Six Senses Rome: Seize the Stay

How often do you think about the Roman Empire? After you stay at the Six Senses Rome, the answer might be daily. Set back on a piazza near several of Rome’s most popular sites, the 96-room hotel references thousands of years of history through its design, its amenities and even its food. (Think: a world-class spa with a sleek subterranean recreation of the Roman baths and a seasonal rooftop where you feel like Caesar surveying his kingdom.) And yet, it never feels mired in the past.

If you’ve ever asked yourself what an emperor’s living quarters might look like were they built today, Six Senses Rome is one strong possibility. The hotel, which opened in March 2023, occupies the 18th-century Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, just off the bustling Via del Corso (in effect, Rome’s Broadway)—but like any good urban sanctuary, you’d never know it once you’re inside.

Naturally, an emperor deserves a hero’s welcome. Cue the pillars and towering archways, the pale Travertine floors and immense marble staircase. Through the hall past the entryway, a half-moon bar carved from streaked green marble has you immediately fantasizing about aperitivo hour. All around, plants emerge from super-sized terra cotta amphorae, and BIVIUM Restaurant-Café-Bar, the hotel restaurant, evokes a Roman forum with its mosaic floors, pizza oven and glass-walled food prep stations, which nod to ancient shopping stalls.

The more you look around, the more you appreciate how the hotel’s design draws on the city’s history—and how it collapses the distance between 2024 and 24 B.C.E. There are tiny chairs shaped like pillar capitals, jewel-tone loveseats, whimsical sketches of Greek and Roman gods and busts with faces split in half, Picasso-style, all co-existing in perfect harmony.

As in ancient times, guests are drawn from across the land. Look to your left at breakfast, and you might see two executives in Italian wool suits signing contracts over truffle omelets. Later, polished professionals lunch in silk neck scarves while primly picking at branzino in chili-pepper sauce. In the evening, throngs of locals clad in head-to-toe black chatter in rapid Italian while swilling glasses of red and methodically plowing into plates of fusilli with prawn. You’ll be amazed, in a city with no shortage of hip, delicious restaurants, at just how many Romans the hotel attracts. Interspersed, of course, are actual guests.

Six Senses is known for its emphasis on wellness—the term “biohacking” tends to follow any mention of the brand—but in truth, those offerings aren’t the main attraction here. Yes, the food is light and seasonal, and is as locally sourced as possible, in keeping with the brand’s zero-kilometer philosophy; and yes, there are personal trainers whose expertise you can call on after one too many plates of cacio e pepe. But let’s be honest: Unless you’re a road warrior who needs those early-morning aerial yoga sessions to blow off steam, these features are almost beside the point. Use the Roman baths and their adjoining features (steam room, sauna, showers with varying water patterns) and book the life-changing cocoon treatment, where melted Tuscan candle wax is rubbed into your skin, followed by a gentle facial. That’s all you’ll really need to feel well.

The Room

It sounds obvious, but when in Rome, you want to be in Rome—not your hotel room. But you’ll feel genuinely giddy to retire here after a long day of sightseeing. The labirynthine compound has just 96 accommodations, meaning most rooms and suites are generously sized. (The base room category, the Classic, is 300 square feet—sufficient if you plan to be in and out.) Expect a minimalist design scheme with a neutral color palette (see: the creamy greige walls and stone floors), orb-like lights, honey-hued wood paneling and softly rounded modular furniture, and generous bathrooms with alabaster-white standing tubs, dual vanities, walk-in showers with small benches and separate toilets and bidet stalls.

There’s also a whole pillow menu, blackout curtains, a TV that’s both technologically advanced (think, streaming capabilities) and is easy to use, and a minifridge stocked with gratis house-made elixirs like the Digestivo, a blend of pineapple, carrot, papaya and lemon.

The Features

Don’t miss: The Roman Baths—just remember to book your time slot in advance.

Standout features: The design touches that reference ancient Rome, like mosaic-pattern carpeting in the hallways, modern art with ancient influences (think: digitally altered photographs of Classical statues), and the floor murals depicting bunches of grapes, whole fish and stalks of wheat.

Can’t stop thinking about: How the hotel demonstrates actual sustainability, in a non–self-congratulatory way. Consider the cocciopesto walls in all the guest rooms: Ancient Romans used a similar recycled material, a concrete-like paste made from pottery fragments mixed with lime and sand, to construct their buildings. (In this case, it’s brick dust, reconstituted into clay.) Or the refillable Casa Mei bathroom amenities, which are produced in Italy with local ingredients like bergamot peel, sweet orange and green tangerine. And don’t overlook the curtains made of recycled fishing nets, which are somehow still chic.

The Lowdown

The highly specific reason you’d come here: You’re in Rome for a quick work trip, but you’ve smartly tacked on a few free days of fun to follow. So once you’ve wrapped all your meetings, and air-kissed the local partners, you’re having lunch dates and long, wine-soaked dinners with the Roman friends you met a lifetime ago during study abroad—except now, you’re all established professionals, and you can ask for that primo Tuscan magnum instead of the house red.

What are you packing? An all-purpose blazer; chunky, black patent-leather platform brogues; an expertly tailored button-down with a collar that actually looks good popped; a pair of black kick flare pants; a wool coat in camel.

What are people drinking? Most Romans are drinking (Italian) wine with their dinner. Folks on the aperitivo train are going with Negronis, or an Americano—soda water, sweet vermouth and Campari.

The dish you’re recreating at home: The pistachio and caramelized onion focaccia you learned to whip up in your pizza-making class.

The celebrity you’d see here: A Milan-based fashion executive who’s in Rome for the week.

Fast Facts

• Number of rooms: 96
• Number of pools: 3
• Fitness center? Yes
• Spa? Yes
• Salon? Yes
• Number of bars/restaurants: 1.5
• 24-hour room service? No
• Childcare and kids club? Yes

Booking With Chase Travel

Chase Travel is the first stop for your next adventure. Eligible Chase cardmembers can visit chasetravel.com for even more trip inspiration, including hotel recommendations, travel guides and editor-curated itineraries, and to earn and redeem points when booking hotels, flights, car rentals and must-do local experiences.

Eligible Chase cardmembers, get started at chasetravel.com.