La Valise Mexico City

It’s always cool to be contrary — especially in the world of cutting-edge boutique hotels. Let the big chains scramble to outdo each other with bigger spas and better restaurants, sparkling fitness centers and Olympic-sized infinity pools, more pillows on the menu, more of everything. An achingly hip little hotel like La Valise in Mexico City doesn’t need any of that. In fact, the 8-suite property, located above a shop in a 1920s townhouse in the happening Roma neighborhood, makes a virtue of its small size.

This petite urban refuge is the project of entrepreneur and globetrotter Yves Naman, who collaborated with the French-born Emmanuel Picault, a designer known for a portfolio of chic shops and nightclubs in both Paris and D.F. Longtime denizens of the stylish neighborhood, they opened La Valise — a concept store featuring pieces “Designed and Made in Mexico” — plus a collection of spacious and beautifully outfitted suites. El Patio, for example, features a breezy patio complete with a leather swing and a hammock handmade by artisans in the Yucatán. Inside, the aesthetic is bolder and more dramatic, with a black velvet sofa, crocodile-skin upholstery and a terra cotta sculpture of a dog by artist Carlos Ranc.

La Luna, with pale hardwood floors, vintage lamps, and a hallway painted pink, has more of a romantic Frida Kahlo-inspired look — with a modern edge, of course. La Terraza is lavish: the king-sized bed rolls from the bedroom to the open-air terrace. There’s also a fireplace inside. (Good luck convincing yourself to venture out on the town when you’re staying in a suite like this.) And all of the suites come with a long list of amenities: 600-thread count Egyptian cotton linens, large bathtubs and walk-in showers, Nespresso machines, tech-forward sound systems, 40-inch LED flat-screen TVs.