History stars at Mexico City hotel

Opened 102 years ago, the Hotel Geneve in the Zona Rosa of Mexico City focuses on the past. Décor is from the early 20th century at an establishment that lodged Winston Churchill and also Charles Lindbergh while he wooed Ann Morrow, then the daughter of the American Ambassador.

The parents of Carlos Slim – either first or second richest man in the world -- made the hotel their first residence although whether Carlos was conceived there is not mentioned. Today Slim’s Carso Group owns the hotel along with five others in Mexico. The Geneve was the first hotel in Mexico to admit women traveling alone, the first to have an elevators and the first to have its own taxi stand. Although the hotel oozes ancient charms, modern comforts and improvements have been added.

By Jimm Budd