all the formalities were complete, we continued on our way excitedly to our room.
Exiting the lobby on the left is the corridor that leads to both the courtyard, and access to the elevators for the rooms.
Four Seasons Mexico City Deluxe Room
The hallways leading to the room were quite dark, and in a non-moody dingy sort of way. The color scheme wasn’t particularly elegant, but I had already known this upon booking this hotel. We stayed in room 812 on the top floor, and the room was centered almost perfectly over the courtyard.
Once we arrived to our room, we were greeted to extra welcome amenities to celebrate our anniversary! The amenities included a bottle of red wine, a box of chocolates, and chocolate dipped strawberries. The strawberries were arranged beautifully on the plate with different designs for each one.
I cannot say that the interior design of this room is my style, but I can appreciate the fact that everything felt clean, tidy, and airy. The crimson color with dark brown bordering was a common and consistent theme across the hotel areas.
The bathroom felt cramped and outdated.
And they use L’Occitane toiletries.
The bar area, including mini bar, were well appointed. There was a Nespresso machine, complimentary water, and an assortment of coffee and teas.
The view from the room was one of the main reasons I had wanted to stay here in the first place. It really felt like you were in a fortress, yet surrounded by a beautiful and tidy overgrowth. Hearing the chatter and live music from down below gave a very cozy kind of atmosphere, so I kept the window ajar to embrace this. As you can see, we were centered over the fountain, which provided a neat symmetry when peering down below. I can imagine how amazing the courtyard would look in the middle of spring or summer! The temperatures in February were hovering around low 70s, and the sun was still quite low in the sky.
Four Seasons Mexico City Pool and Business Center
Although I did not use the pool since it was too crowded for my liking, we stopped by to consider it anyway.
Right before checking out, we had to utilize the business center to print out our covid test and CDC attestation form. It was well appointed with 3 computer stations (spaced apart for the pandemic), as well as a few printers. We didn’t need anything more beside this.
Four Seasons Mexico City Fifty Mils Bar
That evening, we wanted to get a couple of drinks at their bar Fifty Mils to use up some of our property credit. This way, we could also experience walking through the courtyard at night, and enjoy how the space was lit up. From the lobby walking towards the courtyard, the first thing you will notice is the fountain and the luscious greenery surrounding it. Four Seasons Mexico City just had an event on the property, so centered over the pool was an art installation of flames that said “I wish you were here”. The area was well lit, and the warmth of the lighting gave a very comforting and hygge feeling. This has always been the kind of ambience I love.
Fifty Mils is on the side of the courtyard. We got there right after dinner, and there was no wait. We got seated around 8:30pm near the bar, which allowed me to glance at the bartenders at work every now and then.
Since we were quite full from dinner, we were conflicted on what to order. We had quite a bit of property credit to use up, so we chose to order two drinks, and two appetizers to share. The first drink we ordered was Bugs Bunny (Tanqueray Ten, carrot juice, lemongrass syrup, lime juice, tres chillies bitter, fernet) which was super light and well balanced. By contrast, the second drink was Billy the Kid (butter fat washed Bulleit, Zubrowka, caramel tea, cinnamon & saffron syrup, lime juice, Angostura bitter) and tasted warm and cozy, despite the fact that it was an iced cocktail. They were both fantastic drinks, and priced at 220MXN each.
To stick with local cuisine, we opted to order the Guacamole with Chapulines (grasshoppers) 210MXN, as well as the Assortment of Mexican Snacks (squash blossom, mushroom and cheese “quesadilla”, potato and sausage “pambazo”, pork rind “gordita” and beans “tlacoyo”; all in mini presentations) 240MXN. The appetizers tasted fine, and nothing stood out. The moody ambience was comforting though.
Four Seasons Mexico City Breakfast
Since we were headed to Teotihuacan this morning and wanted to head out by ~8am, and since their breakfast restaurant Zanaya doesn’t open until 7am, we decided to order in-room breakfast delivered sharply at 7am to maximize our time eating. We also love the experience of eating inside the room, with the food delivery trolley.
We ordered the American Breakfast (two eggs sunny side, hash brown potato, breakfast sausage, bread basket, juice, coffee), a berry fruit plate, as well as the Breakfast of the Day. We ordered the American Breakfast because it always provides a nice spread for a picture. The Breakfast of the Day was extremely disappointing. I thought that we would be getting a local breakfast of some sort, but instead, they just gave us assorted fruits as their breakfast of the day. Even though breakfast was included in our room rate, I would be extremely disappointed if I had to pay 350MXN (~$17) for this dish. The fruits were fresh, and reasonably ripe. The juice was also freshly squeezed, so I appreciated that.
Four Seasons Mexico City Pan Dulce Bakery
Right before check-out, we had ~$35 property credit remaining, and we decided to use it on the bakery to take-out some food for the plane ride home.
Pan Dulce serves a variety of sandwiches and beautiful pastries, so we elected to get two sandwiches, and two pastries. The food was well packaged, and we were offered the option to warm up the sandwiches and pastries; we declined since we would be eating it cold on the plane anyway.
The design on the bag felt upscale, yet adorable at the same time!
Quite a contrast, eating Pan Dulce sandwiches on our Volaris flight back home.
We got a short rib pastry, and a chicken mole pastry. Both were insanely flaky and delicious.
Four Seasons Mexico City Service
The service at the Four Seasons Mexico City was fantastic. From the first correspondence a few days prior to the stay, all the way through checkout, felt very personal. It was a stark contrast to the service next door at The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City. The communication was the team at Four Seasons Mexico City was insanely responsive, we’re talking about a response time of less than a minute the few times I’ve initiated a conversation with the hotel team through WhatsApp.
Scheduling breakfast through WhatsApp was a breeze, and any questions I had were answered immediately. The welcoming upon check-in was also fantastic, and it goes to show the lengths the team goes to make a customer feel very welcomed. There were no service disappointments.
Summary
Overall, the Four Seasons Mexico City was in line with my expectations. Although the building and general areas were outdated despite their remodeling, their courtyard was vibrant and inviting, and worth visiting even if only for a drink at their bar, or to enjoy their Sunday brunch at Zanaya. The service at the hotel was certainly a highlight. If only the actual hard product was better, I would recommend Four Seasons Mexico City to anyone.
