Hotel Art, Rome, Italy

The Hotel Art is a boutique establishment located on Via Margutta, a legendary artistic enclave of Rome that Fellini once called home. The design hotel’s excellent location just metres from the best shops and the Spanish Steps and its clever mix of cutting-edge design and 19th-century architecture have made it a hit with fashionistas, design aficionados and the Japanese.

An ethereal, white passageway leads to the boutique hotel’s vaulted, frescoed lobby which is presided over by two futuristic pods housing the Hotel Art’s reception and concierge desks. Stained-glass windows hint at the building’s past life as a college with a private chapel.

The facilities

The chapel’s marble altar has been transformed into a small lobby bar which serves cocktails and light, bistro dishes to a cluster of sleek designer tables until midnight. Guests can also enjoy aperitivi in the design hotel’s tiny courtyard which is furnished with brightly-coloured, ergonomic Ron Arad Little Albert chairs.

Down a corridor lined with pieces from the boutique hotel’s private art collection, there’s also a small gym, a sauna, wet room and steam room.

The rooms

The Hotel Art’s 46 rooms are spread out over four colour-coded floors that literally light up as you step out of the lift. Perspex corridors in psychedelic hues of orange, green, yellow and blue are lined with back-lit verses of poetry.

All the boutique hotel’s rooms have heavenly beds with hand-stitched leather headboards and linen sheets. Canvases depicting details of famous Roman masterpieces continue the artistic theme.

The Hotel Art’s Junior Suites are a step up from the other rooms, thanks to Jacuzzi bathtubs, a pillow menu, a separate toilet and living room and double sinks in the bathroom.