Bulgari to open new hotel in Rome

The luxury Italian fashion house has a new city in its hotel sights. 

A view of the Vatican City in Rome. Picture: Christopher Czermak via Unsplash

The luxury Italian fashion house has a new city in its hotel sights. 

The Italian jewellery house Bulgari was one of the first luxury brands to venture into the hotel business in 2004 with the Bulgari Hotel Milan. Since then the company has opened outposts in Bali, London, Dubai and Shanghai and Beijing. But, in 2022, it will finally open a hotel in its hometown of Rome.

The new Roman hotel will be located in the central Piazza Augusto Imperatore in the very heart of the Campo Marzio neighbourhood, a stone’s throw from Via del Corso and Via del Babuino, the Spanish Steps and the flagship Bulgari boutique on Via Condotti.

A render of the new hotel in Rome. Picture: Supplied

The rationalist building was designed by architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo and built between 1936 and 1938 and faces two of the most iconic Roman landmarks: the Ara Pacis and the Mausoleum of Augustus, the first Roman Imperator, which is currently under renovation. The façade of the monumental, modern building makes use of traditional Roman materials and colours, such as ochre Travertine marble and burnt red brick. The Southern face of the building is decorated with a spectacular 70-square-meter mosaic by Ferruccio Ferrazzi,

To transform the site into a hotel Bulgari commissioned the Italian architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, which has been working with the company on its hotel projects since the Milan hotel opened.

The Bulgari hotel in Milan. Picture: Bulgari

When it opens, the Bulgari Hotel Rome will boast more than 100 guest rooms, most of them suites. On the top floor, with sweeping views over the Eternal City, will be a restaurant and bar by the Michelin-starred chef Niko Romito. The luxury hotel will also include a range of additional facilities such as a spa with an indoor swimming pool and a state-of-the-art gym. 

“We are particularly proud to have secured such an extraordinary location for the new Bulgari Hotel in Rome,” says Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. “This hotel represents a remarkable achievement for Bulgari that will finally have its own ‘temple’ right in the city where the company was founded and that still represents nowadays the beating heart of the brand. It will be by far Rome’s most luxurious hospitality experience ever”.

As well as this property in Rome, which will open in 2022, Bulgari has additional hotel projects underway in Paris, Moscow and Tokyo.