#Inside Rome’s New Bulgari Hotel, Home to Michelin-Starred

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With its attractive location in the heart of Rome in a beautifully restored historic building, the new Bulgari Hotel Roma in the Campo Marzio district has all the features to become one of the best hotels in the world. Among its features are gastronomic offerings curated by three-Michelin-starred chef Niko Romito, sophisticated interior design and public spaces that include the most extraordinary panoramic terrace with 360-degree views of Rome.

The building that houses the hotel was built between 1936 and 1938 and inaugurated in 1950 by former Italian Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi; it stands directly opposite the recently restored Ara Pacis Mausoleum. An example of rationalist architecture in Rome, it was designed by architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo and decorated with frescoes, mosaics and sculptures. The building’s architectural rigor is counterbalanced by Antonio Barrera’s frescoes that replicate the Mausoleum of Augustus (located across the street) from different views, while the south exterior wall houses a 70-square-meter mosaic bearing the signature of Ferruccio Ferrazzi depicting the birth of Rome.

In June, Bulgari inaugurated its ninth property by hosting a debut party for a select audience that enjoyed live music and dance performances as well as an exhibition of vintage Bulgari pieces featuring a platinum necklace with emeralds and diamonds dating back to 1962 and formerly belonging to Elizabeth Taylor. The skies above also had their moment with a magnificent show involving more than 200 drones, producing a play of light that illuminated the heavenly vault over the Eternal City.

Featuring 114 rooms (from $1,900 euros or around $2,075 a night; more booking options at Booking.com, Expedia and Hotels.com), the new property was designed by the ACPV Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel architectural firm, which has also designed the look of the rest of the Bulgari Hotels & Resorts portfolio. Rome-based Studio Polis with architect Gennaro Farina was responsible for the design and supervision of the building’s restoration and decorations work and was also involved in the urban plan.

The opening celebration began with Bulgari Group ceo Jean-Christophe Babin doing the honors at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in front of a statue of Augustus as Jupiter that welcomes visitors to the hotel; the artwork is an original Roman sculpture in Pentelic marble from the Villa Mattei on the Caelian Hill in the Eternal City’s center. The work is part of a five-year exhibition in the hotel’s vestibule that features five works from the Torlonia Collection. Recently restored by the Torlonia Foundation with the contribution of Bulgari, the collection aims to restore representative images of the Augustan dream. Joining in the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, actresses and Bulgari ambassadors Zendaya and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bulgari Group executive vice president Silvio Ursini, Bulgari Hotel Roma general manager Vincenzo Falcone and Rome county councilor Alessandro Onorato.

“The Bulgari Hotel Roma is not only a new gem for the Eternal City but a new, contemporary monument of Rome that combines the pinnacle of hospitality and gastronomy setting a new world standard,” said Babin on opening night. “It also offers a public cultural center with a library inside, dedicated to Roman arts and architecture, to unique statues from the renowned Torlonia collection. The hotel offers a full immersion in a new luxury that combines hospitality, arts and craftsmanship, embodying a new generation of monuments of haute hospitality.”

Continued Babin, “We are honored to contribute to the splendor of Rome, Bulgari’s hometown and always an inexhaustible source of inspiration for all its creations.”

Six-hundred guests attended the festivities, led by Zendaya (in Valentino) and Chopra Jonas, who wore the Augustus Emerald Monete Sautoir necklace (feauring more than 600 carats of emeralds anda. Bronze Roman coin depicting emperor Tiberius Augustus) for the occasion. Also in attendance were French actor Adèle Exarchopoulos, German actor Emilia Schüle, Turkish actor Alina Boz and Italian actors Miriam Leone, Cristiana Capotondi, Carolina Crescentini with her husband the singer-songwriter Motta and Vittoria Puccini.

To cap the evening, singer Alessandro Ristori, one of Italy’s leading musical performers of the 1960s and 1970s, brought to the stage the best songs from his repertoire combining international titles and iconic Italian evergreens like “Come prima più di Prima” and “Pensiero Stupendo.”

Inside the hotel, organized on seven floors, the 114 rooms are comprised mostly of suites. Amenities include a 1,000-square-meter spa, a hyper-tech gym, swimming pool, a reading room with texts dedicated to the history of jewelry and a library dedicated to Roman arts and architecture.

Among the spaces for drinking and eating are La Terrazza, where guests can admire sweeping views of Rome; The Bulgari Bar, for enjoying excellent cocktails; and on the ground floor; and Bulgari Dolci where visitors can enjoy exquisite chocolaterie and pastry, such as Bulgari’s precious chocolate gems.