BEST FOR CINEMATIC NAME-DROPPING:
Hotel Locarno, Rome
Set in Rome’s vibrant art precinct – nearby galleries include the Gagosian, the Russo gallery and Magazzino – this 66-room Art Nouveau hotel was boutique before “boutique” was even a thing. In the ’70s, when hotel chains began populating the Eternal City, owner Maria Teresa Celli commenced a renovation that saw each room given a unique makeover – no two were the same, right down to the bathroom fixtures. Celli later purchased a palazzo adjacent to the hotel and filled it with larger, more deluxe suites, 18 in total. To this day, it feels more like a guesthouse of yesteryear – the rooms are filled with antique furniture, oil paintings, stuccoed ceilings and Lynchian red drapes, though mod cons like wi-fi, airconditioning and satellite TV aren’t forgotten.
As beautiful as the quarters are, it’s the hotel bar that’s the main attraction – it’s been that way since the ’60s, when director Federico Fellini was a regular, and, in truth, it almost feels as though you’re stepping back in time when you swing by for aperitivo (actually, history is so important here that the original poster promoting the hotel’s opening, designed by Anselmo Ballester, still hangs in the lobby). The lighting is low, the music just right and the tchotchkes so on-point that you’ll desperately want to shove something in your purse as a souvenir of your visit (but your conscience will get the better of you, of course).
There’s no shortage of places to grab a drink once you’re here. On the roof, the bar provides sweeping views of the city and across the Tiber River, and is a favourite of both locals and expats in the height of summer. In cold weather, the lounge offers plush seating in front of the open fire and the bar staff, under the tutelage of mixologist Nicholas Pinna, will happily whip up one of their original cocktails for you (if your taste extends into the more VVIP zone, there’s a decent collection of rare bottles behind the counter, too). The courtyard, which connects the two buildings, is open year-round and is the perfect place to escape the sun beneath the shade – and scent – of the blooming wisteria. It’s absurdly pretty, so ensure your phone is fully charged and its storage isn’t full.