What happens when a 16th-century city palace gets a playful makeover courtesy – amongst other creatives – of one of Italy’s most celebrated, contemporary filmmakers? The answer is that Palazzo Talìa, as the former residence is now known, has become a tastemaker-magnet, and a flagship of modern Roman luxury.
Though Palazzo Talìa in its current state would be unrecognisable to those who have walked its halls over the centuries, remnants of the hotel’s illustrious past in the hands of Renaissance humanist and papal secretary Angelo Colocci, and later those of a Spanish priest and educator Giuseppe Calasanzio, await at every turn. There’s the vast Magna Hall with its 18th-century frescoes by Gaspare Serenario, the Latin inscriptions above doorways and busts on staircase landings, and of course, a ‘Collegio Nazareno’ sign by the entrance, hailing from the 18th and 19th centuries, when the palace ranked among Rome’s leading educational institutions. After the collegio finally closed in 1999, the building fell into disrepair before being picked up by the hospitality-inclined Federici family, who commissioned a three-year renovation project and parted the curtains on it once more in 2024.
Our arrival at Palazzo Talìa felt aptly cinematic, with a group of tourists led by a local guide gathered outside its entrance (no doubt because of the palace’s quasi-museal quality), and ourselves being welcomed into the space by staff clad in burgundy uniforms: doors swung open, smiles were served on a silver platter and a fellow guest, unmistakably dressed in Pucci head to toe, gasped into her phone, presumably in response to some quality gossip she’d just been let in on. This was only fitting given the hotel’s eponym, the ancient Greek muse of Thalia, goddess of comedy, arts and all things light entertainment. And we certainly felt entertained exploring the hotel, which sets an overall chic tone while dabbling in retro aesthetics with much élan.
What immediately stood out to us was how intimate spaces open to grand corridors and the aforementioned Magna Hall – a luxury for a boutique hotel and all the more remarkable taking into account the property’s location on a tiny square virtually around the corner from the Trevi fountain. The shared spaces of Palazzo Talìa, which is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World portfolio, were reimagined by studiolucaguadagnino, the design casa of Italian Director-of-the-hour Luca Guadagnino (of ‘Call Me By Your Name’ and ‘Challengers’ fame, but you already knew that). They sit somewhere between an art gallery and a collector’s home, with iconic Eileen Gray side tables and paintings by contemporary artist Delfina Scarpa that speak to a cultured eye in much the same way an open-air palm court (illuminated to magical effect at night, and offering a tropical antithesis to the classic setting), does.
Guadagnino is also responsible for the hotel’s Terrace Suite – one of 16 suites that sit alongside an additional ten rooms – which is located beneath the roof, featuring peach wood panelling and a fashionable fireplace. Meanwhile, the other accommodations were spearheaded by Marianna Lubrano Lavadera of MIA Home Design Gallery and Laura Feroldi of Laura Feroldi Studio. Between wrought iron canopy beds, Alessi kettles, hand-painted or eclectically tiled bathroom walls and Terme di Vulci-branded amenities, there’s a lot to love about the rooms, no two of which are alike. Each accommodation’s distinct features are a direct result of the building’s centuries-old architecture and its position edged between neighbouring structures. The palace wasn’t designed to be a hotel of course, and it’s within the space’s idiosyncrasies, its angles and unusual layouts, that much of its charm lies. With that said, a few of the rooms look directly out at the walls of adjoining houses, and those reliant on plenty of daylight would do well in booking courtyard- or street-facing accommodations instead.
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Culturalist | FCO | GMT +2 |
| While you’re Out There |
| You couldn’t miss the Trevi Fountain if you tried while staying here, but for a similarly beautiful (and decidedly less crowded) sight, make your way to the nearby Galleria Sciarra. A small Art Nouveau courtyard with layer upon layer of murals and embellishments, this place remains under the radar for most tourists. For even more culture, don’t forget to swing by Rome’s outpost of the Gagosian Gallery, around the corner from Palazzo Talìa. |
Our 39 sqm/420 sqft Deluxe Room came with extraordinary ceiling height and a courtyard balcony, a generously sized dining area, a rainfall shower and practical details. Despite its perks, restraint was the room’s defining characteristic: where others would hang artwork or install a spotlight, Palazzio Talìa dares to leave a white wall white, focusing instead on high-quality furnishings like textile headboards that honour Italian craftsmanship. In a city bursting with maximalist pomp and eye-watering stimuli, we found this to be a calming and wonderfully elegant contrast… which isn’t to say that we wouldn’t love having the eleven-metre-high Magna Hall to ourselves, which can be made exclusively available to those booking its two adjacent suites, for a jaw-dropping, altogether 358 sqm/3,853 sqft accommodation in the heart of the Eternal City.
Down in the courtyard, into which the hotel’s Marco Coppola-headed Tramae restaurant spills, popular treats from Roman and moreover Italian cuisine await. A first look at the menu made us wonder whether the team (dressed in rich moss green here, which somehow complements the 60s colour scheme and retro-futuristic space age ceiling) would be able to dish up any piatti to suit our plant-based diet, and we were relieved to find that warm hummus with curried vegetable crudités, Tuscan panzanella and freshly made pasta with yellow tomato sauce alongside aubergine parmigiana could all be made vegan-friendly. For dessert, order the battered pineapple with sorbet before sauntering into the adjacent Bar della Musa, with its mirror-tiled walls, brightly lit and timeworn ceiling frescos and a list of Talìa signature martinis that’s as dangerous as it is enticing.
In need of a rich breakfast following a deep dive into said list, we found that guests with dietary requirements had been rather overlooked, something Palazzo Talìa made up for the day after, having arranged for vegan-friendly croissants and soy yoghurts – no questions asked. We washed these down with freshly brewed coffees and juices made to our personal preference. Much of the produce used at Tramae is grown at the organic Solaria Azienda Agricola Boccea farm outside the city, and seeing as many an Italian dish focuses on simplicity, the quality of individual ingredients couldn’t be more important. With that in mind, we loved the warm, sun-kissed flavours the hotel serves its guests, and found them perhaps all the more enjoyable when eating in the open-air courtyard.
Should you find yourself wanting to counterbalance some of the many treats you’ll likely indulge in, a very piccolo but aesthetically pleasing gym is located in the property’s basement. What lures most guests down here, however, isn’t the prospect of a workout, but that of unwinding in the Roman-inspired wellness facilities. Alongside two treatment rooms, a sauna and a steam room, you’ll also find an ice fountain and multi-sensory showers that combine lights, colours and aromas like lime or passionfruit to create immersive experiences (try the tropical mist for a rainforest feel). Meanwhile, a pool beneath a vaulted ceiling covered in fluorescent majolica tiles offers a variety of water jets. Though you probably won’t be swimming any laps in it due to its small size, the pool feels positively crypt-like with its intimate entryway and shimmering lights, which is all the more magical in a city where so much history is beneath the ground.
The wonderful thing about Palazzo Talìa is that the hotel succeeds in bringing some of that history alive without drowning in clichéd visions of Roman hospitality. The hotel seems to belong to no one particular period in time and references different epochs and styles across its architecture and interiors. It’s both simultaneously old – in a centuries-old kind of way – and retro, with touches that allude to the golden era of 20th-century Italian design. Only in its sensitivities is Palazzo Talìa purely modern, trading surface-level pageantry for cultural stewardship and ‘small’ luxuries that, combined, add up to a hotel stay tailored to each guest. As such, the hotel is a breath of fresh air in an ancient city.
www.palazzotalia.com | www.slh.com
Photography courtesy of Palazzo Talìa and Small Luxury Hotels of the World
