Hyatt's Thompson brand makes its Italian debut in a restored 1940s building with 69 rooms, a rooftop, and an artwork the renovation team didn't expect to find.
Renovations usually turn up bad wiring. At Thompson Rome, the crew turned up a wall and an inlaid floor by the Italian artist Gio Pomodoro, and the hotel built around keeping them. It is the first Thompson Hotels property in Italy, and Hyatt has just opened it.
The address is a 1940s building near Piazza Venezia, a walk from the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Colosseum. That is about as central as Rome gets, and about as crowded with competition. Hyatt’s answer is a small hotel with a lot of local material in it. There are 69 rooms and suites, and the owners and operators are AG Group s.r.l. and Rossifin Group.
The building did the talking
The restoration kept original features rather than papering over them. A marble staircase was brought back. The Pomodoro wall and floor, rediscovered during the work, were preserved in place. Pomodoro is one of the Italian names the hotel leans on, and having a piece of his work in the fabric of the building gives the design story a anchor that no mood board can supply.
Amar Lalvani, chief creative officer of Hyatt Corporation and president and creative director of The Lifestyle Group at Hyatt, framed the brief around the city. “Rome has such a strong identity, so we wanted Thompson Rome to start with the city itself,” he said. “The building, the neighborhood, the food, the people and the way Romans live all shaped the hotel.” His stated goal: “a Thompson hotel that feels at home in Rome, a hotel travelers want to discover and Romans want to come back to.”
That last clause matters. Plenty of hotels in historic capitals are lovely and entirely closed to locals. This one says outright that it wants Romans through the door.
Art in the rooms, not just the lobby
The collection covers artists associated with the Scuola Romana and the Scuola di Piazza del Popolo, plus contemporary names including Francesco Del Drago, Giangaetano Patanè and Guido Strazza. The works hang in public spaces and in guestrooms, so you don’t have to hunt for them. A rotating artist-in-residence program will add exhibitions, conversations and other cultural programming.
General manager Arturo Gomez pointed to the artists as one way into the city. “Rome reveals itself over time, through its neighborhoods, its art and, most importantly, its people,” he said. He also mentioned a rooftop aperitivo and a simpler tactic: asking a member of staff where they would spend an afternoon.
The rooms, the table, the roof
Of the 69 keys, 19 are suites. The range runs from Junior Suites to suites with patios or terraces. At the top sits the 104-square-meter Thompson Suite, which comes with an 80-square-meter private terrace. That is a terrace nearly the size of the room it belongs to.
There are three places to eat and drink. LYVE Restaurant is led by executive chef Fabio Fioravanti, a native of Ostia with more than two decades of international experience, including time with the Alain Ducasse group. His menu is contemporary Mediterranean, with seafood at the center. LYVE Rooftop handles cocktails, Italian aperitivi and a menu made for sharing. The Lobby Lounge covers coffee, light fare, aperitivo and cocktails through the day.
A year-round program adds culinary workshops, guided tastings and Empire of Light, a photography-led experience from the seventh floor.
Who it’s for
This is a stay for people who like their hotels to have a point of view and a postcode. If you’d rather sleep a few steps from the Pantheon than in a leafy quarter across town, the location works. If you care about art, the collection and the residency program give you reasons to linger. And if you want a drink on a roof with Romans rather than only with other guests, the hotel has said that is the idea.
Thompson has spent years building a reputation for hotels that feel tied to their neighborhoods. Rome is a stern test of that. The city has been doing atmosphere for a couple of thousand years and isn’t easily impressed. Starting with a building that came with its own Pomodoro is a decent way to begin.
Via HOTELSMag
