Queer travel expert Jack Kenworthy turns 250+ city adventures into your guide for safe, vibrant, and inclusively fabulous global journeys.
Mexico City might not sound like the ultimate destination for trying to look for a gay hotel, but the truth is much to the contrary. We’ve spoken about how Puerto Vallarta is known as the gay capital of Mexico, but that isn’t to say that there isn’t fun to be had and peace to be found in the country’s capital.
Mexico City is a multicultural metropolis of great renown and is one of the most beautiful cities in the southern three-quarters of the Americas. As well as being its country’s largest city and the sixth largest urban area in the world, it also serves as a cultural and economic hub unlike any other, and this strength of both people and businesses has allowed Mexico City to flower into quite a tourist destination in past years.
The city has more than its fair share of tourist beacons and worthy sights to offer, ranging from the Zocalo – the city’s main square and the place where the country’s first constitution was proclaimed from – the National Museum of Anthropology and – of course – the amazing Chapultepec Park.
Mexico City’s legacy is also not confined to its architecture and location. The city has an intriguing queer history and was the first city in Mexico to participate in the country’s legalization of gay marriage in 2010. If that’s not a remarkable milestone, then what is?
Mexico City’s Zona Rosa – in English, the ‘Pink Zone’ – is known as the city’s biggest queer hotspot, with a massive variety of cultural meeting points and establishments for eating, drinking, and hanging out available.
Tourists from all around the world come to try out the Pink Zone and the colorful life it has to offer, and as such, you’re bound to meet an amazingly varied array of faces when you’re there. It’s also one of the most tourist-orientated parts of the city and has cultivated a wholesome, in-touch day and night scene that will make you fall in love with the place.
The hotel scene of Mexico City – especially around Zona Rosa – is a luxurious and decently priced one that lends itself quite well to new travelers looking to find good accommodation. Our usual disclaimer still finds a place here, however.
Obviously, in most cases, there aren’t going to be gay hotels in Mexico City out there marketed exclusively toward gay people or queer people in general. We know that, and therefore we’d like to note that the hotels on this list follow the same logic.
Most of them have been listed as accommodating, friendly, and unjudgmental to, for, and by queer people in general, as well as being highly rated in general.
Eager to explore this underrated city and discover new friendly faces and intriguing places than ever before? Then let’s set off! It’s time to delve into Mexico City and try out eight of this metropolis’ best gay-friendly hotels!
In this article we will cover...
Brick Hotel
Mexico City is a wonderful, colorful place, and thus it is wonderfully fitting to start this list of gay hotels in Mexico City within the city’s borders with an establishment that is equally wonderful and
colorful. Although the Brick Hotel’s luxurious halls and well-outfitted rooms bring it a price tag that may scare off some casual holidayers, the level of comfort and the quality of experience it also brings is a true godsend and makes every moment spent within the hotel’s walls a magical one.
Boasting four stars and an almost perfect review catalog, the Brick Hotel took pride in the strength of its services and included conveniences – several of which include a bar and restaurant ensemble downstairs, an included spa experience and relaxation space, and comprehensive room cleaning and food service that puts some of the nearby restaurants to shame.
The Brick Hotel is a bastion of luxury, and the attitude and friendliness of its staff – especially towards queer travelers – are sure to be a selling point for countless years to come.
But not everything about the Brick Hotel is focused on luxury, and although decadence is what it does best, those looking for a more hands-on approach to exploring Mexico City will also be pleased by staying here.
The Brick Hotel is just a few blocks from the ‘Glorieta de los Insurgentes’ or the ‘Roundabout of the Insurgents’, one of the city’s center points and a cultural rallying point for its population.
Not only are this square and the others scattered throughout wonderful to stroll through and spend a few hours enjoying the weather, but they are also hotspots for trendy, unique eateries and street food vendors, as well as more than their fair share of fixed bars and clubs just screaming for a good time.
Hotel Casa Gonzalez
Will four stars or higher sound like it somewhat strains the wallet or your budgeting plans for your holiday in Mexico City? No worries – Hotel Casa Gonzalez has you covered!
The Casa Gonzalez’s neighborhood – the larger Colonia Cuauhtémoc area – is well known as the business and landmark center of the city, serving as the home of the Mexican Stock Exchange, as well as the iconic Paseo de la Reforma and the Ángel de la Independencia statue on the more historical side.
When it comes to civilian culture, however, the Colonia Cuauhtémoc has an entirely different air together. Calle Rio de Lerma is famous for its abundance of eateries and bars, and just along the end of this street, Casa Gonzalez finds its home.
No matter if you’re a tourist who comes to explore the culture of a city or if the top article on your to-do list is to see all of the most famous landmarks, the Colonia Cuauhtémoc has your back just as much as the Casa Gonzalez does when it comes to accommodation.
However, suppose you’re rather interested in what lies within Casa Gonzalez’s walls. In that case, you needn’t fear – this hotel has all ends and all spaces polished to a fine point, and this point could not be more true than when it’s applied to the hotel’s in-house dining experience – a restaurant and cozy bar ensemble that covers everything from simple, international foods and drinks to more specific cultural phenomena from the region and Mexico’s streets.
After all, wouldn’t it be a missed business opportunity if a hotel on the street full of famous eateries couldn’t at least throw in its sizable attempt at satisfying the culinary palates of its guests?
El Patio 77
The El Patio 77 takes up a solitary position on this list, embracing a boutique and classical approach to accommodation that many of the other establishments here try to bury away using luxury and modern edge.
However, this fact is nothing but a benefit and is a keystone in what is largely a unique and special hotel. The El Patio is cheap for what it provides, classy for how homely it feels, and convenient for how spacy the rooms are and the slight distance it allows one to have between one’s private space and the hustle of the street outside.
The El Patio 77 may have only three stars, but as we’ve demonstrated many times across these lists, it is quite often the hotels with the middling amount of stars that demonstrate the best commitment to balancing a lighter effect on their customers’ wallets with providing as much value as possible.
This is very much the case when it comes to this particular hotel, and the proof of this is easily visible in the quality of the food that can be found here both when it comes to the hotel’s in-house restaurant and room services, and that’s without mentioning the fact that you’re also easily able to book an airport shuttle directly through the hotel’s website.
So much for paying extra for public transport or worrying about hiring a vehicle to get yourself to and fro from where you need to go!
Built within a heavily renovated 19th-century Colonial townhouse, the El Patio 77 takes this classical influence and drives it deep into the core of its accommodation experience – giving its rooms a hands-on yet sleek and clean vibe that brings a feeling of combined homeliness and modern confidence.
W Mexico City
We’ve brushed over hotels in the W franchise before, although perhaps not quite as much as the Ibis franchise, which the next gay hotel in Mexico City on this list belongs to, and thus we know very well the degree of luxury to expect from that name.
The W Mexico City doesn’t disappoint in the slightest – touting the same five-star rating that most of the other members of its kin share and also providing some pretty big plus factors when it comes to the benefits it offers guests.
The W Mexico City finds itself a little far-flung from most of the hotels in this particular list, but the area it is located in – known as Polanco – is just as lively and interactive as the Zona Rosa and the central fractions that we’ve already reviewed.
Polanco is well known for its high-culture attitude and sophisticated eateries, which means that if you’re a type who enjoys sophistication and refined food rather than getting down in the nitty-gritty of what makes a city unique, then this is the place for you.
Guests who have hired or own electric cars will also be glad to know that there are complimentary charging stations located in the hotel’s parking lot, which is just another one of the many steps that the W Mexico City has taken to make the accommodation experience both within and adjacent to its walls as pleasant as possible.
As such, when it comes to the W’s suites, guests will spend a good fraction of their time staying at the hotel simply enjoying themselves and relaxing thanks to the individually available hot tubs and separate, cushy living spaces. There’s also a top-notch restaurant that offers excellent lunch and dinner options and can serve as merely a vantage point to look out over the city.
ibis Styles Mexico Zona Rosa
Even after just reading this hotel’s title, two major positives already make themselves apparent – its affiliation with the reliable, no-fuss Ibis franchise and the fact that it finds itself in the Zona Rosa neighborhood that we spoke about earlier, being the queer heart of Mexico City.
Given the fact that the Ibis Styles is located in the Zona Rosa, much as its name gives away, it comes as no surprise that this hotel is well known as a rock-solid accommodation option for gay travelers, and this is a selling point that is sure to persevere for years to come, even as the Zona Rosa pivots and develops with the changing flow of the city all around it.
And all of this is without mentioning the ibis Styles’ benefits on paper, such as the fact that it offers free parking for those guests with cars, the fact that it’s pet friendly for those traveling with four-legged companions, and the fact that the regular morning breakfast is said to be wonderful. What more can one ask for than a solid launchpad to get them out into Mexico City and explore?
Although the Ibis reputation – as we’ve said many times in the past – is one of more or less bare-bones but extremely strong reliability, this particular establishment is a modern, slick stepping stone that propels its guests right into all the energy and colorful culture that Mexico City has to offer, unabashedly embracing the region around it with all of its queer tinges and metropolitan bustle.
It can be said that this ibis has truly taken on a bit of that spirit into itself, making it just a little more special and enjoyable to stay at than some of the other locations in the brand’s arsenal.
Le Méridien by Marriot
It may be a little distracting to have a hotel with such a French-sounding name in such a Spanish-dominated area as Mexico City – the capital of the most Spanish-speaking country in the world – but we promise that this divergence from the energy of the city exists only in this wonderful four-star establishment’s name.
For the rest of the time, The Le Méridien works perfectly in tone with the city around it, hooking into the city’s general culture and the queer influences of the Zona Rosa just a few blocks away.
Although the Le Méridien doesn’t have a five-star rating like some of the other hotels on this list, this fact takes away absolutely nothing from the strength of its luxury. One only needs to see the glass behemoth that constitutes this hotel’s outside structure to understand what the Le Méridien is going for, and this impressive air continues inside the building’s suites.
Every room is immaculately clean, tastefully designed, and excellently tended by room service and even hot tubs on some floors.
The available public rooms in the hotel include a full spa facility with wellness rooms, an indoor pool with perfect views out over the cityscape of Mexico City, a fitness center with all needs attended for, and a restaurant-bar ensemble downstairs that has both an amazing rotating menu and a well-renowned permanent one for second-time visitors.
Amazingly, so much can be crammed into such a stylish, modern-seeming building, but we suppose that one needs to see it to believe it. However, it can be said that the Le Méridien is a luxury hotel for the ages and a definite standout amongst Mexico City’s roster.
Hotel Geneve
Also known as simply Geneve, the Hotel Geneve looks a lot like a much more expensive venue at first glance, and the fact that it carries a high five-star rating doesn’t help dispel that assumption.
As guests will soon find out, however, the Geneve is one of the most affordable hotels on this list, and that’s without mentioning the money guests stand to save from the convenience of its many services and amenities.
If the feeling of walking in through Geneve’s grandiose front patio and entry hall isn’t luxurious enough, when you arrive at your room, you’re sure to be treated with a pleasant surprise of the same magnitude. Each suite in the Hotel Geneve is filled to the brim with modern amenities and designer furniture. They’re incredibly large and accommodating for even the largest event of several people.
Speaking of large amounts of people, the Hotel Geneve also has business and event facilities, which means that if you’re looking to hold an event or – more ideally, given that this is a list for gay hotels – a wedding in Mexico City, then this place is your go-to stop. The hotel is also kid-friendly, meaning the entire family can attend if you consider hosting an event.
Not only is the Hotel Geneve remarkably cheap for what it offers guests, but the polished spaces are sure to make even the most mundane experiences made there into special ones.
Some more positive factors that contribute further towards this hotel’s glamorous image are the included spa facilities and the fitness center, as well as the restaurant and bar that the hotel maintains as one of their utmost points of pride in marketing and practice.
Hotel MX Condesa
The price ranges for the gay hotels on this list have certainly ranged up and down, juggling quality with the strength of experience and connection to Mexico City’s strongest public transit lines and landmarks, but the sheer polarity of it all is sure to have left more than a few of our readers wanting for a middle ground to finish off with.
After all, is it too much to ask for to have both an affordable fair, the right location, and a good local scene simultaneously? In some cases, yes, in other cases, it is a little difficult, but in the case of the Hotel MX Condesa, it is possible.
Location-wise, the Hotel MX Condesa belongs fully to the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood – sharing its access to the area’s Aztec ruins, culture hotspots, and the artistic murals that make it so special and unique even amongst the amazing scape of Mexico City as a whole.
Suppose culture exploration and ancient architecture aren’t your things. In that case, however, you’ll be glad to learn that as much as the Hotel MX Condesa embraces the old, it flings itself wholeheartedly into the arms of the new, hip, and modern.
There are more than enough hip restaurants and shopping opportunities nearby for even the most retail-thirsty visitor to find their fill, not to mention the option of taking a walk in the Bosque de Chapultepec for those who would rather spend some time with nature to gain some space from the city all around them.
This all-boxes-ticked attitude naturally continues through the rest of Hotel MX’s amenities and especially its rooms, making special note of its well-maintained and expansive rooms, some of which have access to terraces and separate living areas for extra relaxation and enjoyment while remaining convenient and accessible.
Gay Hotel Map Of Mexico City
Feeling a bit lost while planning your journey to Mexico City? No worries, darling! Our detailed LGBTQ+ tailored map is here to guide you. We’ve pinpointed all the vibrant gay-friendly bars, exhilarating clubs, extravagant parties, cozy hotels, relaxing saunas, and soothing massage parlors to ensure you find the perfect spot.
And these aren’t just any spots; we’re talking about the creme de la creme of locations in the heart of the city’s vibrant gay scene. Think panoramic views, easy access to nightlife, and all the amenities to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
But hold on to your feather boas! These hot spots are fabulous; they vanish quicker than a drag queen’s five o’clock shadow. Don’t delay; book now to secure the best deals and locations. Remember, the early bird catches the best deals in Mexico City! So, pack your rainbow flag, and get ready to experience the ultimate gay-friendly holiday in Mexico City.
