The Westin Excelsior, Rome, is a historic luxury hotel on the Via Veneto in Rome, Italy, opened in 1906.[3]
| The Westin Excelsior, Rome | |
|---|---|
 The Westin Excelsior, Rome, facing the famed Via Veneto | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Rome, Italy |
| Address | Via Vittorio Veneto 125 |
| Coordinates | 41°54′N 12°30′E / 41.9°N 12.5°E |
| Opening | January 18, 1906 |
| Owner | Omnam Group[2] |
| Management | Westin Hotels |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Emil Vogt and Otto Maraini[1] |
| Developer | Schweizerische Actiengesellschaft für Hotelunternehmungen |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 281 |
| Number of suites | 35 |
| Website | |
| [1] | |
History
edit
The Hotel Excelsior opened on 18 January 1906.[4] It was designed by Swiss architects Emil Vogt and Otto Maraini[1] and constructed by the Schweizerische Actiengesellschaft für Hotelunternehmungen, based in Lucerne, Switzerland.[4]
During World War I, two floors of the hotel were converted to a military hospital, operated by the Italian Red Cross.[4] In 1923, the hotel was sold to CIGA, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi (Italian Grand Hotels Company).[5] After the German invasion in 1943, the hotel became the residence and offices of Kurt Mälzer, the German military commander of the city of Rome.[4] In 1944, when Rome was liberated by the Allies, the hotel became the temporary headquarters of General Mark Clark after the US Army entered Rome.[6] The hotel reopened to guests in 1947.[5] In 1953, CIGA expanded the hotel, purchasing the adjacent Banco di Napoli building on the north half of the block and rebuilding its facade to match the rest of the hotel, and also adding a sixth floor to the entire building.[5]
The Aga Khan IV bought CIGA in 1985.[7] He sold the chain to ITT Sheraton in 1994, and they placed the Excelsior in their ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection. In 1998, Sheraton was sold to Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and on March 1, 2000 the Excelsior was transferred to their Westin Hotels & Resorts division and renamed The Westin Excelsior, Rome.[8] The hotel was fully renovated in 2000.[4] Starwood sold the hotel to Qatar-based Katara Hospitality in 2015 for €222 Million.[9] Katara sold the hotel to the London-based Omnam Group in 2023.[2]
In popular culture
editThe hotel hosted the cast and crew of Ben-Hur during filming in 1958.[10] La Dolce Vita was filmed around the hotel in 1960[11] and Two Weeks in Another Town was filmed in the hotel in 1962. Portions of the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War were filmed in the hotel,[12] as was a scene in the 2009 period musical Nine.[13] In the 1973 film The Exorcist, Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) can be heard asking to be connected to the Hotel Excelsior in Rome when she is trying to reach Regan's (played by Linda Blair) father.
On March 3, 1994, singer Kurt Cobain overdosed in one of the hotel suites.[14]
The hotel is marked by its distinctive cupola, and for the two-story "Villa la Cupola" suite located on the fifth and sixth stories beneath it. This suite is noted as one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world, and includes hand-painted frescoes, up to seven bedrooms, and a private cinema.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b "Pr-04-11-2016-b - ams-osram - ams".
- ^ a b ten Cate, Bert Erik (2023-05-02). "Omnam Group Hires Eastdil To Find Finance for Famous Rome Hotel". www.costar.com.
- ^ "The Westin Excelsior, Rome, Rome". Five Star Alliance. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ a b c d e "The Westin Excelsior, Rome". famoushotels.org.
- ^ a b c "Hotel Excelsior".
- ^ Beevor, Antony (5 June 2012). The Second World War - Antony Beevor - Google Books. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316084079. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ Russell Hotten (1993-10-16). "Forte to run CIGA hotels: 'Money from day one' in rescue deal for Italian luxury chain - Business - News". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ "Nine Legendary Luxury European Hotels Join The Westin Brand". www.hotel-online.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24.
- ^ "The Westin Excelsior Rome Sold for for[sic] €222 Million".
- ^ Suzanne Topham, Demand Media. "Famous Hotels in Rome | USA Today". Traveltips.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ "La Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini, 2 - Activcinema Rome". Activitaly.it. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ "The Winds of War (TV Mini Series 1983) - IMDb". IMDb.
- ^ "FILM. The celluloid magic of Rome | News in Rome | Rome City Guide". Wanted in Rome. 2010-02-17. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ "The Rome Hotel Kurt Cobain overdosed in".
- ^ "The World's Most Expensive Hotel Rooms", Forbes, March 7, 2002.