‘Barefoot luxury in heels’: Six Senses Rome

By News Room On Oct 16, 2023

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This article is part of a guide to Rome from FT Globetrotter

Finding a spot for a new five-star hotel in Rome’s centro storico is tough. The only option is to renovate an old building, but securing one that can be legally gutted and updated for the luxury traveller is even more difficult. As a result, there has been a notable Rome-sized hole in the portfolio of many high-end international hotel groups. Recently, however, with the hope of winning the World Expo 2030 bid on the horizon, regulations have relaxed and with it, a rush of multimillion-euro renovation hotel projects have popped up over the city. Six Senses got in on the action early, securing an imposing palazzo on Piazza di San Marcello, an enclave off Via del Corso, and employing Spanish über-designer Patricia Urquiola to bring her inimitable vision to the project.

The Six Senses brand has become known for what it calls “barefoot luxury” — think padding around the pool of your villa on a private island off Cambodia, or kicking back in the shade of your suite’s terrace overlooking the Thimphu Valley. Its hotels and resorts — eco-wellness retreats for burnt-out execs and families wanting to reconnect — are the kinds of places that encourage hanging out, rather than heading off after breakfast for a day of sightseeing. It is a concept that does not easily translate to the three-day city break. However, Six Senses Rome, the group’s first city-centre hotel, manages to create a resort-y oasis feel, even if I suspect eyebrows would be raised if you were to leave your shoes at the door.

The 18th-century Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini is a storied building. It remained a private palazzo until the early 20th century, then parts of it were used as a cinema and a branch of the Banco di Roma. Given a lavish external glow-up — along with the facade of San Marcello church next door (part of the group’s promise to give back 0.5 per cent of revenue to its sustainability fund, which goes towards socially or environmentally-focused projects) — its exterior is now notably pristine compared to the other side of the street.

Set back on the piazza from the main drag of the del Corso, the entrance is discreet. I was ushered through the grand vestibule, filled with what I was told was eco art, and presented with a cool juice, fresh cherries and biscotti served on a tray scattered with oats. Next to me was a blackboard chalked up with the wellness programme for the following day, offering everything from early-morning yoga to an outdoor workout with a backdrop of historical monuments. The tone was set: I was being told to relax.

Restaurant and bar

The huge open-plan ground floor has an airy feel, with comfy indoor and outdoor seating and oversized plants, under a ceiling of slightly incongruous industrial joists (which, part of the bank’s infrastructure, were apparently impossible to remove because of their historic value and are now a rather funky feature). A circular green marble bar was full of extremely well-dressed young locals who had popped in for an after-work cocktail. Barefoot luxury, with heels.

Bivium, the ground-floor restaurant, has an all-day dining menu, a pizzeria, sushi station and even a mini gelateria offering free scoops to little guests. It is a sort of extremely posh Roman food court, with something for every culinary persuasion. Everything on the menu is heritage, farm-raised, grass-fed or line-caught, with an impressive selection of oysters and raw seafood.

I tucked into octopus, perfectly charred on the kitchen’s Josper grill and arranged on a fresh salad of fennel, dill and grapefruit, and a side of grilled mushrooms with salsify and botanical herbs. Despite this spread, I still had a moment of pizza envy when I got a waft of a tray arriving at my neighbour’s table. After a sliver of wholegrain millefeuille with strawberries, I headed up to Notos rooftop bar for a nightcap overlooking the summit of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument.

Rooms

My room was a harmonious mix of classic Roman travertine limestone, grooved oak panelling and diaphanous curtains made from recycled plastic (with blackout back-up behind). The vibe is cool and pared back, and neutral tones abound — not everyone’s cup of chai, but I suspect Six Sense superfans will feel comfortingly at home.

Despite the hotel’s high price point, I was impressed that Six Senses is sticking to its sustainability mandate by making bathroom products non-removable. (There are plenty of extras in the minibar — luxury herbal teas and homemade biscuits — to stuff into your suitcase, if you are so inclined.) Water comes in 100 per cent recyclable aluminium cans, and there is no single-use plastic. Wellness extras include the now-ubiquitous pillow menu, and a yoga mat for a few morning cat-cows before breakfast.

Spa and Roman baths

Six Senses resorts really are all about the spa. As well as a souped-up gym, fitness classes, gong sound baths and five treatment rooms, there were also enough healthy snacks in the chill-out space for a second breakfast. The spa shop, Emporium, is an essential stop on your wellness journey, with a good range of upscale skincare and elegant swimwear.

I was looking forward to atoning for the previous night’s cocktails with a vigorous swim in the hotel pool. So on discovering that in place of one there was a Roman baths complex, I was at first a little disappointed. But, I told myself, if this ancient watery ritual was good enough for the emperors after a blowout, it was good enough for me. I was issued with a robe and strict instructions on the order of immersion: tepidarium (warm plunge) plus sauna; caldarium (hot) plus sauna; and finally frigidarium (cold) plus the tepidarium wet room.

In the frigidarium, I met a guest from Zug who was relishing the cool water after a hot morning’s sightseeing. But for this Brit, the 18C plunge pool (roughly the temperature of the sea in England at the height of a good summer) was a little tame; I compensated by rubbing ice all over me from a large urn next to the sauna. Overall, I felt amazingly relaxed and detoxed — to the extent that I could easily have retired to my room for a mid-morning nap — except that it was time to check out.

Don’t miss

Under a piece of reinforced glass at the back of the restaurant, you can literally walk over a piece of ancient Roman history that was discovered in 1912: an octagonal baptismal font, from between the 4th and 8th centuries, buried beneath.

At a glance

Good for: Location, location, location; eco-conscious spa junkies
Not so good for: Fans of old-school Italian glamour
FYI: For a very rainy afternoon, the hotel’s Earth Lab offers a range of creative sustainable workshops including making do-it-yourself compost, chemical-free detergent and beeswax wrap
Rooms and suites: 96, including 28 suites
Spa: Yes
Gym: Yes
Double: From €1,000
Address: Piazza di San Marcello, 00187 Rome
Website; Directions

Rebecca Rose was a guest of Six Senses Rome

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