Bulgari Hotel, Rome

Best for… The Bulgari Hotel is the city’s most exciting new property, completely decadent and over-the-top. It’s a very special place to stay, or to have lunch or drinks in their very welcoming caffé.

The look and feel… While the luxury jewelry house was founded here in 1884, and they opened their first hotel in 2004 in Milan (and seven more since then), they were patiently waiting to find the perfect location in their hometown. They finally found it in a palazzo on Piazza Augusto Imperatore (facing the Mausoleum of Augustus), which was built in the Fascist era of the ‘30s and has been a government building until now. The Italian design team Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel (who do all the Bulgari hotels) did an incredibly clever job at weaving modern design into the existing historical elements within the context of the ancient city. The location is very central, but not on a tourist path—a 5-minute walk from Piazza del Popolo and a 10 minute walk to Piazza Navona. 

The rooms… So well appointed—nice marble touches and a tile mosaic treatment above the tub. Love that they had a roller in the room and a great yoga mat from Workshop, who they also do a collab with in their gyms. A Bruno Munari hand-gesture book as a bedside read. Beautiful vintage Bulgari ads as art—also in the hallways, which were drawings/sketches. Our room had a coffee closet right next to our headboard, which was genius placement—literally you could lean out of bed and turn on the espresso machine. And a very nice touch was the ginger tea in a thermos they put bedside at turndown.

The wellness… I had an incredible massage with the therapist Xenia—she was at the Bulgari Dubai for years before coming to Rome. It was super deep and intense—at points I wondered if it was too much—but the next day I could feel the results of it, which were so good. They use Augustinus Bader products for skin treatments and their facials are excellent; our daughter was given one as a Christmas present from a friend, and she loved her therapist who gave her all sorts of tips for her skin. (Refreshingly, none of them involved a hard sell on using the Bader products!) There’s a steam room and sauna, and then an epic pool. I think it’s the best I’ve seen—beautiful marble columns and the sound of splashing fountains makes it an incredible Roman bath fantasy. 

The food & drink… Il Caffè, their street-level cafe, is obviously for guests, but they really prioritized making this a place that would attract locals. I’d heard Roman friends talk about how good (and reasonable) the cafe is, which is so rare in a luxury hotel. (A cappuccino is 4 euros and waiters don’t hustle you to order anything else.) We had lunch there and were very impressed; the rigatoni Amatriciana was perfectly done, the suppli excellent, and the culatello was served on warm bread so it melted the fat to perfection. The Campari spritzes were served with Bulgari-branded orange peel, which maybe was a bit much, but also cute. The fave, with cicoria and crusco peppers crunched on top, was a star. The staff is so warm—unscripted and genuine. Niko Romito is the star chef at his namesake restaurant upstairs, but it was New Year’s Eve when we were there, so I didn’t get a read on what it would be like on a regular night. The bartenders at the Bulgari Bar (also upstairs) made excellent martinis and the bar scene was cool, with great music, the most scene-y place I’ve been for drinks in Rome. I’ll definitely go back for cocktails! Room service was great—an excellent club sandwich with a perfectly cooked egg on it. 

Date of Stay… Dec 31-Jan 1, 2024.