Umbral, Curio Collection by Hilton — Hotel in Mexico City

The hotel is unique and our suite was spacious and well-decorated. The location is just a few blocks from the Zocalo (3 minute walk), but beware that Centro is extremely noisy, especially during the week. We were on the first floor, right on the street, and it was difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. I probably would give this hotel 4 stars, if the following incident didn’t happen…

On our first full day, my wife and I decided to go explore the city, and asked to have our room cleaned in the afternoon while we were out. The safe in the room didn’t work (and is also located in a very hard to access spot… need to get on your hands and knees to even find it), so I put our passports, $500 US, and 3,800 MXN in a small pocket in my backpack and left my backpack in the corner of the room. I positioned the straps and zippers in a certain way, so on the off chance anyone touched it, I would know. I also zipped my suitcase shut, although there wasn’t much of any value in there. We returned to the hotel at 8pm, and the room barely looked like it was cleaned and made up. My wife immediately noticed that her bag was not how she left it. I walked into the bedroom and noticed that my suitcase was unzipped, and my backpack was not how I left it either (straps and zippers had both been moved). Someone clearly had gone through our personal belongings. I went into my back pack and saw that my camera and laptop were still there. I opened my passport holder and was relieved to find that our passports, and our $500 US was still there… However, there was now 2,800 MXN. I searched my backpack over and over again for the missing 1,000 MXN. I really wanted to believe that I had just misplaced it, but after emptying out my backpack completely, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I immediately contacted the front desk, and they opened an investigation… they looked at who entered our room using the key cards and spoke with the cleaning staff for that floor. It was getting late, and we needed to wake up at 4am to go see the pyramids, so Imer from the front desk assured us that they would look into it and that I could speak with the manager the following day, when we got back from the pyramids. They took the issue very seriously, and I was optimistic that the money would be returned and there’d be some sort of apology, at minimum. After getting back from the pyramids, we went straight to the front desk, and waited a few minutes to speak with the manager, Ceasar. Ceasar apologized for the situation, but basically told us that nothing could be done, since they had not found any evidence, and the valuables were not in the safe. Reminder - the safe didn’t work. After having our privacy invaded, money stolen, and personal items rummaged through, there was no solution. It was the equivalent of $50, but the principle, and the way the situation was handled, was what upset us the most. You would think for $50, they would have given us the money back, or given us some kind of discount on our stay. I booked this trip through Amex Travel, and will now work with them to try and get some sort of refund.

We are here celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary, and these were the first 3 nights of our trip. Needless to stay, we were terribly disappointed with our experience at Hotel Umbral, and would caution anyway that is considering staying there. I hate to write this review, but I hope others can learn from...

I was looking forward to staying at Umbral for a week following our week in Puerto Vallarta. The hotel is such a beauty! It’s not a standard American Hilton and its unique design impressed us very much. It actually made some headlines in the interior design world back in 2020 when it first opened. No it was never a prison lol, it used to be an office building which has been convernted in a hotel. The colours, accessories, quality of materials used and the preserved heritage are phenomenal. We spent a lot of time just exploring the hotel (there’s a nice bar by the rooftop pool, historical elevators are amazing and the stairs are just a pure beauty, not to mention an art gallery and a wonderful breakfast place on the ground level). There were hotel staff present at the entrance when we arrived (we didn’t need help with our luggage but it was a nice touch to be greeted upon arrival), and Ingrid and everyone at the hotel did a wonderful job in making us feel welcome here. It’s not my first time in CDMX so I knew where to go and what to do, and everywhere we went we were safe. We took metro which was an excellent way to explore Coyoacan, San Angel, Polanco, Chapultepec and Reforma. There was a manifestation in the Zocalo and surrounding streets but it’s unpredictable so we were fine in navigating those streets and still enjoying Centro Historico. Safe deposit box was working fine (I read the other reviews and one of them mentioned safe not working and showing an error message, it’s quite common in all the hotels so you only need to ask a technician to change the battery or do a reset). We had an AC not cooling the air as we’d like it to be but it only took 3 minutes for the technician to arrive so please if you have any issues or concerns with the equipment , do call the front desk and you’ll be fine without waiting for hours). We were on the second floor facing the street and the noise suppression was quite good. Being in a center or such a big city there’s always a noise but our room did provide a good level of soundproofing so no issues here at all. Housekeeping was good as well, we were always getting water and fresh towels and the room felt clean after a long day of walking in the city. Again, we personally loved the design and style, and there are rooms with the interior view so read the description well before booking your stay or give a call and discuss your options. We’d definitely stay here again and than you to all for making our stay...

Had a lovely stay at the Umbral. The staff were spectacular and spoke English and Spanish. The service was top-notch, the room and bed were comfortable, and the building (a historic converted bank building) was impeccably kept up.

I especially appreciated that the front desk accommodated my request for a quiet room by tucking us away from the main hallway. I can confirm other reviewers’ comments about the music that plays throughout the hotel. The interior is all tile and stone, so the music echoes and is audible in your room. That said, I asked the staff to turn off the speakers outside our room and that made a world of difference. They also seem to shut off the music overnight (I guesstimate from 11PM-8/9AM). In your room, the velvet blackout curtains do a surprisingly good job at blocking sound. Our room was near the service area, so some mornings I heard the staff jostling around and a brief alarm would sound, possibly from the service elevator. I didn’t have any issues with hearing people in the neighboring room(s).

Housekeeping did an impeccable job tidying the room and left us two bottles of water daily, which was ideal when you can’t drink the tap water.

If you are given the choice between complimentary continental breakfast and Hilton points, take the points. The complimentary breakfast consisted of coffee, a glass of juice, fresh fruit with granola and yogurt, and a selection of unimpressively dry Mexican pastries (pan dulce - you can get better ones at shops nearby). Anything else off the breakfast menu was extra.

Like others have noted, your room may not have a window. Because the rooms are converted offices, we had one that looked into the hallway and was frosted over. Some daylight filtered through from a skylight in the hall several floors up, but the lack of natural light can make waking up difficult.

We unfortunately got a touch of food poisoning from (I believe) the salad at the hotel restaurant. In general, be cautious of eating fresh fruit and vegetables in Mexico, as they are often washed with tapwater. We let the front desk know we suspected the salad was the issue, and as another example of the great service here, they offered to call a doctor and comped our breakfast the next day at the restaurant below the hotel, Ojo de Agua.

The location was good for walking around to nearby restaurants and to see the Zocalo and other...