Habita, Mexico City

Where? In Mexico City's groovy Polanco district, a residential area dotted with designer shops, Ferrari dealerships and nuevo mexicano eateries.

Trad or trendy? The first of the city's hip hotels, Habita opened in 2000, after a HK$43 million renovation, which transformed a grimy 1950s apartment block into a glittering shaft.

Who designed it? Ultra-fashionable architects Ten sheathed the hotel exterior in a 'wrapper' of blue-green frosted glass to create a hi-tech haven a million miles from the rainbow facades of conventional establishments.

Who goes there? Models, musos and movie stars, including Geoffrey Rush and Ed Norton, who love the round-the-clock Reiki treatments, Alka-Seltzer and Marlboro Lights cigarettes in the mini bar, and fiercely modern furnishings.

Such as? Each of the 36 rooms and four suites is starkly kitted out with glass desks, Eames chairs and bedlinen resembling iced silk. A grey felt throw, a safe for your laptop computer, and flat-panel television complete the streamlined scene.

What are the bathrooms like? Grey marble floors and walls create a coolly elegant space, but it's the raw modernism of the communal areas that really dazzle.