Opening Shot is a column that peeks inside new hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops with dreamy interiors.
Corinthia Rome
Designer: GA
Location: Rome
On Offer: At the center of a Roman tourist trifecta—the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps—is a Neoclassical palazzo whose interiors are decorated with allegorical frescoes, monumental marble detailing, and mosaic floors. Built in 1921 on its site across the street from the Italian parliament, this historic building was long a headquarters for the Bank of Italy. In March 2026, it reopened, transformed but not erased, as the Corinthia Rome, a luxurious 60-key hotel where history and hospitality meet.
The 104,410-square-foot (9,700-square-meter) property is the Malta-founded hotel brand’s first auberge in Italy, although Corinthia Lake Como is not too far behind, planned to open in Menaggio in 2028. To create Corinthia Rome, design studio GA restored the building’s grand 1920s shell—originally by father-and-son architects Pio and Marcello Piacentini—and reimagined the interiors with spacious suites, private terraces, wellness amenities, and three eateries.
“The building’s history was the starting point of the entire narrative,” says hotel managing director Danilo Zucchetti. However, rather than replicating it, “traditional Roman materials and craftsmanship, lighting, and spatial planning,” create points of reference in the new, residential-inspired design, says Simon Abela, a freelance associate at GA and the project’s lead designer. Across the property, contemporary furnishings and artworks by Italian talents like Alice Faloretti, Elisa Grezzani, and Maddalena Negrone add to the dialogue.
