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Mexico City Mojo: Fresh Appeal & New Hip Hotel

Mar 15, 2010; 2:09 PM ET

One can imagine that Mexico City bid farewell to 2009 with considerable relief. The bad economy coupled with spurts of regional violence kept visitors away early on, and in April, when the city became ground zero of the H1N1 pandemic, tourism fell off a cliff.

Fast-forward to the new year. In December, Mexico City became the first city in Latin America to legalize gay marriage and same-sex couple adoption. Also, it's among seven cities worldwide selected by FIFA to broadcast all the 2010 World Cup games live on giant, public screens. Add to that the city's humming design scene, its affordability, and legions of innovative restaurants, and the only question left is where to bed down. After a few delays, Las Alcobas opened January 18 in the city's affluent Polanco district.

Liz Webber for ShermansTravel.com

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