Six Senses Rome hotel review
Six Senses Rome transforms a historic palazzo into an urban oasis with a convivial restaurant, rooftop bar and a seductive spa.
This isn’t what you’d expect to find in the middle of historic Rome. Even if, being familiar with the Six Senses portfolio, you’ve prepared yourself for something different – exuberant, austere or something in between, but above all modern – chances are Six Senses Rome will still give you a bit of a jolt. Yes, there are multiple types of marble, as well as travertine and terrazzo; yes, there are columns, after a fashion. Yes, there is spaghetti alle vongole and lots of excellent salumi and formaggi. On first sight, though, you could just as easily be in an Italian restaurant in Dubai or Sydney. Not everyone is going to love this hotel, which opened in March after several months’ worth of delays. But Six Senses Rome is unquestionably an Italian hostelry with a distinct POV of its own that’s expressed in myriad ways.
Discover a delicious serving of next-level, food-focused destinations in the latest edition of Travel + Luxury magazine, available online now.
With interiors by the Spanish design powerhouse Patricia Urquiola, it’s light, airy, and youthful, cast in a warm palette and suffused with natural light. Beyond the lobby, the all-day restaurant spreads across the ground floor, seamlessly incorporating a long, curving bar and an alfresco courtyard that’s lush with planted foliage and palms. The furniture is resolutely contemporary; the staff – uniformly smiling, fizzing with energy – wear waistcoats and unconstructed jackets in soft cotton and linen, all sustainably sourced, naturally.
The 18th-century palazzo – the official name is Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini and its façade is UNESCO-protected – is on the Via del Corso, set back a bit from the street next to the lovely church of San Marcello al Corso, and almost directly across from the glorious Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Here, Six Senses has nailed it – it’s about as perfect an address as exists in the Eternal City: a 15-minute walk to the Piazza Navona in one direction, and the buzzing streets of Monti in another, with some of the most exclusive shopping in town directly behind the hotel on the numerous lanes surrounding the Via dei Condotti. Finding the right coordinates has always been a Six Senses strong suit: from the untrammelled north shore of Ibiza, where the brand planted its flag in 2019, to the Negev desert in Israel, where Six Senses Shaharut has put the country on the map for a new luxury-tourism market, it excels at prime locations.
The 96 rooms and suites vary significantly in size and style. Some, on the lower floors, have soaring ceilings and tall windows (my superior room had a windowed alcove where Urquiola has ingeniously fit a low sofa into the curved wall, creating a pretty reading-relaxing nook). Some of the suites on the fifth floor have sprawling terraces lined with planters filled with native grasses and flowering plants; umbrella-shaded tables and sun loungers are scattered across their stone pavement.
The overall look is pared-back and sleek, with subtle, often abstracted, references to the surrounding city: table bases are of hefty travertine, or else wood or stone finish that’s fluted to recall ancient columns. Bathrooms have floors and walls of the same beautiful travertine, the floors inlaid with mosaic-like patterns in darker shades. Black and white images – mostly details of classical sculpture – hang above beds or in wardrobe spaces. Urquiola’s palette is committed to neutrals, so don’t expect high Renaissance reds or cardinal purples: the headboards are greige, the cotton-waffle throws on the beds shades of coffee, the rugs mostly monochrome.
The spa, spread across the first floor, is a resounding win. Modern wellness is another Six Senses USP, and one it’s adapted brilliantly here, with calidarium, tepidarium and frigidarium plunge pools (guests can book a 60-minute Roman-baths “journey”, giving them access to all three in a restorative bathing circuit). There’s also extensive biohacking kit available, from oxygen treatments to LED-light masks (I was offered a complimentary 20 minutes with one after my massage, and left looking like I’d had a brightening facial as well).
Bivium restaurant, helmed by chef Nadia Frisina, offers an impressive mix of Roman and Italian classics that have been revisited with health-minded flourishes. That spaghetti alle vongole, for instance, is served with bottarga and parsley chlorophyll. The crudi – beautiful pink prawns, pearlescent amberjack – are garnished with microgreens and edible flowers. Not that you can’t indulge with a tiramisù or classic Negroni, and the bar does excellent cocktails in general.
But the pièce de résistance, and the place it’s easy to imagine will fast become a fixture of the Roman social scene for locals and visitors alike, is the hotel’s rooftop bar, Notos. With 360-degree views of the city, it offers a full menu of drinks as well as aperitivi and small plates. (If you’re after more of a fitness fix, you can join the sunrise yoga classes held here.) It’s a unique space in Rome – and, like the hotel itself, a dynamic and contemporary perspective on a timeless, endlessly alluring destination.
10 things to do on Australia’s greatest road trip
There is so much more than just driving this legendary road and we have found where to stay, eat, the best wineries to visit and even where to watch horses swim in the sea.
Why Emirates business class needs to lift its game
The Middle Eastern airline used to dominate the field but rival airlines are unveiling impressive reimaginings of the pointy end of the plane. We test it out.