There's a lot of buzz around Rome this year. Not only is the city celebrating its Jubilee – a once-every-25-year Catholic celebration that lasts all year – as the Vatican elects its 267th Pope, but one of the travel world's most romanticised heritage brand, the Orient Express, has pulled into the Eternal City as its first stop in a grand Italian tour.
The Orient Express launched its first new train in 140 years with La Dolce Vita, a glamorously renovated 1960s sleeper train which sets off from Rome's Ostiense Station, at the same time as it swung doors open to a grand hotel: Orient Express La Minerva. This storied hotel takes over an entire block in Rome's historic centre just steps away from the Pantheon – and a charming 10-minute walk to the Trevi Fountain.
Set inside a 17th-century noble residence originally built for the Portuguese Fonseca family, La Minerva soon became one of Rome's most luxurious grand dame hotels, drawing in notable artists, writers and aristocrats; from Picasso to Moby Dick-author Herman Melville and a popular spot for those going on the Grand Tour.
Now, the hotel has been sensitively restored and reinvented by one of Paris' most exciting young designers, Hugo Toro. The French-Mexican artist-architect is no stranger to cleverly and sensitively adding contemporary notes to historic spaces – he's behind the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel’s brilliant Booking Office 1869 restaurant as well as a Hemingway-inspired makeover of terminal 1 in Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Hugo brings his stylish eccentricity to the fore with an ode to Orient Express' legendary carriages woven throughout Orient Express La Minerva. This is first seen as you step through the hotel's grand marble-decked, glass-domed lobby where a statue of the hotel’s namesake goddess (Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, war and crafts) stands guard over the cocktail bar. “Just don't stare at her in the eyes if you want a good relationship,” the concierge warns me.
The rest of the hotel is an equal feast for the eyes, from the art deco concierge rooms to the bright all-day rooftop restaurant, Gigi's, which comes with 360 views of Rome's domed rooftops and landmarks and what's set to be a glorious subterranean Turkish hammam and spa modelled on Roman baths which is still under construction. There’s also a Japanese restaurant inspired by 1920s Osaka in the works as well as a speakeasy, wine bar, and patisserie.
The 93 rooms and suites all come with their own unique designs and character – including different ceiling heights on different levels. Each bed comes with a hand-painted Roman sky above it and some of the lower level suites like the Stendhal Suite come with 17th-century ceiling frescoes (it's also said to have a resident ghost.)
Everything is bespoke, handmade, hand-painted and designed by Hugo and his team (even the corridor fire extinguishers are tucked inside his own invention, a revolving wooden cabinet). When checking into my spacious room on the fifth floor I immediately fell in love with the grand marble shell-shaped sink in the bathroom. The beds are enormous, plush and dressed in Italian Rivolta Carmignani linen (who's bedding was used on the original Orient Express), flanked by bedside tables which are designed to look like vintage trunks and each room has hand-painted tiles line the windows.
Piazza della Minerva, 69 , Rome, 00186, Italy
+39 06 84 42 90
laminerva.orient-express.com
