Experimental has announced the opening of its new Roman address, a vibrant and cinematic hotel designed to embody a contemporary Dolce Vita.
Located on the Via Veneto in a building that formerly housed a bank, the hotel features 82 rooms, a rooftop, a suspended swimming pool, and an interior scheme by Rodolphe Parente.
“For Experimental Roma, I did not want to recreate or imitate a nostalgic vision of Rome,” says Parente. “Instead, I wanted to create a living tribute, a free interpretation expressed through materials and space. A place charged with the same tensions that define Rome itself: sacred and profane, splendour and decadence.”
In the lobby, the designer has curated an intimate interior that blends heritage and reinvention. Italian opulence is revisited through a French lens and the legacies of great Italian masters – such as Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa and Luigi Caccia Dominioni – are referenced through subtle nods to the 1970s: chrome tubing, disco-inspired accents, lurex carpets, a sculptural staircase and rich and textured materials.
Throughout the restaurant and public spaces, enveloping banquettes, quilted drapery and exposed beams pay homage to Italian cinema, while the rooftop features an expansive bar overlooking the Eternal City, a swimming pool and a terrace.
The hotel’s 82 rooms are divided into two principal categories. The first evokes the theatrical Roman bedroom, bathed in light filtered through interior shutters. Large blocks of colour, dramatic headboards inspired by antique drapery and a sense of romantic intimacy reminiscent of Villa Medici define these spaces. Colourful basins, vibrant details and a richer, more expressive design language create a dialogue between ancient Roman baroque influences and the hedonism of the 1970s.
The second category embraces a more refined, almost futuristic aesthetic. Mineral patinas, two-tone lacquered ceilings and ribbed stainless-steel headboards resembling contemporary sculptures create a contemplative atmosphere. Artworks throughout the rooms evoke the worlds of Cy Twombly, Christo, Ugo Ferranti and the Yvon Lambert Gallery. The bathrooms are conceived as contrasting boxes, balancing warm wood with cool stone, raw materials with bespoke graphic details.
“Experimental Roma is a hotel of inverted perspectives,” Parente concludes. “A French interpretation of Italy; an Italy reinvented through materials, textures and light. Noble materials interact with reimagined industrial elements. Marble converses with folded stainless steel, while terracotta tones vibrate against polished metal surfaces. Rome is reflected – quite literally – as if in a mirror. It is a city of shadows and reflections, a city that never exhausts itself, that continues to inspire dreams, desire and thought. This is the Rome we invite our guests to inhabit.”
