The Sweet Life

At the Grand Hotel Palace Rome, La Dolce Vita is not a dream state but a reality to be lived in.

- Vanessa Grace Ng

In the historical heart of Rome, a semi-circular Neo-Renaissance building stands tall, overlooking the city's horizon. This monolith of a building is the Grand Hotel Palace Rome, which is as monolithic in its legacy as its build.

First designed in the early 1900s, Milanese industrialist Gino Clerici took the space into his hands in 1925, entrusting famed Italian architect Marcello Piacentini to turn the historic space into a haven.

Piacentini's portfolio comprises historical and national projects such as the reconstruction of central Rome - which explains why the luxury abode exudes tradition at every turn, even after its restoration in 2010. Time stamps aside, what this story stands to say or rather assert is Grand Hotel Palace Rome's monumental testimony to Roman hospitality. With its status as a historic institution, pockets of cultural history are encased within its design. Close to a century later, these traditional bits remain well preserved against the trendy waves of excessive neon-hued urbanisation, which reflect a nostalgic and artful luxury. The sanctum has gone beyond withstanding the test of time; it has instead flipped the narrative, embracing its hold on history as its greatest asset.