“Dom Pérignon or Krug?” the dark-eyed waiter asked as I stepped onto the leafy rooftop terrace on a warm summer evening. I was tempted to answer “Both,” but then I wouldn’t have had a free hand to grab the caviar-topped canapés on a tray that was lingering near my elbow.
The opening party for the Bulgari Hotel Roma was clearly intended to be a Lucullan feast—completely appropriate when in Rome. It was as splashy as they come, but Rome is now accustomed to such opulence around the opening of a new hotel. After decades during which the Dorchester Collection’s impeccable Hotel Eden and Rocco Forte’s Hotel de Russie jostled for the top position (alongside the charmingly tired but still classic Hotel Hassler), Forte opened his second property in the city, in 2019. Hotel de la Ville is now looming large at the top of the Spanish Steps, but these days it has even more competition. After the pandemic, the pace of openings increased dramatically.
