Rome doesn't lack grand hotels, but few have earned the kind of devotion that the Hotel de Russie inspires. Designed in 1818 by Giuseppe Valadier, the same architect responsible for the neighbouring Piazza del Popolo, it has welcome Russian royalty, Picasso and Cocteau through its doors (the latter famously declaring it "paradise on earth"). Restored by Rocco Forte in 2000, the hotel sits on Via del Babuino between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo, with the Tiber, Trevi Fountain and Villa Borghese all within easy walking distance. The real showstopper, though, is the terraced Secret Garden — 2,800 square metres of orange trees, roses and trickling fountains climbing the Pincian Hill, which makes it genuinely hard to believe you're in central Rome.
The recently refreshed interiors strike a grown-up balance of contemporary Italian furniture, Roman antiquities and earthy ochres that are always warm rather than showy. Le Jardin de Russie spills onto the garden terrace and offers beautifully simple Italian cooking under the creative direction of Fulvio Pierangelini (his cacio e pepe is the stuff of legend), while the Stravinskij Bar draws half of Rome for its signature spritzes beneath a Giacometti-inspired pergola. Downstairs, the spa is home to a saltwater hydropool, Turkish steam room and treatments using Irene Forte's Sicilian skincare.
All 120 rooms and 34 suites have been given the Polizzi treatment and are draped in soft stone and cobalt tones, Fornasetti wallpaper and Italian lamps by Fontana Arte. Marble bathrooms are spacious and stocked with Irene Forte products. Garden-facing rooms look directly onto the terraced greenery and are noticeably more peaceful, while others enjoy front-row seats to the Piazza del Popolo. For something truly special, the Nijinsky Suite occupies the top floor with a wraparound terrace, original statues and red walls inspired by those grand Roman villas.
The location is a walker's dream. The Spanish Steps are round the corner, the Galleria Borghese is a ten-minute stroll through the park, and you can reach the Pantheon and Piazza Navona in under twenty minutes. The concierge team, widely known as the best-informed in the city, can arrange private tours of Rome's lesser-known corners, including the cobbled lanes of Trastevere. For something different, the hotel's personal trainer leads art-themed running and cycling tours through the city's quieter backstreets. Worth packing your trainers for.
The Stravinskij Bar at aperitivo hour. Romans flock here for cocktails under the garden's mature pines and it buzzes with an effortlessly Italian atmosphere.
Keep an eye out for Mona and Lisa, the hotel's resident cats who patrol the garden. The turtles are a bit harder to spot, but they're in there too.
It's a 120-room Rocco Forte, so expect polished five-star efficiency rather than small-hotel intimacy. Classic rooms are a little on the compact side for the price tag.
2,000 years of history – and excellent aperitivo – in one of the prettiest capital cities in the world.
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