Rome offers up so much history that it’s sometimes hard for the traveler to remember that, antiquity aside, Rome is a completely current and connected city too. It’s a cosmopolitan town fueled more by academia and the film business than by industry, and top-rate hotels usually aim for grandiloquent historical immersion or a hyper-hip design-house theme. The St. George doesn’t really fit into either camp. Instead, it offers up a polished atmosphere that, despite many Scandinavian design touches, almost feels as if one has just checked into a giant Prada handbag. Everything is stitched just so; no garish colors scream at your senses, just calm precision. The contents are selected more for hushed, buttoned-up professionalism than frivolity — the St. George marries boutique scale and business-travel efficiency extraordinarily well.
The 64 guestrooms are simultaneously modern and classical, with contemporary art hung below elaborate moldings, all united in a somewhat serious color palate and an abundance of travertine. Located on the Via Giulia (an incomplete urban design endeavor of the Renaissance, now a famed antique district) the St. George is in the heart of all things classical, steps from the Vatican and the Tiber with its strollable quays. The hotel offers a full service spa, the decadent I Sofà di Via Giulia restaurant, a wine bar, a library, and a chic, eye-popping rooftop bar, for taking in the sights from a comfortable vantage point. The St. George makes for a seriously sophisticated visit to a seriously sophisticated city, but takes great care to keep pace with the modern world.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com
