The via Veneto, once the epicenter of Rome’s luxury hospitality industry, was so quiet last Saturday, you might have thought the Italian capital had lost its mojo. But a few minutes’ taxi ride away, the city’s pedestrian-friendly historic center was filled, guancia to guancia, with an international cast of visitors. Some, including our cab driver, stuck behind oblivious gawpers on via Mario dei Fiori, consider that a disaster movie scenario. But others sensed opportunity on the horizon and so, just in time for this year’s Roman Catholic Jubilee, central Rome is serving up a bumper crop of new ultra-luxury hotels from Anantara, Orient Express, Six Senses, Four Seasons, Nobu and Romeo Collection. Carnet de Voyage chose the Bulgari Roma, just across the street from the mausoleum of Augustus, where an ongoing excavation is slowly being revealed. But it was hard to turn away from the hotel’s myriad delights—especially in last week’s 95 degree heat.
From the moment we entered the Bulgari, which opened two years ago in a completely rethought landmark, the Mussolini-commissioned former home of Italy’s taxation offices (avoid avoidance jokes, please), designed by the Rationalist architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo and built between 1936 and 1938, we were struck by its austere grandeur and rigorous focus on detail. That begins with the subtle scent of Bulgari’s Thé Vert fragrance, which lingers in its public spaces. The hotel’s appearance is reflected in a staff exuding attentive precision, discretion and attractive energy.
Bulgari restored some of the building’s original features like the frescoes in one of the several hotel entrances and a striking multi-story oval staircase, but has otherwise updated it with large, comfortable bedrooms, marble and mosaic bathrooms, and an array of amenities from the smallest (shoeshine kits from Berluti, another LVMH-owned brand) to the largest hotel-rooftop terrace in Rome, with 360 degree views of the Eternal City. In between are a chocolate shop, sprawling bar, several more lobby lounges, a library (open to the public) full of books on the city, and Niko Romito, a contemporary Roman restaurant overlooking Augustus’ tomb.
On the floor below, ten windows in the grand Bulgari suite look out at the same view, but it has visual competition from Antonio Citterio and Mangiarotti furniture, Venetian fabrics by Rubelli, and an imperial bathtub inspired by the Baths of Caracalla, carved from a block of Corchia marble.
Subtle reminders of the force behind the place include vitrines with Bulgari jewelry and drawings from the house archives, but they share the walls with vintage photos of celebrities in Rome, many of them Bulgari fans, harkening back to the era of the via Veneto paparazzi. Not so subtle are the reminders that the cast of characters visiting Rome these days has changed from those days, and from the Grand Tour years that preceded them. Though American- and English-style breakfasts can be had, the all-day menu in the ground floor cafe highlighted Gymnasium (egg white omelette and chia pudding), Chinese (congee rolls and braised beef noodle soup) and Arab (Shakshuka eggs and ful madames) breakfasts. Carnet de Voyage chose a remarkably delicious Avocado Toast, one day topped with eggs, the next with Red King Alaskan salmon.
Curiously, the one thing the hotel lacks is a Bulgari boutique. Fortunately, the Roman’s brand’s flagship store on via Condotti (its home since 1894) is just a short walk away.
