May 30, 2023

Santa Fe: Mexico City’s Modern Business District

By In City Reviews

Towards the end of our month-long stay in Mexico City (CDMX), we wanted something different from the trendy neighborhoods of Polanco, Roma Norte, and La Condesa. We love these neighborhoods—especially Roma Norte—but they all generally have the same vibe: an interesting blend of old and new Mexico City, with a strong dose of tourism and expats. We wanted to try something a lot different. For that, we decided to venture out almost to the edge of Mexico City and stay in the Santa Fe neighborhood.

Overview of Santa Fe, CDMX

Constructed in the 1990s, Zedec Santa Fe – or just Santa Fe – is a modern, urban suburb (or edge city) of Mexico City. Wikipedia compares Santa Fe to La Défense in Paris, which I believe is accurate, having also been to La Défense. Since I am from Los Angeles, I would also compare Santa Fe to Century City. In all three cases, you’ll note a modern city with glass skyscrapers, wide streets, and a very business-oriented feeling.

However, one problem I have with comparing Santa Fe to La Défense or Century City is the distance from the rest of the City. Santa Fe is really out there and almost entirely separated from Mexico City proper. La Défense or Century City are way more intertwined with their host cities, especially since both La Défense and Century City are connected to the Metro subway network. Santa Fe is not connected to Mexico City’s subway system, and it took almost an hour by taxi to get to Santa Fe. If you are from Los Angeles, I would compare Santa Fe more to Irvine than Century City in terms of the relationship to the main city.

Zedec Santa Fe – the newer part – has two main types of buildings: hotels and office skyscrapers. That is about it. There are very low-rise buildings, and there isn’t too much residential in the main Santa Fe area. To be clear, there are condo buildings in Santa Fe. But most people live around Santa Fe—especially in Las Lomas—rather than in Santa Fe. You’ll find Santa Fe an architectural dream if you love glass architecture and glitzy high-rise buildings. But if you are more into historical buildings or a traditional Latin urban feel, then stay clear of Zedec Santa Fe.

On the other hand, there is also the older town of Santa Fe, which is east of Zedec Santa Fe and closer to Mexico City. This area is very much an older, poorer suburb of west Mexico City (La Condesa and Roma Norte). We didn’t spend any time in this area except driving through it on the way to and from Zedec Santa Fe. Don’t confuse these two neighborhoods, especially since the Ramada Hotel is in the older part of Santa Fe.

The rest of this article is about Zedec Santa Fe, the newer part built in the 1990s, and our experience during the three days we stayed there.

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Santa Fe Hotels

Most of the hotels in Santa Fe CDMX are well-known international brands, such as Hilton, Novotel, Marriott, etc. In true Santa Fe fashion, these hotels are modern buildings with glass architecture. Most of these modern hotels are highly concentrated in the area right south of the Universidad Iberoamericana and to the east of Highway 15D. This area is near many office buildings, which makes it ideal for business trips. We didn’t see many tourists while we were in Santa Fe, making us believe most of the hotel infrastructure is primarily for business travelers.

The DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn hotels in Santa Fe, CDMX.
The DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn hotels in Santa Fe, CDMX.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn (click here to check Santa Fe hotel pricing on Expedia), which shares its building and amenities with the DoubleTree next door (they are both Hilton brands). We found the hotel quite nice overall. The room was quite comfortable, and the free daily breakfast was way better than what expected. Both the Hilton Garden Inn and the Doubletree share the breakfast area, which is in the DoubleTree part of the hotel. It is a full breakfast buffet with a wide assortment of meats, fruits, breads, and eggs. There are also several juices available, along with coffee and tea. This is not a U.S. Continental Breakfast – it is a full-blown breakfast buffet and by far the highlight of the hotel stay.

Sampling of foods at the breakfast buffet at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Santa Fe.
A wide assortment of foods is available at the Breakfast Buffet at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Santa Fe.

Also, note that hotel prices are far lower in Santa Fe than in Mexico City proper. It makes sense since Santa Fe is a suburb, and like in the US, hotel prices are cheaper on the outskirts of cities. In fact, we felt the value of our hotel stay was one of the best. But that value is only true if you are interested in Santa Fe as a tourist or as a business trip. If you are looking to stay in Santa Fe and experience Mexico City, you will be greatly mistaken – at least until the commuter rail opens in a few years.

Santa Fe Restaurants

We love eating cheaply. We also love eating good food. Sometimes, those two requirements clash, and other times, they complement each other. In Santa Fe, they clash. Probably because it is a business district, a lot of the restaurants are upscale and expensive. Worse, many restaurants close early. Unlike CDMX proper, you won’t find many eating options past 8pm or 9pm.

Dare we say that the best meal we had in Santa Fe was the breakfast buffet at the hotel? No, I wouldn’t say that. Yet, that I am pondering whether it is true should tell you your eating options in Santa Fe. If you are looking for good yet cheap food, then the two main malls in Santa Fe will be your go-to spots.

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Plaza Samara – the mall closest to most of the hotels – has a nice food court with a lot of mom-and-pop options instead of just a bunch of chain restaurants. We ate some excellent BBQ in this food court. However, it was quite expensive for what you got, and we left hungry. The food court had plenty of options, although it was quite crowded. If you intend to eat at the food court, try going before lunchtime or dinnertime to ensure you have a place to sit. Plaza Samara also has U.S. chains as well, including McDonald’s and Chili’s.

The BBQ was excellent, but not filling at all for US$35-40.

The other main mall in Santa Fe is Centro Santa Fe. It is the largest mall in Latin America, which we didn’t even realize until we started walking inside—the mall went on forever! Centro Santa Fe has one main food court, but there are several smaller food courts throughout the mall. There are also upscale American chains such as Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s. Don’t worry; there are plenty of eating options!

We ate at Vips in Centro Santa Fe. Vips is a Latin American diner chain akin to Denny’s in the United States and Japan. And much like Denny’s, we ordered the Mexican version of the Grand Slam: enchiladas suizas. Compared to Bisquits Obregón in Roma Norte, I don’t know if Vips has better enchiladas suizas. But they were good and relatively cheap compared to other eating places in Santa Fe. Also, Vips gave us complimentary chicken consommé soup, which helped fill us up. Denny’s can’t beat that!

Enchiladas suizas at Vips in Santa Fe CDMX.

To be fair, there are restaurants outside of the malls. While in Santa Fe, we ate at Taquería El Califa, which is a gourmet taco chain in Mexico City. It was fine, but we prefer the less polished taco restaurants in Roma Norte instead. We also ate at Sushi Itto, which is a Japanese-style food chain in Mexico City. It wasn’t bad, although we were very limited on what we could eat since we are gluten-free. We went to Sushi Itto because it was after 8pm, and we ran out of choices for food.

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Centro Santa Fe

As mentioned above, Centro Santa Fe is enormous. You could easily spend the entire day shopping, eating, and hanging out in this mall. Lots of American brands are in the mall, including several Starbucks, Cheesecake Factory, and many clothing brands, including Calvin Klein, Skechers, and Under Armour. This isn’t unique in Mexico to Centro Santa Fe – there are American brands all over the city and country. But Centro Santa Fe, due to its size, supersizes it. (You can see all of Centro Santa Fe’s stores at this link.)

The most western end of Centro Santa Fe – note the Apple Store on the second floor on the right side.

If you want upscale shopping with a Mexican twist, then we recommend checking out Palacio del Hierro (“Iron Palace” in Spanish) inside Centro Santa Fe. Palacio del Hierro is a very upscale Mexican department store akin to Saks Fifth Avenue or Nordstrom’s in the United States. However, Palacio del Hierro also sells electronics and home goods, too, but on a luxury level. We saw one Sony TV in there that was over US$10,000! If Saks Fifth Avenue and Walmart merged, Palacio del Hierro would be the result.

Note that Centro Santa Fe is on the other side of Highway 15D in Santa Fe. If you are staying in one of the hotels on the east side of Highway 15D, it will be a good walk to get to Centro Santa Fe. It is very doable – we did it! – but you may want to walk there and then take a taxi or Uber back after you have loaded up on shopping.

Other Malls in Santa Fe

Plaza Samara, Patio Santa Fe, and Garden Santa Fe are the other three malls in the area. Patio Santa Fe is on the western end of Santa Fe (closer to the older district) and isn’t necessary to go to unless you want to shop at Sam’s Club. Plaza Samara and Garden Santa Fe are both within walking distance of most of the hotels – much closer than walking to Centro Santa Fe. Plaza Samara is a real mall, although on a much smaller scale than Centro Santa Fe. Garden Santa Fe, on the other hand, is more of a mall food court with some retail stores to round it out.

Plaza Samara had an art exhibition when we visited. It was super cool!

Plaza Samara’s food court has a wide variety of places to eat, so you’ll want to check that out. Garden Santa Fe’s food court is more depressing, especially on the weekends when it is dead. The best part of Garden Santa Fe is the garden above the mall, which is actually at street level since the mall is built underground. If you are a fan of Carl’s Jr in the US, note that there is a location in Garden Santa Fe.

The garden above Garden Santa Fe is surrounded by more glass architecture.

Would we visit Santa Fe again?

Perhaps. First, you should only check out Santa Fe if you are a fan of ultra-urban, modern cities full of glass skyscrapers. If you aren’t truly interested in this urban design, then skip Santa Fe. Yet, if you are a fan of this style, then yes, you might as well check out Santa Fe if have exhausted the rest of Mexico City. For example, we spent three days in Santa Fe at the tail end of a month-long stay in Mexico City. That is reasonable. But if you are only in Mexico City for a few days, no need to go out to Santa Fe – spend your days in CDMX itself!

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