Just when we considered ourselves fluent in the upscale Mexican nightlife movement sweeping Nueva York, along comes Salón Hecho to school us in a whole new lingua franca of mezcales, micheladas, and curados.

Next to sister restaurant Hecho en Dumbo, the brand-new space is modeled on downtown Mexico City's hip neighborhood cantinas: part local watering hole, part performance space (Thursdays will feature live music), part showcase for the many moods of the agave plant. We're intrigued/borderline-scared about the cantina's signature tipples, abocados--mezcal traditionally infused with out-there flavors like juniper, lamb, and turkey. Owners Ethan Smith and Danny Mena assure us they'll be sticking to more benign spikings, however, including avocado and allspice. How do you say, "I'll ease into it with a margarita?"

Photo: Courtesy of Kimberly Sentner

Pssst...you can tell us. That ashtray on your side table used to reside in a Kenya safari lodge, didn't it? And those Egyptian cotton robes, could they be from a certain Paris boutique hotel? Well, sticky fingers, the newly opened Del Carmen Concept Hotel in Guadalajara, Mexico, is ready to make an honest traveler out of you. Here's the concept: You like it, you can buy it in the hotel's boutique.

Smartly designed in vivid hues, each of the nine rooms and suites pays tribute to a specific Mexican surrealist artist with custom-made furnishings and objets d'art handcrafted by regional artisans. Those chessboards in the Belle Epoque-style bar, the eclectic keys hanging from the ceiling of the lobby, even the crockery in the Kahlo-inspired Mexican restaurant--all are available in Del Carmen's Catalogue of Curiosities. Personal concierges will arrange shipments, large or small, anywhere in the world. Sure beats "borrowing" those towels from the housekeeping cart.

Photo: Courtesy of MexicoBoutiqueHotels.com

Greedy, greedy Mexico City. Not content to merely inspire architectural envy with your Aztec ruins, you had to go and conquer modern times with the new home of Museo Soumaya, too.

A passion project of Carlos Slim, the world's wealthiest man, and son-in-law architect Fernando Romero, the surreal, 150-foot-high structure is pure design fantasy. Windowless, except for the skylights on the top floor, the organic shape (reminiscent of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao) is wrapped in hexagonal aluminum plates.

Inside, you'll find Slim's eclectic 66,000-piece collection of religious relics, pre-Columbian gold coins, Diego Rivera murals, and plenty of European masters, including the world's largest private reserve of Rodins. Want to ponder The Thinker? Commune with Eve? They're here. And unlike at the Aztec empire's temples, there's no sacrifice necessary for this pilgrimage: Admission is free.

Photo: Courtesy of Museo Soumaya

As the clock strikes midnight this New Year's Eve, some of us will be making resolutions of abstinence for 2011. ME by Meliá, on the other hand, will be celebrating self-indulgence and the launch of Complete ME--the scene-y Cancún hotel's all-inclusive model.

The new format allows you to indulge your every vacation whim without the nickel-and-diming you encounter at some of Cancún's all-inclusives. That means accommodation at the South Beach-style, 448-room property as well as alcoholic beverages, meals, and admission to ME's famous beach parties and clubs are all included in rates starting at $194 per person per night.

So go ahead, have another tequila--or four. It's on the house.

For many of us, the end of daylight saving time on Sunday means one thing: the start of a long, cold winter. But don't despair--book a vacation for January, when the festive sparkle of the holidays is gone and you're frozen to the bone. It just so happens we've found somewhere you can chill (in a good way) in a mild climate to beat your winter blues: Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico, opening January 20.

This city resort--67 rooms, all with balconies or terraces--slots seamlessly into San Miguel's winding, cobbled streets lined with colonial-era buildings. The hotel has a Mexican restaurant, two swimming pools, a spa, and a rooftop tapas bar.

Go on, picture yourself here come January--suddenly the next few months don't seem so bad, do they?

Photo: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts

You can expect high spirits in graveyards, endless fireworks, and all manner of colorful decorations like papel picado (tissue-paper banners) today and tomorrow to mark Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Stores overflow with trinkets to offer to the deceased, such as skull and coffin candies and yellow marigolds. As you can see from the drunken skeletons, this is a time to party with (or even mock) death rather than fear it.

Photo: Chan Kah, Flickr