Peacefully nestled on the outskirts of Rome’s San Lorenzo area, Soho House Rome takes a refreshing stance against the swathe of traditional roman-style hotels with a modernist-style structure. Think LA meets Mexico City with a breathtaking rooftop and Soho-style views, writes Cameron Pine.
Soho House is a global network of over 40 houses for creatives to come together and belong – from club spaces, bedrooms, to spas, gyms and screening rooms and events, Soho accepts new applications for membership including a ‘Cities Without Houses’ membership that allows guests to come together and enjoy the best of Soho, including Rome’s leading city-fringe but almost riparian rooftop location.
Widely regarded as the artistic quarter of the city, Soho House Rome is set in a ten-storey building on Via Cesare De Lollis, a short walk from Sapienza University and a bustling Roma Termini train station. Unlike many older buildings with narrow hallways and pokey proportions, Soho House Rome feels almost utilitarian and practical, but with large rooms and terraces that make you feel like you’re at home.
The 49 bedrooms are across the second, fifth and sixth floors, ranging from Tiny to XXL, most with balconies looking out over the city. The bedrooms have Roman Graniglia flooring, stucco rendered walls and timber wave shaped bed frames. Sliding wall hangings created by Sardinian weaver Mariantonia Urru hide TVs, and the ceramic bedside table lamps are hand painted with a carved top and crackled glaze finish. These lamps alone add to the bespoke at-home feeling so many hotels miss. A special collaboration with Italian designer Bitossi takes inspiration from lamps made back in 1970s, which have been remade as a one-off for Soho House just three years ago when one of Soho’s newest houses opened.
With premium experiential and iconic locations all over the world, Soho House was founded in 1995 by Nick Jones. The Soho House platform fosters creativity in all its forms, where people can share ideas, make connections and network beyond the ordinary. The first in Italy has members’ spaces to eat, drink and meet, including a rooftop pool, bar and restaurant, Soho Health Club, a screening room, 49 rooms and 20 long-stay apartments.
Overall, the fitout is extremely high-touch and homely with terrazzo, textured furnishings, quirky artwork and brass and stone tile clad bathrooms complete with Cowshed spa products and Soho Skincare – undoubtedly the most well stocked hotel and eclectic minibar globally. Even the gym has decorative lighting and touches you would expect in a wellness spa. The facilities are where Soho House really excels with a large infra-red sauna and massage rooms for what will be one of the best treatments you’ve ever had with highly trained and intuitive therapists who are selected for their ability to go beyond the usual realm of health and beauty. There is also a cryogenic chamber and beauty and body treatment rooms, leaving little wonder why Cowshed spa’s are among the highest rated all over the world.
The building was designed by the in-house team, Soho House Design. The façade, clad in Travertine and a venetian style render, has balconies on each level and Critall exterior windows, giving an industrial feel that takes inspiration from the Pastificio Cerere Foundation Building and artists’ studios in San Lorenzo. Italian craftsmanship has been used throughout the House, including locally-made materials, Italian leather and glass.
The tenth floor rooftop is, as with many Soho Houses globally, the piece de resistance that has 360 views across the Eternal City, with a pool, bar and Cecconi’s restaurant with modern Italian that takes a twist on the tradition. The bar and restaurant occupy three sides of the roof; banquettes run down one edge with a large mural by artist Gio Pistone painted overhead. There’s a terracotta bar with a brick tile front, furniture upholstered in Italian burgundy and green, festoon lighting, a pizza oven and lemon trees trailing above the dining area, that feels moreso like you’re in the hills in Tuscany. You can be forgiven if you forget you’re in central Rome, with rustic pots, vines and atmosphere that makes it feel as though you have escaped, but with that quintessentially cool guest list of celebrities and global travellers. It’s little wonder the Rome hotel in particular stays strict on its ‘no photos’ policy.
Surrounded by discretely placed glass, there is nothing stark, soulless or modern about Soho House Rome. It’s more than just uninterrupted views of the city, and a canopy roof covering the dining space, it’s a place for creatives to come together with intimate and social workplaces just one level down.
Typically, at a premium hotel you’d spend most of your time in the room, but not at Soho Rome where you can pretty much wander between the top three floors and have everything you need. The rooms are so comfortable that, while so much more than a place to rest, it’s that ‘home away from home’ feel that has Soho guests and members are addicted to worldwide.
Soho Friends is a new membership type that gives access to Soho House bedrooms, studios and events, as well as benefits at the spas, restaurants, and cinemas. Soho Friends members do not have access to the Houses unless they are staying in a bedroom.
The red-tiled swimming pool is surrounded by sun lounges, geometric patterned daybeds, scalloped umbrellas and a stone floor in a traditional Italian Palladiana pattern. A global city with a global influence, there’s also something ideally Spanish about the hotel and it’s not just the urban location and youth of the nearby Sapienza university.
The main club flaunts Italian ceramic lamps and leather, with an exposed concrete ceiling, terrazzo floor, bespoke mustard yellow rugs and industrial metal shelving, which sits above locally-sourced marble counters.
The ground floor of the House is a Studio; a creative space for Soho House and Soho Friends members to visit with up to three guests. Members can eat and drink, attend events and pop-ups, as well as host their own events. Inspired by an Italian marketplace, the space has a long marble topped counter that wraps around from reception to the deli bar. A feature Graniglia striped floor combined with the façade Travertine wraps around the inner wall creating a light and airy lounge space, furnished with a mixture of Italian-made furniture and vintage finds.
On the first floor, the exhibition space is for member events and available for private hire. It can be used as one big room or split into two rooms each with their own bar.
The Soho House Rome art collection consists mostly of works created by artists who live and work in Italy, with an emphasis on those who are Lazio-based. In the main club space, there is a curatorial focus on the theme Saints and Sinners; both local and international artists have been invited to create a work that addresses this age-old concept. The idea has been interpreted in a myriad of inventive ways; from football ultra-fans to Mary Magdalen, the art of Soho House is its dynamism and sense of belonging in all forms.
For more information visit https://www.sohohouse.com/membership to find out about the ‘Cities Without Houses Membership’ if you’re an Australian based creative in Melbourne and Sydney.
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