Earlier this year, we found ourselves tracing our way through Europe, collecting interiors, atmospheres, and the occasional well-timed cocktail—beginning appropriately in Rome.

The city greeted us exactly as expected: beautiful, excessive, and gently overwhelming in the way only a city with two millennia of architectural self-esteem can be. Every piazza promised revelation; every coffee prompted the dilemma of whether to have another. And because we prefer our sightseeing to occur indoors, via exquisite interiors, we approached the Eternal City the sensible way: by choosing where to stay first.

Our first stop, La Minerva, the Orient Express’s new Roman jewel, offered an immediate pause. Hugo Toro’s palette of lacquered woods, velvet and marquetry delivered Art Deco glamour tempered by Mediterranean restraint. Every room felt like a beautifully bound story, every corridor, a carefully held mood. In the restaurant and bar, beneath the restored glass-and-iron canopy, mornings shimmered in espresso-scented light, while evenings slipped into cinematic calm, turning the sky itself into part of the composition.

The Rome EDITION an entirely different persuasion. The rooftop terrace, with its canvas umbrellas, sculptural seating, and ochre rooftops, offered a vantage point that encourages a second Negroni before any real exploring began. Inside, soaring travertine, green velvet curtains and a pool table framed like an art installation set a deliberate, gallery-like tone. The EDITION knows how to handle scale, light and materials in a way that makes even a quiet wander through the lobby feel choreographed.

If the EDITION was our architectural grounding, La Minerva was our atmospheric indulgence. A reminder that Rome is best understood through its interiors, where stillness becomes an art form.

1. At La Minerva, Rome, where Art Deco elegance and Roman light meet in composed stillness.

2. & 3. Aperitivo unfolds under Roman skies.

4. Views to the Eternal City, best enjoyed slowly, under canvas umbrellas.

5. & 6. Inside The Rome EDITION, where travertine, velvet drapery and a sculptural pool table invite lingering.