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Profile
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 It is the verses of poets that guide the steps of guests of this hotel, recently opened on Via Margutta in the true artistic heart of Rome, just a few yards away from the Spanish Steps. Its artistic vocation stems not only from its location or the fact of being housed in a former college but also because art is the link connecting all its different components. |
 Don't expect to see any signs. The entrance is a minimalist passageway blending in chameleon-like with the many art galleries on Via Margutta. This long pedestrian corridor with walls of gleaming white marble, paved with white pebbles and lit by a creation of the artist Enzo Catellani, provides access to the hall. |
 Once the college chapel but now deconsecrated and painstakingly restored, it offers a highly Roman blend of sacred and profane, ancient and modern. Charmingly naive golden stars twinkle against the original cobalt blue background of the cross-vaulted roof. The altar is screened with a panel of thick glass streaked with ice blue that both conceals and displays the marble. |
 Facing this, two large eggs of white resin rise from the ancient floor of polychromatic marble to house the reception desk and the office. The hall also accommodates the tables of the small but deftly organized bar-restaurant proving a broad selection of teas and herbal infusions, buffet breakfast, a brunch that is not confined to Sundays and also features organic produce, cocktails, cold dishes and appetizers. |
 A lounge decorated with works of contemporary art and a small courtyard fitted out as a bar are located on the same floor. The keynotes of this hotel are light and color. The corridors of the four floors housing 46 rooms and suites are picked out respectively in blue, orange, yellow and green with radiant light at the guests' entrance. The wall facings of glass and resin are in bright but transparent colors that expand the space. |
 Minimalist milky ways stretch out along the walls of the corridors with verses of poets like García Lorca and Octavio Paz. Guests who like to keep fit can go jogging in the nearby park of Villa Borghese or descend the splendid glass staircase to the basement and the small gym equipped with modern machines, a sauna, and an individual Turkish bath. |
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