This article is from the June 2003 The Mexico File newsletter.
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The Marquis Reforma,
Art Deco Fantasy
in the Heart of Mexico City

by Maxine Schur 

Maxine Rose Schur is an award-winning essayist and children’s book author. Visit her website at www.maxineroseschur.com  

The Marquis Reforma in Mexico City is a five-star boutique hotel where I recently stayed and was enchanted by the Art Deco architecture and decor, as well as the food. The hotel has a French restaurant, La Jolla, that serves authentic French food. The chef, Pierre Ducroux, is not only truly French, he was the featured chef at the James Beard House in New York. The Cafe Royal serves international and Mexican cuisine and has outdoor seating so you can watch the world go by – very pleasant. Their breakfast buffet offers a huge selection of both American and Mexican specialties, omelets and crèpes made to order, and my favorite – a simmering pot of pozole.  

The hotel offers a very popular “Frida Kahlo” package so that for $289 per room per night, guests receive a five-hour tour of Frida Kahlo’s Mexico City with a guide, full buffet breakfast for two and a $50 credit which is applied to the bill. The offer is valid Thursday through Sunday and requires a minimum of a two-night, three-day stay. Additional nights are $145 per room per night and include breakfast buffet and taxes. 

The five-hour tour includes a visit to the Frida Kahlo museum in the Casa Azul, the house where she was born and died. Her studio, Rivera’s studio, and the amazing Dolores Olmedo Patino Museum, a 16th century hacienda, now holds a huge collection of Kahlo’s and Rivera’s works. 

The hotel is located on the Paseo de la Reforma. You can easily walk to Chapultapec Park and several museums such as the Anthropology Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Rufino Tamayo Museum. One of the best things about this hotel from my point of view is the staff. If you go, be sure to book a massage with Sylvia. She might look like your mother-in-law. She’s comforting and motherly and she gives a fabulous aromatherapy massage complete with fresh fruit juice and mood music for $75. The staff including the concierge, with the unlikely name of Cain (“I am the good Cain” he declares), who goes the distancia to really make you feel cared for. They bubble-wrapped the paintings I bought and scurried around for a camera when they learned I’d accidentally left mine back home. 

Another offer that’s available at the Marquis Reforma includes complimentary daily fresh fruits and newspaper delivered to your room, and access to the spa (does not include massages).  

Rates: from $129 per night (single occupancy) and $139 per night (double occupancy), exclusive of 16.75% tax. These rates are valid throughout 2003. More information is available at www.marquisreforma.com.mx  or by calling 1-800- 235-2387.