Looking for the luxuries of a boutique hotel and the privacy of a vacation rental?
Casai is the perfect balance between a hotel and home. Think modern apartments in the best neighbourhoods.
You get the space, privacy and local ambience a modern traveller craves, with the consistency and personalized support that a traveller needs.
Being a tech and hospitality concept, Casai is designed with the modern, tech-savvy traveller in mind.
Yes, digital nomads, I’m talking about you.
They provide everything a nomad could want and need – high-speed WiFi, workspaces, privacy and local ambience.
When I found Casai was operating in Mexico City where I’d be visiting for a couple of days before flying to Colombia, I knew I had to experience them.
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Checking in to Casai in Mexico City
As we took the overnight bus to Mexico City, we arrived really early – at 7am. Check-in only starts from 3pm, hence we had plenty of time to kill and not enough energy to do so.
When we told the concierge (via Whatsapp) about our predicament, they unhesitatingly offered their lounge to us, which opens from 7am.
They’ve designed the lounge in a way that is really modern and cosy, with bar top counters, tables for working spaces and even a spot with tiered seating to chill. With our bodies tired from the overnight bus, we easily succumbed to rest here.
You can even use the lounge as a space for co-working. While the lounge was designed to be a co-working space, we had some difficulties with the WiFi connection.
When it was time to check-in, we were not expecting that our accommodation was far away from the lounge, since a traditional hotel space would have everything was under one roof. At Casai, their apartments are sprinkled all around prime locations in Mexico City.
With that, we reassembled ourselves and all our luggages through the uneven streets of Mexico City to finally arrive at our abode for the next 4 days.
With all the information emailed to us at the point of our booking confirmation, there was no need for checking in at the reception; the whole check-in process was 100% contactless.
Speaking of COVID-19 measures being taken, every apartment door in Casai has a Sanitary Seal for guaranteed cleanliness.
If you require to do a test before leaving Mexico, you can even conveniently order a COVID-19 PCR test with them to be delivered to your apartment before you fly.
Read this:
Casai’s Room
From my past experiences reviewing hotels – everything from high-end luxury lodges to modern, contemporary rooms, I’ve developed a fondness for well-designed rooms with modern comfort.
When I was selecting the rooms to stay on Casai’s booking page, I already knew I was in for a treat. They made choosing one apartment to stay really, really challenging.
Each apartment was very uniquely designed with a cohesive theme, each one very pleasing to the eye. First world problems, ugh.
You may not know it, but Casai works with local artisans and designers to create beautiful spaces that reflect each of the apartment’s location. Each piece of their furniture and artwork are worth appreciating given how they made an effort to source them locally.
You’d think that they designed each corner in the apartment to be Instagrammable, and while they do, what really impressed me was how each nook and cranny of the apartment was designed with modern function in mind.
Can we also take a moment to appreciate the technology that they equip the room with? Beginning with the smart lock entry, each time a guest checks in, a unique code is generated.
Stepping into the apartment was like checking into the future. For someone who has been living in rural Puerto Escondido and traditional Oaxaca City for the past 5 months, you can imagine my ecstasy when I found the Smart TV has Chromecast installed in it and a Google Home!
Except I couldn’t use Google Home as it was programmed in the Spanish language – bummer.
OH, and the way the TV was situated divides the living room from the bedroom. The TV swivels 360 degrees so you can binge-watch Netflix (why not learn a language while Netflixing?) on a rainy day with friends or in the comfort of the bed. Talk about smart spaces!
When they mean fully-equipped home, they mean every word of it. From table placemats to ice cube trays and egg holders, there’s nothing they missed.
They even provide paper towels and cooking oil (two commonly used items that are regularly forgotten in B&Bs) to make our stay as at home as possible! Seriously, their attention to detail is so impeccable that I was found continuously dropping my jaw.
For instance, they were even aware of how we were situated in the middle of a bustling street with bright street lights shining throughout the night.
They knew to install blackout curtains that fully block out light. You can imagine how soundly we slept each night, especially when lying on such a premium mattress.
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Master bedroom -
Second bedroom
Their weighted blanket must have definitely helped with the sleep too since it’s proven to help with relaxation. I honestly felt like royalty every night.
Casai’s Services
If there’s one thing any hospitality brand can learn from Casai, it’s their top-notch personalized services. As with most of the services in Mexico, communication is done swiftly and efficiently through Whatsapp.
Except, Casai takes it one step further with their customer service.
Their always-on communication is another level. Not only do they provide 24/7 digital concierge service, they were also very accommodating with our requests.
For instance, when we requested early check-in and late checkout, they were extremely accommodating in making our stay as comfortable as possible. Needless to say, they helped keep our luggage while waiting for our check-in time, and extended our check out time generously.
When I asked for recommendations on where to shop or eat, they were already prepared with a list of the best places to go around the neighbourhood of Roma.
In our short stay in Mexico City with Casai, we managed to squeeze out a morning to make use of their complimentary bike rentals. As there are limited bikes per location, booking is required a day in advance.
You wouldn’t associate Mexico City as being a bike-friendly city, as much as Amsterdam is, but boy were we wrong! There are dedicated bike lanes on the main roads, and plenty of gardens to roam around in Roma where we stayed. Only then did we realize how bike-friendly Mexico City is!
In lieu of COVID-19, yoga classes weren’t operating, which was a bummer, but they do provide wellness classes such as yoga on normal days.
Casai is an easy and affordable way to stay in Mexico City’s most desirable neighbourhoods, providing exclusive access to curated recommendations.
There’s nothing they don’t think of when it comes to making your stay as comfortable as possible. You can rest assured that you won’t want for anything with all that they offer.
An A+ apartment for modern travellers and digital nomads.
Casai is currently in Mexico City, Tulum and Sao Paulo, with many new locations to come in the next year. I honestly would use Casai as an excuse to visit these cities where they operate in. I’m a 100% Casai convert!
Casai reservations@casai.com +1 (415) 358-0084 (toll-free) Whatsapp (+52) 55 6319 2973
Special thanks to Casai for making this stay possible! All opinions remain my own.
3 – 6 July 2021, Sat to Tue
