Flock to this Eternal City, this ‘urbs sacra’ for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, the first ordinary jubilee since the Great Jubilee of 2000. Celebrate a special year of grace as the jubilee begins just before Christmas to end on the Epiphany next year. For the papacy gives the Jubilee a spiritual meaning in granting the remission of the temporal punishment of sins for all pilgrims who visit Rome during this specific year. The most exciting and well-known rite is the opening of the Holy Door (open only during the jubilee year): a symbolic re-enactment of the opening of the gates of Heaven. The four main doors to open are at the four major papal basilicas: St. Peter, St. John Lateran, St. Paul outside the Walls and St. Maria Maggiore.
For a really special treat, like a honeymoon or a wedding anniversary come to
Bvlgari Hotel Roma (www.bulgarihotels.com/it_IT/rome). It only opened last year, set on 7 floors right beside the river Tiber and the famous Ancient Roman landmarks of Augustus’s mausoleum and Ara Pacis. It’s close to the luxury shopping district that of course includes the Bvlgari store. The entrance runs under a large portico of classic travertine colonnades and vast canvas sunscreens that hide giant vivacious banana plants. A 2nd century statue of Augustus adorns the entrance and the décor is magnificent with Murano glass, framed photos of celebrities and walnut wood throughout. I indulged gloriously in the luxurious pool and serene sanctuary-like spa. Of the 110 rooms and suites mine had 7 different pillows on offer (from the aloe vera or lavender to the spelt, buckwheat or millet) and a divine marble bathroom. The staff, with their motto “veritas tibi et alteris” (“truth to yourself and others”), are telepathically attentive in their golden uniforms. No wonder Virtuoso awarded it Best Hotel in the World 2024.
La Terrazza, the rosemary, thyme and sage scented rooftop terrace bar, has smart cabanas and a true panoramic view of Rome, Bulgari’s birthplace. Beneath is the hotel’s Niko Romito restaurant (www.bulgarihotels.com/en_US/rome/dining/il-ristorante-niko-romito). Here I walked, to ambiance music, down an uber-cool runway-cum-tunnel to the lengthy restaurant. With its gorgeous autumnal colours, I sat on a long orange velvet banquette, beneath a coffered ceiling and before a wooden lacquer backdrop. As the chef declares in the menu his “sophisticated ingredients are further fine-tuned by the touch of simplicity. Humble ingredients, ennobled by technique … clear-cut light fare dishes where flavour builds up then explodes”. So opulent and luxuriant. Such a special treat.
Nearby just off Piazza dei Popolo, for a seasonal weekend Bloody Brunch, in the ‘Artist’s District, is Bar Locarno (www.hotellocarno.com/it/cocktails-dining) where neighbour Fellini once frequented. It has Liberty and Art Nouveau décor with original Tiffany lights and 1920s music. Though now part of a hotel, it felt like its former house, set in a courtyard with ‘kentia’ palm fronds and birds darting and twittering. Here I had a delicious lunch consisting of beef carpaccio, roasted artichokes, mustard and honey alongside a Caesar salad.
It’s so fascinating to watch today’s Romans play out their daily dramas. So exuberant, bold and egoistic as immaculate policemen delivering instructions or garrulous shopkeepers gesticulating exaggeratedly. I loved the juxtaposition of nuns, ice cream shops, children irreverently kicking footballs against church walls and vespas zooming past restaurant tables, amongst offices and shops, spilling out onto the streets.
To rest from all the shops on Via Corso I ate nearby at one of my favourite Roman restaurants: Le Terrazze at Singer Palace Hotel’s (www.singerpalacehotel.com/rooftop-restaurant). Here on the rooftop, I was surrounded by elegance and luxury: a neutral décor with white canopies, heaters and a gorgeous olive tree. I looked appreciatively over Rome’s monuments and churches. “We present you the colours and perfumes of our Italy” stated the menu and certainly each recipe offered its own origin and seasonality. The staff were charming and attentive and after my ‘benvenuti’ (amuse bouche) I loved my Ravioli di ricotta e spinaci, followed by a Filetto di Manzo and seasonal vegetables pared with a glass of Marjun Pinot Noir.
Bvlgari and Baglioni. Borghese and Barberini. Bernini and Borromini. What a city, so rich in history with emperors and popes. Around every corner there’s always a surprise. Colonnades, cupolas and cobbled streets. It’s what makes Rome for me so alluring and exciting. Seven hills alive with fountains, mosaics, talking statues, aquaducts and obelisks. And ancient Roman ruins of marble and bricks dotted throughout. Much more focussed are the crowds who typically concentrate on the major sites: Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s, Vatican Museum (housing the Sistine Chapel) as well as the Ancient Roman monuments: the Pantheon, still, after 2000 years, the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome the Colosseum and the Forum.
Perfect, when visiting the latter, for a Sunday buffet lunch is Ristorante Roof Garden (www.ristoranteroofgardenforum.it/en/). It’s all about the exquisite view, on the 5th floor of Hotel Forum perched proudly, beside the campanile of a former convent, in prime position over the Roman ruins of the Forum. Here I sat beside potted plants and overlooked vibrant pine trees. The restaurant’s one long spacious gallery punctuated with ancient lanterns and immaculate waiters sporting bow ties and coloured jackets. As with all buffets I ate too much: the ideal restoration after a morning of site-seeing.
I stayed next at Radisson Collection Hotel, Roma Antica. (www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-collection-roma-antica)
It’s fabulously central, right by the Capitoline Hill, and only opened this year. The intimate, informal reception lies between the breakfast room and the lounge dotted with art books, lime green seats and red patterned rugs. Of the 84 rooms (with rates from E300 / US $320) mine was elegant and contemporary with Fornasetti wallpaper and a Carrara marble bathroom. There’s an outdoor lounge and a basement Turkish steam bath where I chilled out. You can’t beat a brand-new hotel. It all felt so fresh and contemporary.
The hotel and its restaurant, Modius on the Roof, is set over Porticus Minucia that encompassed four temples of Largo Argentina where Julius Caesar met his “Et tu Brute” downfall. Here the Roman people gathered to collect the grain given by the state: hence Modius meaning a bushel. The 8th floor restaurant looked inspiringly around Rome and straight across at the Vittoriano and Campidoglio. Tucked in, amongst jasmin and a mandarin tree, I loved my risotto with radicchio, walnuts and gorgonzola, followed by a filetto with celery, turnip and Cardoncelli mushrooms pared with Petit Verdot red wine.
In Rome, architecture is not simply a matter of stone and mortar. It’s a true reflection of the city’s rich and storied past, a testament to the enduring creativity and ingenuity of the human spirit. It signifies a critical part of the city’s artistic development of the Western World with the Roman empire, Early Christendom, the capital of the Papacy, the cradle of the Baroque and then Neo-Classicism.
The larger-than-life churches, dwarfing and daunting, summon all within. They reassert Ancient Rome’s massive, masculine, monumental scale of magnificence. The counter-reformation, when Baroque came into being, insisted that religious art should play on the emotions of the believer. I loved the stunning Daphne and Apollo statue in the Borghese Gallery where she turns into tree from his touching her. Yes it’s a myth but it shows the potential of a miracle.
Directly in front of the Termini Station before catching my train to the airport I had lunch at Senses restaurant at Palazzo Montemartini Rome, a Radisson Collection Hotel (www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-collection-rome-palazzo-montemartini). This grand, solid hall felt so uplifting with its large statement central fountain of water cascading from its high ceiling. Sturdy Ionic columns and Tuscan arches surround forty tables though I sat out in the large courtyard that’s home to Rome’s oldest Servian Wall built with tufa blocks. After my mimosa (prosecco with orange juice) I had a wonderfully fresh trancio di spigola (sea bass). Indeed Senses lives up to its name with the food and décor having such a positive effect.
For general tips: the best guidebooks are DK Eyewitness Travel and, for more in-depth the Blue Guide. Georgina Masson’s Companion has also stood the test of time. Italians don’t generally expect tips. For speed and cost I recommend taking the Leonardo Express train from the airport to the centre. It leaves every 15 minutes, takes 30 minutes and costs E28 for a return ticket. Having superstitiously thrown my euro backwards into the Trevi fountain I, for one, will be returning whenever but soon.
Adam Jacot de Boinod
FACTBOX
Adam had support from Gatwick Express www.gatwickexpress.com (10% off a range of tickets when booked direct), from Holiday Extras www.holidayextras.co.uk (0800 316 5678) who offer airport lounges at all major UK airports and many international destinations). He was covered by online travel insurance specialist, CoverForYou www.coverforyou.com, 0207 183 0885)
