High design gets a personal touch at the Eternal City’s most stylish new stays.
When Gabriele Salini opened G-Rough, a 10-suite hotel in his family’s palazzo just 100 yards from Piazza Navona (pictured above), he was determined to bring an unconventional idea of luxury to the often staid heart of Rome. As the name would suggest, Salini preserved—even played up—many of the building’s imperfections (worn 16th-century tile floors left untouched, deliberately unrestored frescoes, walls sanded down to reveal layers of history). Taking the idiosyncrasy a step further, Salini and his late business partner, Emanuele Garosci (who opened Venice’s ultraglamorous Palazzina G in 2009), filled the five floors with iconic Italian pieces from the 1930s to ’60s: spider-limbed Sputnik chandeliers by Gino Sarfatti, parchment beds by Guglielmo Ulrich, bar trolley by Giò Ponti. Salini paid special attention to the fifth floor, where he used to live. Those rooms showcase works from his personal art collection, including a giant photograph by Massimo Vitali of a Turkish beach—not to mention perfectly framed views of the Baroque Sant’Agnese church in Piazza Navona. The intimate sensibility extends beyond the hotel’s walls: the staff will arrange out-of-theordinary experiences, from private dinners in a palazzo featured in the Oscar-winning film The Great Beauty to design tutorials with an instructor at Rome’s Academy of Costume and Fashion. “We encourage clients to do far more than just visit the Colosseum,” Salini says. $$$$
Casacau: Five fully serviced apartments close to the Trevi Fountain feature vintage furnishings. Owner Pino Cau supplies recipes for seasonal dishes to cook in your kitchen. $$
The Corner: This 1930s Art Nouveau villa in the Aventine district has 11 rooms, food by lauded chef Fabio Baldassarre, plus a small but sceney late-night club. $
D.O.M: Wooden animal sculptures, Warhol prints, and 16th-century marble walls bearing religious inscriptions fill this 24-room, 17th-century palazzo on Via Giulia. $$$
Hotel Pricing Key
$ Less than $200
$$ $200 to $350
$$$ $350 to $500
$$$$ $500 to $1,000
$$$$$ More than $1,000
