Rooms by a chef, rooms by an architect and rooms above the Spanish chef. The Italian capital offers some spectacular hotel choices for travellers.
A suite at Rooms of Rome
(Photo: Supplied)The Rooms of Rome Palazzo Rhinoceros
The life-sized resin rhinoceros in the courtyard lends this cultural hub in the ancient quarter of Velabro its name. Envisaged as “a neighbourhood under one roof”, it’s a joint project between an arts foundation run by former fashion furrier Alda Fendi and high-profile French architect Jean Nouvel. For the moment there’s a gallery, a rooftop restaurant with dazzling views over the adjacent 4th-century
Arch of Janus and nearby Forum Boarium, and a 24-suite hotel run by Spanish hotelier Kike Sarasola, better known as the founder of the Room Mate hotel group. Nouvel has preserved the buildings’ landmark façades and original internal features such as tile fragments, flaking plaster and old timber beams, while installing “steel boxes” containing bathrooms and kitchens, and clever trompe l’oeil “mirror” panels that appear to reflect alternative views of the room.
Via del Velabro 9, theroomsofrome.com
The Presidential Suite at Hotel de la Ville.
(Photo: Supplied)Hotel de la Ville
The rooftop bar and restaurant promise some of the city’s best views yet, over Via Sistina and beyond. The Rocco Forte group has transformed an elegant 18th-century palazzo above the Spanish Steps into a five-star hotel with 104 suites and rooms, and an empire-styled spa on two floors. Chef Fulvio Pierangelini oversees menus in the hotel’s three restaurants. Next for the group are hotel openings in Puglia later this year and Sicily next year.
Via Sistina 69, roccofortehotels.com
A classic suite at H’All Tailor Suite.
(Photo: Supplied)H’All Tailor Suite
Come for chef Riccardo Di Giacinto’s refined dishes at Ristorante All’Oro – deconstructed carbonara in an eggshell, perhaps, or a twist on the classic Roman braised oxtail – then stay upstairs in a standout boutique hotel created by Di Giacinto and his wife, Ramona. The 14 carefully detailed rooms have parquet floors, marble baths, brass lights and eclectic artworks, and service is cut-above.
Via Giuseppe Pisanelli 23/25, thehallroma.com
