Rome's grand hotels – six addresses and their history

From the Spanish Steps to Via Veneto, Rome's grand hotels have watched the papal city become a capital, the Dolce Vita come and go, and fashion houses become hotel owners. Here are six addresses and the facts about them.

Rome's grand hotels emerged at a particular moment. When the city became the capital of unified Italy in 1871, it began growing at a pace it had not seen for centuries, and travellers from the north needed hotels that matched the palaces they had come to see. Within twenty years, several of the establishments that still dominate the city's top tier had opened. Other waves followed: after the war, when Via Veneto became the street of the Dolce Vita, and in our own time, when fashion houses began opening their own hotels.

This is not a ranking and contains no verdicts. It gathers the facts about six of Rome's best-known hotel addresses – location, dates, architects and owners – so that you know what you are booking.

Hassler Roma: at the top of the Spanish Steps

Hotel Hassler is located at Piazza Trinità dei Monti 6, right at the top of the Spanish Steps. According to the Guide MICHELIN, the same Swiss hotel family has been behind the hotel since 1893: the Bucher-Wirth family. Oscar Wirth, who also ran Hotel Eden, joined the Hassler in 1921, and in 1964 the family became sole owner. Oscar Wirth demolished the old hotel in 1939 to build anew. During the Second World War, the building was used as the headquarters of the American air force in Rome, and the new Hassler opened in 1947.

According to the MICHELIN Guide, the hotel has 82 rooms, with an emphasis on suites. On the sixth floor is the restaurant Imàgo, which has a MICHELIN star and which, according to the hotel's history, was Rome's first panoramic restaurant. The Hassler has a MICHELIN Key, the MICHELIN Guide's distinction for hotels.

Hotel Eden: lifts and electricity

A few blocks away, on Via Ludovisi, stands Hotel Eden. The building was designed by the architect Francesco Settimi and built in 1887 as a residential house, but was bought by Francesco Nistelweck and opened as a hotel in 1889. It was the first hotel in Rome with a lift and electricity and became popular among British travellers. The hotel has 98 rooms on six floors. Today it is run by Dorchester Collection and owned by Brunei Investment Agency.

Hotel de Russie: Valadier's palace

On Via del Babuino, just south of Piazza del Popolo, stands Palazzo Lucernari, built by the architect Giuseppe Valadier between 1816 and around 1825. William Turner painted the house while it was still under construction. It became a hotel under the name Hotel de Russie et des Isles Britanniques, and towards the end of the 19th century it was known as Hotel de Russie, favoured by both Russian and European guests. In 1870–1872, it was extended by two storeys.

After the Second World War, the house was rented by RAI, which had radio studios here until 1993. Rocco Forte Hotels then took over, renovated the building and revived the name. During the work, a secret garden designed by Valadier himself was recreated, with terraces climbing up towards the Pincio.

St. Regis Rome: César Ritz's Grand Hotel

At Via Vittorio Emanuele Orlando 3, near Piazza della Repubblica, the Grand Hotel opened in 1894. According to Famous Hotels, it was César Ritz who drove forward the purchase for the London-based Savoy Group and led the opening. In 1923 the hotel was bought by the Italian hotel group CIGA, and via Sheraton and Starwood it ended up with today's Marriott. After a restoration it reopened in 2000, and in 2008 it changed its name to St. Regis Rome. The hotel has 138 rooms and 23 suites, and the ballroom is called Sala Ritz. In 2024 the hotel celebrated its 130th anniversary.

Excelsior on Via Veneto: the Dolce Vita

Hotel Excelsior is located on the corner of Via Vittorio Veneto and Via Boncompagni. It was designed by the Swiss architects Otto Maraini and Emil Vogt in French baroque style and was inaugurated in 1906. CIGA owned the hotel from 1923 to 1996, and since 1998 it has been called the Westin Excelsior. Scenes from Federico Fellini's La dolce vita were filmed at the hotel, and the entire cast of Ben-Hur stayed here.

Via Veneto was the epicentre of the Dolce Vita, with cafés such as Café de Paris, closed since 2008, and Doney. Fellini's film made the street world-famous – despite the fact that it was built in a studio at Cinecittà – and gave the world the word paparazzo. The street ends at Porta Pinciana, where a square today bears Fellini's name.

Bulgari Hotel Roma: the jeweller's home city

The newest address opened on 9 June 2023 at Piazza Augusto Imperatore 10, opposite the round Mausoleum of Augustus. It is Bulgari's ninth hotel and the second in Italy after Milan. The building is a rationalist work by architect Vittorio Ballio Morpurgo, seven storeys and 14,000 square metres. The interiors have been designed by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, and Studio Polis restored the building's mosaics, frescoes and reliefs. In the entrance stands a marble statue of Augustus from the Torlonia Collection, the first of five to be displayed in rotation.

Choosing an address

The hotels are located in three different parts of the historic city. Hassler, de Russie and Bulgari belong to Campo Marzio, the district around the Spanish Steps, Via del Babuino and the Tiber, with the major fashion streets within walking distance. Eden and Excelsior are located in Ludovisi, around Via Veneto and the Villa Borghese park. St. Regis is located near Termini and Piazza della Repubblica, the most convenient location for those arriving by train.

More to read

Further south, read about Capri on two levels and a perfect day in Positano; further north, 48 hours in Venice. All city guides are at metromode.co.

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