Just finished a 3 day/2 night stay at St. Regis Mexico City. We booked an Executive Suite for around $400USD/night through amextravel.com which was a pretty good deal. Overall, the stay was great. The hotel is beautiful, the hard product is amazing, and the service is generally very good although we had some misses (below).
We were coming to town for a special occasion and concierge was VERY good. The best concierge I have experienced in quite some time. They secured us some very hard to get reso’s (Quintonil, Pujol), and offered up some excellent other restaurant choices we enjoyed. Additionally, they ensured that we had the St. Regis bicycles for rent for all 3 days we were there. We were told that the rate was $150 pesos per four hours per bike, although I think they just charged us that rate per day. We cycled around Mexico City from 10am-5PM every day, covering about 40 miles over the course of the weekend. Great way to see the city and the bike infrastructure is fantastic!
We arrived at 7AM after a red-eye. When you arrive you take an elevator on the main floor up to the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor lobby is very beautiful. I like that it is separated from the street front. We found the check-in desk area a little tight and it was ALWAYS busy since it can’t hold many people, but around the corner is a beautiful large sitting area. They had free popcorn and candy in the lobby which they said is a weekend thing only.
Our room was on the 7th floor with NO view. We stared directly at a wall of office building windows about 20 feet away. We didn’t care, as we would be out and about all day, but I could see why others would care. The bathroom had a steam shower, which I absolutely loved, although it would have been nice if there was a bench to sit in there and enjoy it.
Some photos of the room: Sorry I took these on the last night, room was a bit messy.
Butler service was amazing. We once woke up for a nap and had 20 minutes to get out the door. We needed some items pressed, and our butler turned our clothes around very quickly. We did find it a little annoying that there was no iron in the room as sometimes it is just quicker and easier to iron yourself, but the butlers worked hard and worked fast. They also packed and unpacked for us which was a nice touch.
We used the bicycles for 8 hours a day every day. They were in great shape and were very nice bikes.
We had breakfast at JG Grill and Dianas which was included in our room rate. They call it continental, but there are hot items as well. The hot items were a little disappointing but overall was a good breakfast buffet daily.
Had drinks and appies at King Cole bar one evening. Great service. Food was good, cocktails were OK, however I only say that because of how spoiled one is by the world class food and drinks at restaurants and bars in this city.
Overall the staff were very friendly, helpful, and not overbearing.
We really enjoyed our stay. It is a beautiful location, nice and close to Condesa, and Roma where we spent a lot of our time.
Now, a few service misses:
I am SPG Gold, and had requested early check-in, but when we got there at 7AM (after a redeye), they told us there were no rooms available for us, and check-in is not until 3:00. While that is fine, and I am not entitled to early check-in, I did check the night before and numerous executive suites were available, so I asked if they had all been booked since I checked at 11PM the night before. The front desk agent proceeded to look at his computer and tell me we could get into our suite immediately, but we would have to pay a half-day rate. This was a bad first impression. Were they sold out, or is it a half rate? If you are going to lie to me, get your story straight. We wanted to head out for the day, so we just asked them to call us when the room was ready – a call we received at 2:57PM, well before the 3PM check-in time ��
We had bikes booked for 10 AM every day. On the first day, we had to sign waivers and documents for the bike rentals at concierge, and then they were waiting for us out front, probably because concierge radioed ahead when we were filling out our forms. On the second and third day, we went out front at 10:30 and they weren’t ready. The second day it took about 10 minutes to get our bikes and locks out, which was fine. On the third day, we went out and they were not there. It took 20 minutes for them to produce both bikes. They did not offer us helmets, or locks (which we had used the previous two days). I had to ask for these, and it took another 15 minutes to produce, at which time the bell man brought out waiver forms that I had to fill out. I informed him I already signed these and he said OK I could fill them out when I returned, which I did not do since I had already done it. Maybe I am being picky here, but if I reserve bikes for 10AM on a daily basis during my stay, it seems pretty simple to have them ready for us.
Third, and most alarming, was our last day. I had a very important conference call with two of my very large, very rich, very angry, very impatient investors. I was sitting at the desk in my room at 11AM on this call, with the DO NOT DISTURB light on (I double checked after this situation), and housekeeping opens the door and strolls about 5 feet into the hallway, without a knock or a doorbell ring. I signal to her with a hand wave to please leave, as I am clearly on the phone. Rather than turning around and leaving, she loudly asks me what time I am checking out. My investors stop the call to ask me who is in the background interrupting them and I must explain the situation to them. It was really disrupting when we were trying to deal with a very serious and very important issue. Simply unacceptable.
Finally, I called to ask for a late check out and the person on the phone told me they were sold out so I couldn’t have late check-out. I asked if I was entitled to it due to being SPG Gold and they told me only SPG Platinum was. I don't really know my SPG benefits as I am not a frequent SPG person (Gold is through a Credit Card). I don’t know if this is true and didn’t bother arguing as it didn’t matter much, but then I went down to the front desk to check out and they told me I could have a late check-out of 2PM. Not sure why there was confusion but would have been nice to know one way or another.
Besides these small service issues, the stay was amazing, and I will be back. However, the maid walking into my room at 11AM while the DND sign was lit up was completely unacceptable.