Purificadora hotel, Mexico

La Purificadora is the sixth destination from Mexico’s Grupo HABITA, whose portfolio includes the hip, boutique offerings of Habita and Condesa DF in Mexico City. The hotel, born from a converted water purification factory in Mexico’s fourth-largest city of Puebla, was designed by renowned Mexican architects Legorreta + Legorreta and successfully blends 19th century architecture with modern design.

The open-to-the-sky lobby area with a sweeping staircase opens to a vista of the next-door church, while the interior’s minimalist design blends glass, dark stone and heavy wood features, adding splashes of purple for a more playful feel. The 26 rooms, identified by letters of the alphabet, are not huge but the expansive floor-to-ceiling window or balcony door (depending on your floor) and transparent closets lend a feeling of light and space. The rooftop terrace bar has become the latest hotspot in Puebla and buzzes till the early hours with a young, stylish crowd.

19 December 2007 | Travel