Si· Senses Rome（六善罗马酒店）丨意大利罗马丨Patricia Urquiola

Heritage, luxury, and the incomparable Six Senses Rome

Housed in a 15th century palazzo, Six Senses Rome is imbued with an inimitable spirit of centuries past.

The facade of Six Senses Rome and the San Marcello Al Corso Church.

Luxury is a personal, individual opinion. Deciphering its meaning invites some of the most extensive trend reporting, research, and marketing campaigns. But in this editor’s humble opinion, one of the key distinguishing factors that define luxury is heritage. When a place or thing timelessly stands centuries beyond one’s lifetime, it is imbued with a character, a weight, and a presence that cannot be contrived. It is either present, or not.

Six Senses

, which is otherwise synonymous with far away secluded natural destinations like the Maldives or Bali, found a home in a 15th century palazzo in Rome, restored it, and opened doors to guests in spring of 2023. Standing in front of its magnificent facade right in the heart of historical Rome, one experiences that rare, fleeting sense of eternity in a moment.

The grand staircase dating back to the 15th century.

Located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the historic centre of Rome, what is now Six Senses Rome used to be Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, a historical building dating back to the 15th century, revisited by Antonio Tommaso De Marchis in the 18th-century, and in its most recent avatar, it is the Six Senses hotel, housing 96 exquisite guest rooms and suites.

As you walk in and turn left, you come upon the XV-century monumental central staircase that has been restored to its grand origins. Your hands feeling the cool Carrara marble, looking up at the spectacular skylight—beauty and history certainly go hand in hand.

The suites overlook the bustling Via del Corso.

Art by ANALOGIA PROJECT in one of the rooms, titled “Cenni Storici”.

Inside, in one of the front-facing suites that come with a balcony overlooking Via del Corso, tourists and locals walk by, and one wonders what all these streets must have witnessed over centuries. You go up to the terraces, dotted with Mediterranean plants and aromatic herbs, and drenched in sunshine, and feel moved by the distinctive skyline of Rome. Or if that’s not enough, you climb underground into its 1,700-year-old (or fourth-century) baptismal font that was unearthed from excavations at the beginning of the twentieth century. And just as a side note, the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain are a 15-minute walk down.

The spectacular spa.

Genius loci–latin for spirit of a place–is alive and present and palpable here, thanks to the sensitive restoration (LEED Gold certification for sustainable design and construction in March 2024). The interiors are designed by none other than Patricia Urquiola, whose vision cleverly integrates the existing architecture of the Palazzo with the additions from later periods, especially with the architectural constraints of the project by Quaroni-Micalizzi, recognised as intellectual heritage, and its distinctive circular elements.

The best part of the story is: their neighbour. Built over eighty years throughout the 16th century is the San Marcello Al Corso Church that is just adjacent to the Six Senses building. Behind a stunningly carved facade—that Six Senses Rome has been sponsoring restoration works on since 2021—in its silent interiors, are housed the protected remains of Rome’s oldest known baptism sanctuaries, dating back to the 4th century, which were found under the basement and is visible from the hotel’s lobby. The hotel has exclusive access to this historical site.

Urquiola's language of materials and craftsmanship is sensitive, restrained, and referential.

Yet, this is a hotel, not an archaeological site. The light touch with which Urquiola designs the interiors make it a welcome sanctuary with Roman classism as its backdrop. Urquiola, in her signature style, does not make any overstatements. The building is grand enough, she simply seeks and finds harmony in its interiors; in the bedrooms, the baths, the communal areas. Her language of materials and craftsmanship is sensitive, restrained, and referential. Travertine stone of Italian origin is used extensively and in a diversity of colours and finishes. The choice of cocciopesto is not accidental. A natural material of ancient origin, it is produced from brick dust which is then recomposed into natural clays, and has been used on all the walls of the bedrooms. It decorates the plaster of the rooms and is a hat tip to the Roman architect, Vitruvius.

Art by Andrea Mauti, gallery: ADA Project, in the common areas and rooms.

The art is curated by Federica Sala, and she choreographs a fresh look at what may be classically Roman. Diptychs by Korean artist T-Yong Chung in the rooms depict imaginary dialogues between historic busts on which the artist has intervened in different ways. Sculptures by Analogia Project in some of the rooms discreetly embody iconic symbols like the Colosseum. A deconstructed classic Roman bust by Paolo Giordano is seen right in the entrance hall. Almost all the works have been created specifically for the hotel, each in response to the architecture as well as the contemporary interiors by Studio Urquiola.

Six Senses Rome is time travel of the best kind: Luxurious, authentic, and the hotel’s sustainability efforts are a whole different chapter, requiring a story of its own.