Interested in a vacation home in Rome worthy of nobility? The Villa Aurora built by the ultra-powerful Boncompagni Ludovisi family complete with ceiling art painted by Caravaggio has just gone on the market. Even after a discount, the price is a little over $400-million and there’s a long list of millions of dollars worth of renovations it would need immediately.
If that’s out of your budget, a room at a completely restored building across the street that was part of the same family’s holdings is a comparative bargain. And a stay at the recently opened Sofitel Roma Villa Borghese will make you feel like nobility.
The building rose in the nineteenth century as part of the estate of a super-rich family that included a Pope. The Ludovisis intermarried with Italy’s most powerful dynasties and royalty abroad. With so many friends visiting Rome who needed a place to stay worthy of their status, this seven-story classical building was the Ludovisis’ palatial guest house.
We’re greeted like nobility by a doorman who whisks our bags from the car and the concierge and front desk staff are waiting to take care of check-in formalities.
A contemporary take on a grand hotel:
Heavenly music wafts through as you exit the elevator and head through a marble hallway to a room that’s immaculately clean and fresh. With its 12-foot high ceilings and tall windows, the scale of the rooms has been reimagined for human dimensions. A two-year complete renovation of the hotel removed dark wood and ancient drapes and made walls bright white.
New interior cabinetry in light wood encloses closets, drawers and minibar. Contemporary parquet floors and stylish cane chairs are matched with prints of Roman architecture on the walls.
A highlight in our room, number 405, is an enigmatic modern fresco in a ceiling medallion that features what could be interpreted as an angelic form descending from clouds of creation as lovers embrace on earth. French architect and interior designer Jean-Philippe Nuel, who led the renovations, must have also cornered the market for enormous mirrors which are ubiquitous around the hotel. The Baroque-framed mirror in our room is easily eight feet tall. Incongruously, it hangs alongside a modern 32-inch television inset into the wall.
The star of the show is the cozy bed. Sofitel’s trademark MyBed, a fabulously comfortable extra-large mattress with a feather topper and duvet.
The huge marble-lined bathroom that features a vast glass shower enclosure with a choice of rainforest or spray is decadent. The sink, by contrast, has little counter space to lay out toiletries and minimal shelf space below. But it sparkles with its big lighted mirror and at night there’s a welcome motion-activated night light. When you arrive in the rooftop for breakfast, a signal is given to the housekeeping team to refresh your room, which is immaculately clean when you return.
There are some things the designers could have done to make the room more practical. Hanging space is at a premium and both closet doors have to be opened to pull out the drawers behind them. There’s not enough room under the bed to slide suitcases, so they have to stand in the corners, behind the drapes. There can be a lot of traffic around the hotel, but it’s low speed and with the windows closed the sound in the room is minimal.
Getting around Roman style:
Turn left from the lobby that faces a grotto that dates to the seventeenth century and it’s a restaurant-lined block’s walk to Via Veneto. Turn right and down the hill to and it’s a few blocks’ walk to the Spanish Steps and all the shopping you’ll need to do during your stay. go further south and you arrive at the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It’s a bit of a hike, but the hotel is also within walking distance of Vatican City.
One morning when it seemed just too hot to shop, a stroll along the pine-tree shaded paths in the next-door Borghese Gardens proved the perfect alternative. If you want to visit the fabulous art collection the Borghese Gallery, pre-reserving tickets and an arrival time are essential.
While Via Ludovesi is an elegant neighborhood at a high point in a district that saw a flurry of mansion building in the nineteenth-century the twenty-first century has unfortunately seen the street lined by parked cars and rental electric scooters parked haphazardly. The neighborhood does have plenty of sidewalk trattorias and restaurants to choose from and the concierge can advise the best option to suit your taste.
Dining like a romantic Roman:
The rooftop Settimo restaurant with its sweeping panorama of the Eternal City is among the most romantic places to dine in a city that’s famed for romantic places.
In fact, the young man at the table next to ours had a surprise for his girlfriend the evening we dined. Waiters delivered a ring box on a silver tray and he got down on his knee and proposed to the applause of the diners on the rooftop.
Great fun and the ambience is outstanding, but it’s the delightful Roman cuisine prepared by Chef Giuseppe D’Alessio and his team make this such a memorable experience. Their updated takes on Roman classics are prepared with impeccable ingredients and elegant presentation.
I started with a quintessential interpretation of a humble Roman nosh: suppli, which are fried rice balls made with arborio rice and mozzarella. Here they come dressed up with fried zucchini blossoms and a rich pecorino sauce that turns the dish into a gourmet appetizer. Other particularly Roman choices were riffs on tuna or beef tartares and seafood salads.
Entrees include home made pastas including carbonara liberally topped with seasonal black truffles and contemporary takes on saltimbocca and calamari. I chose a mouth-watering pan-fried sea bass with tomato puree and burrata and my wife enjoyed crispy prawns with vegetables and we shared the most delicious bowl of calamari imaginable.
If you want to have dinner in the Settimo restaurant, you’re wise to make reservations when you book your stay, as it’s extremely popular, particularly for the sunset seating at 7 p.m. The view is splendid over terracotta rooftops toward the ancient Aurelian Wall and the pine forest of the Borghese gardens to the north and a spectacular panorama of the ancient skyline with Vatican City and the dome of St. Peters in the center.
The restaurant even features a DJ spinning tunes through the evening. I might have chosen a more romantic musical theme for the evening we were there than a disco-era set that included such boogie classics as I Will Survive and Stayin’ Alive. I’m feeling very alive, thanks.
The best change in the newly renovated hotel is the breakfast that’s included in the price has been moved to the rooftop. The buffet includes fresh-squeezed juices and buffet of everything from fresh juices and fruits to eggs and prosciutto on focaccia sandwiches, served against the backdrop of the sun rising over the city.
A little fascinating history:
Long story short, a Ludovesi noted for his nepotism managed to become Pope Gregory XV in the seventeenth century and he immediately put a lot of the family on the payroll in key Vatican positions. Intermarriage and business connected the wealthy family to all the big name players in Italy and they had access to Papal favors.
The Ludovesi family managed to assemble a big plot of land along the third-century Aurelian Walls next door to the 148-acre Borghese Gardens that were owned by another powerful family. By the nineteenth century, this seven-story villa was added along a street that now bears the family name: Via Ludovesi. Portions of the original estate were sold over the years and the last of the clan, Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, passed away in 2018, with his Villa Aurora finally going on sale in 2021.
The hotel is at Via Lombardia, 47. Double rooms from 370 euros in low season; and from 545 in high. Breakfast and wi-fi are included. Dinner seatings are at 7 and 9:30. Prices are a la carte and entrees range from 23 to 45 euros.
Story by Wallace Immen, Executive Editor of The Cruisington Times.
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