Mexico City

We enjoyed our stay at the well-priced and -located Hotel Milan (from 510p; Álvaro Obregón 95, map) in Col. Roma, where rooms are clean and comfortable, with TV, Wi-Fi, and fans. There’s a downstairs café, but you’re so close to great food you won’t need it. Bonus: close proximity to the graceful Casa Lamm, a late-19th-century mansion turned cultural center, art gallery and school, bookstore, and café.

Also in the low-budget/great-location category is Hotel del Principado near the Zona Rosa (from 790p; Londres 42, map), with basic rooms, free Wi-Fi, and an included breakfast buffet. Even cheaper is Hostal Amigo (multiple locations including Isabel la Católica 61, Centro, map), a few blocks from the Zócalo; dorms start around 150p and double rooms around 350p; prices include breakfast and wi-fi.

If you’re looking to experience the cooler side of Mexico City, check out the always-chic Condesa df (from about US$205; Avenida Veracruz N. 102, map), a minimalist design hotel nestled in a 1928 French neoclassical-style building near Parque España in leafy Condesa. It’s fairly celebrated for its weekend brunches and fourth-floor terrace café/bar, popular among local and visiting hipsters.