The Westin Excelsior Rome

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The Westin Excelsior, Rome
On the way to Via Vittorio Veneto - panoramio.jpg
The Westin Excelsior, Rome, facing the Via Veneto
The Westin Excelsior Rome
General information
Location Rome, Italy
Address Via Vittorio Veneto 125
Coordinates 41°54′N12°30′E / 41.9°N 12.5°E / 41.9; 12.5
OpeningJanuary 18, 1906
OwnerOmnam Group [1]
Management Westin Hotels
Design and construction
Architect(s)Emil Vogt and Otto Maraini [2]
DeveloperSchweizerische Actiengesellschaft für Hotelunternehmungen
Other information
Number of rooms281
Number of suites35
Website

The Westin Excelsior, Rome, is a historic luxury hotel on the Via Veneto in Rome, Italy, opened in 1906. [3]

Contents

History

Poster advertising the hotel's grand opening, 1906 Mario Borgoni - Excelsior Hotel Rome.jpg
Poster advertising the hotel's grand opening, 1906

The Hotel Excelsior opened on 18 January 1906. [4] It was designed by Swiss architects Emil Vogt and Otto Maraini [2] 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. [1]

The 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]

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References

  1. 1 2 ten Cate, Bert Erik (2023-05-02). "Omnam Group Hires Eastdil To Find Finance for Famous Rome Hotel". www.costar.com.
  2. 1 2 "Pr-04-11-2016-b - ams-osram - ams".
  3. ↑ "The Westin Excelsior, Rome, Rome". Five Star Alliance. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Westin Excelsior, Rome". famoushotels.org.
  5. 1 2 3 "Hotel Excelsior".
  6. ↑ Beevor, Antony (5 June 2012). The Second World War - Antony Beevor - Google Books. Little, Brown. ISBN   9780316084079 . Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "Nine Legendary Luxury European Hotels Join The Westin Brand". www.hotel-online.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24.
  9. ↑ "The Westin Excelsior Rome Sold for for[sic] €222 Million".
  10. ↑ Suzanne Topham, Demand Media. "Famous Hotels in Rome | USA Today". Traveltips.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  11. ↑ "La Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini, 2 - Activcinema Rome". Activitaly.it. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  12. ↑ "The Winds of War (TV Mini Series 1983) - IMDb". IMDb .
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ "The Rome Hotel Kurt Cobain overdosed in".
  15. ↑ "The World's Most Expensive Hotel Rooms", Forbes , March 7, 2002.
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