There’s a reason Rome is nicknamed “the eternal city” – and not just for the endless remnants of bygone times to uncover across its cobbled streets and bucket-list historical sights. It’s also because there’s never a bad time to go (except, perhaps, during the sweltering and tourist-thronged month of August). That being said, over the past few years, a new guard of hotels has arrived to offer a range of perspectives on the city – from the Bulgari Hotel, which honours both the brand’s legacy as a Rome-founded jewellery house and the rich history of the building that houses it, to a new outpost of the Edition hotel group, which celebrates the vibrant creative spirit of the younger generations currently making their mark in the city.
Here, find our guide to the new wave of hotels (and a couple of more long-standing favourites) reimagining Rome for the modern traveller. Palazzo Roma A coin’s throw from the Trevi Fountain – as well as the Pantheon and Spanish Steps – Palazzo Roma , a member of the prestigious Leading Hotels of the World portfolio, is one of the city’s buzziest new openings: a jaw-dropping 18th-century palazzo reimagined with bold pops of colour and crammed full of stunning restored frescos, eye-catching paintings and objets d’art. Enter through the grand lobby and head up the marble staircase, where you’ll find the eccentric music room (the palace’s former ballroom, where you can sip your espresso while gazing up at mounted instruments and busts of Beethoven and Rossini) and the hall of clocks, with its antique timepieces, floor-to-ceiling map and impressive collection of coffee table books.
The bedrooms are equally striking and playful, with plush furnishings, gold detailing, four-poster beds, artfully clashing prints and jewel box-like walk-in wardrobes. Don’t miss breakfast in the incredible, fresco-filled restaurant, overseen by chef Federico Sartucci, either – raspberry-topped maritozzi followed by poached eggs, pecorino mousse and crispy guanciale, perhaps, while at dinner you can feast on polpette and a delicious amatriciana. Meanwhile the service, courtesy of restaurant manager Andrea Pazzogna, is typically Roman in its warmth and familiarity.
– Radhika Seth JK Place Roma JK Place Roma feels like the insider’s Roman hideaway: a supremely stylish boutique hotel, just down the street from the Spanish Steps and housed in a building which was once part of the 17th-century Palazzo Borghese, where the exceptional service makes it worth the price. This is a place where staff can recommend (and get you a last minute booking at) some of the best and least touristy restaurants in town; a place where their in-house restaurant manager, Diego Palpizi, might surprise you with additional, inventive treats while also doling out tips for your next day trip to Naples. Their expertise is unparalleled.
The lobby sets the tone – verdant palms, Roman busts, graphic artwork – as does the surprisingly capacious lift, complete with a plush velvet corner sofa. It’ll bring you to the glamorous, Michele Bönan-designed rooms – all dark wood panelling, canopy beds, atmospheric lighting, grand marble bathrooms and (if you’re lucky) your very own terrace, from where you can sip an Aperol and watch the sunset. After that, make your way downstairs to the restaurant and slip into one of their cherry-red booths to gorge on a platter of traditional suppli or a wonderfully creamy carbonara, followed by a digestivo in the cosy, book-lined library bar.
– RS Bulgari Hotel Roma Last June, another layer of history was added to the grand Piazza Augusto Imperatore, which houses the mausoleum of the first Roman emperor, Augustus: the Bulgari Hotel Roma . Situated within an enormous Mussolini-era Rationalist building that has been meticulously renovated from top to toe (a four-year-long process due to its historic significance), the idea that the hotel – which also sits a short walk away from the Roman jewellery house’s headquarters – would deliver opulence at the grandest scale is something of a given. And once you’ve stepped through its doors, you’ll know immediately that you’re in Bulgari-land, with glittering mosaic details, rippled marbles, lacquered wood and crisp neutrals covering every surface.
Yet while the glamorous, gilded Bulgari hotel formula is all present and correct, it’s also underpinned by a very Italian design rigour that nods to the building’s origins in the 1930s, whether in the Ginori vases from the same decade designed by Gio Ponti, or the various original mid-century pieces dotted throughout the property. There’s also a lavishly appointed spa complex inspired by the ancient Roman Baths of Caracalla that manages to be at once sumptuous and soothing. Not least in its dramatic centrepiece: a 20-metre pool featuring eight columns of arabesque marble, with sparkling niches of black-and-gold housing both relaxation areas and 19th-century replicas of classical statues.
For all these cutting-edge luxuries, though, the project was underpinned by a deep reverence for the city that surrounds it, including a partnership with the Torlonia Foundation, whose collection of sculptures Bulgari is helping to restore. Not only is the Bulgari Hotel Roma ushering in another chapter in Rome’s complex history, but it’s also looking firmly to its future. – Liam Hess The Rome Edition When it comes to opening a hotel in Rome, it’s all about location – and on that, the first outpost of the modish Edition hotel group, co-created by the Studio 54 hospitality legend Ian Schrager, firmly delivers.
Housed in a stylish former bank that dates back to the 1940s, it’s tucked away a few blocks behind the Piazza Barberini: just steps from the glamorous Via Veneto thoroughfare so famously immortalised by Fellini in La Dolce Vita, as well as a hop, skip and a jump away from major tourist sites like the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. But most importantly? The Rome Edition feels just removed enough from the action so as to offer a sense of sanctuary: step into its colossal lobby, with marble-clad walls offset by opulent green velvet drapes (and perfumed with the familiar, uniform scent of Edition hotels around the world) and you’ll immediately feel far removed from the city’s hustle and bustle. No more so than when you whizz up in an elevator to one of the plush, neutral-toned rooms, which feel comfortingly familiar while also featuring a few subtle nods to Italian design culture with its walnut-panelled walls and Carrara marble sinks.
It’s an atmosphere of stylish serenity that continues throughout the hotel’s communal spaces: first in the leafy, expansive outdoor terrace, half of which is dedicated to its flagship restaurant, Anima, overseen by chef Paola Colucci, whose Trastevere restaurant Pianostrada is one of the hottest bookings in town. (Don’t miss her luxuriant take on spaghetti al pomodoro.) Elsewhere, there are two jewel box bars: the speakeasy-style Punch Room, which features cosy wood panelling and a roaring fireplace, or the decadent Jade Room, a boutique 12-seater cocktail bar with veined marble walls and twinkling emerald lights.
The real showstopper, however, is the roof terrace, which comes complete with a pool to cool off in the dog days of summer, and offers views that stretch all the way to St Peter’s. – LH Six Senses Rome The Six Senses Rome marks the luxury hotel group’s first foray into an urban property (the brand is known best for its wellness- and sustainability-focused destination resorts) – and as with so many landmarks in the city of Rome, the building it’s housed in has borne witness to many centuries of history, with its interiors nodding to everything from ancient Roman building techniques to the height of Baroque splendour. Yet upon stepping into the lobby, tucked away in a small piazza past the whizzing motorcycles of the Via del Corso, the feel is decidedly more contemporary.
An airy atrium sits at the heart of the building, featuring open-plan interiors and light-drenched outdoor spaces playing host to a head-spinning array of dining options, from wood-fired pizzas with doughs made from ancient grains to your very own gelato counter – all within a calm, neutral-toned space that seems worlds away from the riotous energy of the city just outside its walls. It’s a sanctuary-like feel that continues throughout the property, all of which was overseen by the Spanish architect and industrial designer Patricia Urquiola, whose thoughtful, ergonomic approach is here channeled into something impressively sleek that speaks to the hotel’s overall air of serenity. No more so than in the hotel’s sprawling spa facilities, which feature marble walls etched with bushels of laurel (a nod to the myth of Daphne, the mythological nymph who turned into a tree at the touch of Apollo), as well as baths inspired by the ancient Romans, scented steam showers, saunas heated at various degrees to warm or cool the body, and an ice fountain from which you’re encouraged to gather handfuls of the stuff and rub it gently across your chest.
It’s the perfect blend of hi-tech and homely; the best of both worlds, old and new. – LH Palazzo Vilòn The entrance to Hotel Vilòn may be fairly inauspicious – it’s tucked down a cobbled side street mere steps away from both the River Tiber and the luxury boutiques that line the Via Condotti – but its illustrious history is anything but. Housed within the enormous complex of the former Palazzo Borghese that takes up an entire block (it was once the city centre property of the noble family who produced one of Rome’s most controversial popes, the descendants of which still live in the building’s residential quarters today), its corridors were once Rome’s most important halls of power.
Today, however, it serves as one of the city’s most desirable, design-forward boutique gems, with impeccable service and just 18 rooms, all decked out with the owners’ impressive collection of contemporary art and photography and colourful, off-kilter decor choices courtesy of architect Giampiero Panepinto and film production designer Paolo Bonfini, who oversaw its restoration back in 2018. And now, the owners of Hotel Vilòn are offering something even more spectacular: the Palazzo Vilòn, a self-contained three-bedroom apartment next door that can be rented in part, or as a whole, with a private butler alongside all the amenities offered by the neighbouring hotel. Except the term apartment doesn’t really do it justice: this is Roman Baroque grandiosity at its most eye-popping.
Entered through a rear facade overlooking the Tiber – an architectural treasure in and of itself, designed for Cardinal Camillo Borghese in the early 17th century – you’ll find yourself in a lobby lavished with pastel blue and putti-filled frescos, as well as gilded surfaces upon gilded surfaces. Meanwhile, each bedroom is like a mini-apartment, retaining the sensitively restored skeleton of the building and lending it a stylish update with mid-century furniture; and that’s without mentioning the unparalleled views across the private gardens of the palazzo. It doesn’t come cheap, but if you want unabashed splendour and ultimate privacy, there’s no other stay in Rome quite like it.
– LH Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Stepping inside the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome is an experience in and of itself. There’s the marble colonnade out front which dates back to the late 19th century, then the Art Deco arches of the lobby, presided over by enormous Murano chandeliers; at one end, an illuminated case full of pastel pastry confections beckoned, while glasses on the bar at the back of the centre of the lobby salon glowed in the jewel tones of Campari and Aperol. Within the hotel’s suites, the cool marble underfoot gave way to cherry-red tile in the bathroom, covering all surfaces.
Meanwhile, the lighting in the shower could be adjusted to mimic something more like the dance floor of Saturday Night Fever, but the overall effect – with the suite’s chrome and leather furniture – was more Paolo Sorrentino than Bay Ridge Italiano. Evidently, the mandate for the first Italian property from the wellness-oriented Thai hotel group was to go big or go home. Yet while it overlooks the Piazza della Repubblica, where Fiat cinquecentos zoom like toy cars on a racetrack and an imposing 16th-century church stands at the north side of the circle, the Anantara Palazzo Naiadi prides itself on its impressive spa offering.
The hotel, in fact, is built on the remains of public baths dating back to the 4th century when the Roman emperor Diocletian would send his subjects to these venues to cleanse their bodies and their souls. Underground remains of the public spa are visible, I would learn, through plexiglass flooring on the lowest level of the hotel, and the on-site spa at Anantara (which opened last February) has incorporated some of the ancient rituals into their offerings. A “Diocletian bath ritual” uses ingredients that have remained unchanged for millennia: sage, lavender, honey, laurel and olive oil.
It’s an unexpected oasis of wellness in one of Rome’s busiest corners. – Chloe Schama.
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