Rome Finally Gets the Modern Hotels It Deserves

Whereas Rome’s charms could also be, as they are saying, everlasting, it’s by no means been a metropolis notably prized for its lodges. Till not too long ago, upmarket lodging within the Italian capital normally meant an ostentatiously embellished pile meant to evoke the town’s Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-century palazzi, full of gilded furnishings and imprecise nostalgia. Over the previous yr or so, a completely new breed of luxurious lodge has emerged, one which pays tribute to the modernist architects who remade a lot of Rome within the Rationalist model within the early-to-mid-Twentieth century. The Bulgari lodge, for instance, opened final summer time in a hulking Thirties authorities constructing designed by the distinguished Trieste-born architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo. And the Version lodge moved right into a financial institution partly attributed to Marcello Piacentini, the architect liable for the EUR district, the neighborhood of large edifices constructed underneath Mussolini. Different notable new choices take their model cues from Twenty first-century Scandinavia, deftly mixing northern design aesthetics with Italian Renaissance artwork and Roman artifacts. Right here, a more in-depth have a look at 5 new lodging that break with custom.

Six Senses Rome

The primary metropolis lodge from an organization higher recognized for its seaside resort and spas, Six Senses Rome opened final spring in a historic palazzo on Piazza San Marcello, a brief stroll from the Pantheon. The Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola oversaw the design, holding the swish traces of the unique construction whereas remodeling it right into a light-drenched modern retreat. She housed the reception and foyer bar in a glass-topped atrium, filling the area with large potted vegetation. In a single part of the foyer, glass flooring reveals a glimpse of an historical subterranean baptismal pool that belongs to the neighboring church. For the 96 visitor rooms, Urquiola completed the partitions with cocciopesto plaster, a sort of lime wash made with crushed bricks, a building materials as previous as the town itself, whereas the furnishings, in muted pastels and rounded shapes, are unmistakably trendy. Then there’s the spa, in some ways the centerpiece of the lodge. Awash in travertine marble, it consists of 5 therapy rooms, a yoga studio, a sequence of indoor plunge swimming pools, a hammam and an area devoted to biohacking therapies, like pulsed electromagnetic area remedy and LED mild masks, for when all of the age-old wellness cures don’t fairly minimize it. Rooms from about $1,200 an evening.

Palazzo Ripetta

Within the Nineteen Sixties, Luigi Moretti, the Roman architect who designed the Watergate advanced in Washington, D.C., remade Palazzo Ripetta, a Seventeenth-century Catholic faculty for poor and orphaned ladies, right into a residence and lodge. Possession has remained in the identical household since then, however the 78-room property underwent a top-to-bottom renovation in 2022. A spotlight of the latest iteration is the San Baylon restaurant, which reinterprets conventional Italian recipes. Right here, for instance, the traditional vitello tonnato is served as a block of marbled veal resting on a dollop of foamy tuna sauce. The visitor rooms too supply a sly twist on previous conventions. The rooms — by Fausta Gaetani, the designer behind Le Sirenuse lodge in Positano — are all barely completely different in model however observe an analogous theme: pale partitions with traditional molding, brightly patterned upholstery, summary artwork and a rainbow of Murano glass lights. Rooms from about $600 an evening.

Bulgari Lodge Roma

As of final June, the previous headquarters of the Italian social safety company is now dwelling to the latest Bulgari Lodge, an offshoot of the posh jewellery model. The Milanese architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel retained lots of the ornamental options present in Morpurgo’s unique constructing, together with mosaics depicting Roman myths splashed a number of tales excessive throughout the facade. The décor for the 110 visitor rooms leans into the corporate’s heritage, adopting jewel tones like peridot inexperienced and topaz yellow for its shade scheme and reproducing a few of the historic home’s most prized settings in mosaic type above the marble bathtubs, a nod to Morpurgo’s imagery on the constructing’s exterior. As for eating venues, friends have a number of to select from, together with a restaurant and chocolate store by three-Michelin-star chef Niko Romito and, in hotter months, a rooftop bar that friends onto the brick mausoleum of the Roman emperor Augustus, positioned simply throughout the highway. Rooms from about $1,750 an evening.

The Rome Version

Set again from a quiet residential road simply behind the trendy thoroughfare Through Veneto, a tranquil backyard full of shady inexperienced foliage buffers the brand new 112-room Rome Version from the town at massive, making the doorway beneath the cavernous foyer’s 20-foot-high ceilings really feel all of the extra dramatic. Inside, probably the most inviting areas are decidedly intimate. There’s the 14-seat Jade Bar within the foyer, furnished with velvet sofas and swathed in emerald-color stone. And close by, hid behind an unmarked door, is the speakeasy-style Punch Room, with a fire carved from Rosso Levanto marble. Visitor rooms observe a impartial palette, with walnut wooden boiserie and parquet flooring, white Carrara marble within the loos and layers of cream-colored textiles that superbly seize the morning daylight. Rooms from about $1,750 an evening.

Palazzo delle Pietre

When Patrizia Albano, a lawyer, and her husband, Carlo Mazzi, the previous president of Prada, first conceived of Palazzo delle Pietre, an eight-room lodge simply off Piazza Navona, they imagined it as an extension of their very own dwelling. The sheets are Rivolta Carmignani and the tableware is from Richard Ginori, similar to theirs, whereas fragments of millenniums-old sculptures and carved Corinthian columns from their personal assortment are positioned virtually haphazardly all through the property. The lodge has been round since 2019, however final summer time, it opened an extension known as the Appartamenti La Corte, two neatly embellished flats — one with two bedrooms, the opposite three — positioned on the higher flooring of a neighboring constructing. Each are furnished with full kitchens, Italian-made furnishings and a handful of the house owners’ architectural artifacts. The bigger of the 2 flats, measuring practically 1,300 sq. toes, additionally provides a rooftop terrace and personal sauna. Rooms from about $650 an evening; two-night minimal required.