From its history and art to its beautiful panoramas and unforgettable personality, everything about Rome is epic. The city likes to go big and nothing is more iconic in Roman hospitality than the Rome Cavalieri of the Waldorf Astoria hotel collection. Perched atop Monte Mario hill (the highest point in the city), the famed Cavalieri is celebrating its golden anniversary for bringing luxury to new heights in the past 50 years.
Half a century is merely a drop in the bucket of Rome’s history, and, in that sense, the Cavalieri is still enjoying a gilded youth. Since opening, the Cavalieri has been a mecca for international jetsetters, celebrities and luxury hunters. “Rome is a special place,” says John Vanderslice, Waldorf Astoria’s global head of luxury and lifestyle brands. “And like Rome, the Cavalieri has changed over the past 50 years. Luxury is about the experience. And [our idea is that] those experiences are personal. If you have one interaction with our team, it better be great.”
The Cavalieri has 345 deluxe rooms, styled in the classical Italian elegance of marbles and antique woods, each with private balconies and most overlooking Rome’s most coveted panorama. The nightly turndown service is nicely complemented by the pillow menu (providing 15 choices to rest your head on) and the marble bathrooms are garnished with lush Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries. On the seventh floor is the Imperial Club, a decadent drawing room featuring a mix of golden colors with rich, wooden shelving, and an alfresco terrace. The Cavalieri’s personalized luxury suites are unique and include pieces from the Cavalieri’s own art collection — paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo to prints by Andy Warhol — and one-of-a-kind interior touches such as Karl Lagerfeld-designed divans. The Penthouse Suite boasts a secret staircase that leads to a private rooftop terrace with a mini pool and, of course, the famous view of the entire city.
The Cavalieri proves an experience in opulence in other ways as well. The award-winning Grand Spa Club boasts three outdoor swimming pools, two tennis courts, a state-of-the-art gym and a running trail. Its Turkish bath is lavishly decorated with pillars to recall Imperial Rome, and offers the exclusive La Prairie Art of Beauty treatment program. La Pergola, the restaurant atop the Cavalieri, features a wide range of gourmet cuisine including medallions of duck foie gras, pigeon and topinambur (artichoke) with jelly of white Port and Madeira, and risotto with oysters and champagne.
The Cavalieri also offers a well-curated menu of “unique experiences,” including customized art and shopping tours, gladiator fighting and spa dates for your pampered pet. And for its anniversary, the Cavalieri even offers celebratory Click & Go tours to Rome’s favorite sites, where a paparazzo follows you around snapping photos.
Photos courtesy of Hilton Worldwide
