Bulgari Hotel Rome: thanks to a special invitation and a celebratory film, a Roman journalist lets us enter the temple of luxury designed by Bulgari, the 5-star hotel in Piazza Augusto Imperatore
“You can’t believe it” is the comment of the Romans in the aftermath of the theft at the Bulgari jewelery shop in Via Condotti on the night between 8 and 9 June. With great courage, the shop was immediately reopened as I was able to verify by going there in the afternoon. While looking at Liz Taylor’s necklace, I saw a small group of Asian customers enter. Business as usual. As luck would have it, I organized the “Staycation” at the Bulgari Hotel Roma immediately after the crime, on June 9th, exactly one year after the inauguration of the Five Star Hotel in Piazza Augusto Imperatore. The reason? Talking about your experience as a Roman for Vogue Italia. Starting with the tasting of a classic of the Capital’s gastronomy: the supplì. Sitting in the café under the arcades, waiting for my room to be delivered, three of them arrive. Small, hot and fried to perfection. Niko Romito, the chef of the Reale di Castel di Sangro with three Michelin stars, has been promoted. The chicken salad is also excellent and I reluctantly ask for it without bacon. Delirious chocolates to end lunch. Followed by entry and check in. I realize that the testimonial of the Bulgari Hotel is the Emperor Augustus. The statue of him welcomes the visitor. Posing as Olympian Jupiter, he impatiently looks at his mausoleum still under restoration. It comes from the Torlonia Foundation and has been here since day one. “It’s difficult to replace it, we are evaluating five other works from the Augustan era but it’s not easy” explains Silvio Ursini, vice president of Bulgari and artistic director of Hotels and Resorts, smiling. Let’s go back to “Ar Testimonial”. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, later called Augustus. Founder of the Empire, he was a great friend of Caio Cilnio Maecenas, aristocratic, cultured, lover of the arts. The word still indicates the figure of protector and client. And it is from this perspective that the hotel should be visited. This can be understood by viewing the film made to celebrate the hotel. You can see it on Prime, it’s called: “An Emperor’s jewel”. A titanic project that lasted ten years and was designed by the Milanese architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel. After all, Augusto’s motto was “Hurry up slowly” as Aldo Cazzullo reminds us in essay “When we were the masters of the world. Rome: the infinite Empire” (ed. HarperCollins) The film lasts an hour. It highlights the skill of our artisans created the boiseries with shellac-polished walnut inlay, the glassmakers who created the Venetian rollers visible in the Spa pool. There are other gems such as the ancient Roman technique of Opus Spicatum A constructed herringbone flooring with clay bricks. They come from the Sugaroni kiln on Lake Bolsena. Ursini comments again: “They harmonize perfectly with the terraces of the hotel. They seem to have always been there.” at the Quirinale. The rooms and suites (the Standard in June costs 1800 euros per night) are furnished in shades of gold and copper. Soft colors.
The room with the marble bathroom and the seven pillows of the Bulgari Hotel Rome
Mine with the small balcony overlooks Via della Frezza and has an all-over colored marble bathroom. The minibar is shaped like a trunk. I spend the afternoon watching the Roland Garros final (I was rooting for Sascha Zverev but Carlos Alcaraz won) wrapped in seven different pillows. On the third set I go down for a decontracting massage in the Spa under the hands of Ilaria. We comment on the theft in via Condotti. On the other hand, we don’t talk about anything else. Before going back, take a look at the cosmetic products of the Augustinus Bader line. To tell the story of the Maison, it is worth rewinding the tape. BVLGARI with a V at the behest of the founder Sotirios Boulgaris (the name was Italianised as Sotirio Bulgari) Greek silversmith and jeweller. He landed in Rome from Epirus in 1879. The V was a way to remind everyone of his classical origins. The CEO, Jean Christophe Babin, who also came to Rome last week for the documentary’s premiere, is fascinated by it. Jewels that are not only found in via Condotti but that the management also wanted in the hotel, displayed on the noticeboards, especially outside the elevators. Last year, on the inauguration day, the Mayor Roberto Gualtieri also participated. Not a detail. It is unlikely that the mayor will attend the opening of a hotel. Yet it happened like this because the Palace has existed since the 1930s, it was the headquarters of the INPS. It was designed by the architect Vittorio Morpurgo. Various clues remain of him such as the restored external fountain and the internal stairs.
A place also for Romans and tourists, even to drink a coffee among giant exotic plants
The Bulgari Hotel welcomes Romans and “normal” tourists. At the café, under the arcades full of giant exotic plants, the prices are more than acceptable. The bad news is that it is not clear when the square will fully reopen. But it will be fantastic when it will be possible to return to the atmosphere of the Seventies when we went to the Augustea, a restaurant that looked like a station where “Le Tout Rome” came from: Mario D’Urso, the shipowner Antonio D’Amico, Monica Vitti, Nino Torlonia. Various politicians due to the proximity of the PSI headquarters, including Bettino Craxi and Claudio Martelli. Managers who were just starting out at the time, such as Giovanni Malagò and Luca Montezemolo. Actresses like Audrey Hepburn with her psychiatrist husband Andrea Dotti and Clio Goldsmith. Edwige Fenech. For the complete list it is better to ask the paparazzi Rino Barillari and Umberto Pizzi.
