An iconic hotel transformed by Orient Express into a luxurious retreat, with artist-architect Hugo Toro orchestrating a journey through the baroque beauty of Rome and the golden age of train travel. And on the terrace of the Orient Express, La Minerva opens the first Gigi Rigolatto restaurant in Italy.

Rome in September has a special light. As the city slowly awakens from its summer slumber, the sun paints the cobblestones a golden glow, and the dome of the Pantheon continues to amaze anyone who passes by, even casually. The imposing columns, the bronze portals, the light pouring from the great &quot;eye&quot; creating an eternal play of light and shade. A few steps away, in another corner of the Campo Marzio , a surprising little square opens up, embellished by Bernini &#39;s whimsical yet brilliant invention: a small elephant carrying an obelisk on its shoulders. This baroque play introduces the sober façade of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Inside, a Christ by the young Michelangelo and the remains of the mystic of mystics, Catherine of Siena. Next to it, the elegant mass of the Minerva, which has dominated the square since the 17th century with its ochre façade.

The hotel&#39;s history begins with the Sauves, a family of Provençal origins—whose ancestors included a noblewoman who was a spy in the service of Catherine de&#39; Medici —who arrived in Rome following Napoleon . Although the city never became the capital of the Emperor&#39;s political project, it did become their home. And in 1811, they transformed the 17th-century palace that had belonged to the aristocratic Portuguese Fonseca family into Italy&#39;s first Grand Hotel . They named it after the square in front of it: Grand Hotel de la Minerve .

Having become Rome an essential stop on the Grand Tour —a journey during which young European nobles learned about the politics , culture , art , and antiquities of the countries of the Old Continent— the Orient Express La Minerva welcomed Stendhal to its rooms, where he composed his Roman Promenades between 1814 and 1816. He was followed by the New York adventurer and novelist Hermann Melville. In 1855, George Sand arrived and, deeply troubled by her Roman experience, wrote La Daniella , an anticlerical novel that caused a scandal and sparked considerable political tension between the Church and France. In 1866, even Pius IX, an exceptional visitor, visited Rome, escorted by the Noble Guard on horseback to meet an Ecuadorian prelate visiting Rome. For the last of the Pope-Kings, who usually did not leave the Apostolic Apartments, that outing made headlines around the world. Since then, the hotel has become a refuge for sovereigns, statesmen, artists, and movie stars, a cosmopolitan mirror of Rome between the 19th and 20th centuries.

La Minerva is now reborn under a new guise, linking its centuries-old history to that of the Orient Express and becoming the first hotel to bear the legendary brand&#39;s signature wagon-lit design. The contemporary reinterpretation of the legendary era of train travel between the late 19th and early 20th centuries rewrites the aesthetics of the hotel&#39;s 12,000 square meters, redesigned from top to bottom by French artist and architect Hugo Toro . Trained at the Penninghen Academy in Paris and then honing his skills in Vienna and Los Angeles, the designer of the Villa Albertine in New York and the interiors of the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, Toro confirms with the sophistication he applied to La Minerva his nature as a touche-à-tout capable of blending architecture, decorative arts, and scenography.

It&#39;s no surprise that the mental association with Agatha Christie &#39;s famous novel or scenes from Wes Anderson&#39;s Grand Budapest Hotel is immediate. The corridors resemble train carriages, with brass details everywhere, references to the wood paneling typical of Belle Époque railway aesthetics, and elevators transformed into time capsules. &quot;The train, the very idea of travel,&quot; says Hugo Toro , &quot;is part of my most intimate imagination, a legacy from my grandfather and his work on the railways. The power of the Orient Express lies in its extraordinary evocative universe: we all know what it is without actually experiencing it.&quot;

<h3 data-start="141" data-end="891" style="text-align: justify;">Hugo Toro&#39;s bespoke touch is evident in the details.</h3>

In the ninety-plus rooms of the Orient Express La Minerva, everything has been custom-designed. From the wet bars reminiscent of Malle Armoires to the bedside tables reminiscent of early 20th-century leather trunks—it was precisely train travel that led to the success of major fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada , which specialized in luggage in their early days—to the sofas worthy of a waiting room of yesteryear, and the ceiling fans that turn back the clock. In the bathrooms, clad entirely in red marble, soft lighting illuminates the imposing shell-shaped sinks and showers that transform into intimate hammams, a refined echo of the legendary voyages&#39; final destination, Istanbul .

Yet Rome is everywhere. In the tolling of bells filtering through the windows, emanating from the thousands of nearby churches scattered throughout Rome&#39;s city center, in the weathered floors, in the 19th-century frescoes, in the columns that span the halls. Toro has crafted a subtle dialogue between antiquity, Art Deco, and contemporaneity : &quot;In this hotel, the Orient Express motifs account for forty percent; everything else speaks of Rome. Traces of the city are in the plasterwork, which we treated with care, avoiding pastiche and giving the hotel a fully contemporary identity,&quot; the architect emphasizes.

As soon as you cross the imposing entrance of the Orient Express La Minerva , you&#39;ll feel like you&#39;ve entered a peaceful oasis amidst the chaos of the city. The hotel&#39;s beating heart is the spacious space beneath the large skylight, where the subtle light filters through the foliage of the monumental ficus trees, casting chiaroscuro effects on the beautiful Murano glass lanterns hanging from the ceiling and on the tables, complemented by sofas designed by Hugo Toro and chairs by Bonacina . Overseeing the scene is the 19th-century statue of the goddess, sculpted by a student of Canova, a silent guardian of the La Minerva Bar , which serves refined breakfasts in the morning and light dejeuners at lunchtime, featuring club sandwiches and traditional Roman pastries.

But it&#39;s when you ascend to the terrace that the hotel reveals its most striking scenic power. The gaze sweeps from the perfect rotunda of the Pantheon to the bell tower of Sant&#39;Ivo alla Sapienza , losing itself in a mosaic of roofs and domes until it settles on the majestic white mass of St. Peter&#39;s . It is on this belvedere that Gigi Rigolatto arrives, after Paris, Saint-Tropez, and Dubai, with an experience that aspires to embody a contemporary Dolce Vita , visually translated by Hugo Toro , through polished marble, brass details, pastel colors, and retro lines. The perfect frame for a view that continues to amaze with every glance.

At the Bellini Bar , where the iconic Venetian cocktail is reinterpreted alongside a selection of artisanal spirits, vintage wines, and a specially designed mixology menu, the aperitif is accompanied by appetizers—a lightly fried fish platter or local cured meats—as a prelude to dinner. The menu, from fresh pasta to the catch of the day, encompasses the great classics of Italian cuisine with a cosmopolitan twist. The raw fish dishes—the tuna carpaccio and red prawns are a must—are simply sublime, as are the first courses. The real highlight is dessert, a 1.5 kilo of tiramisu presented in a soup tureen. A test of endurance that, thanks to the creaminess of the dessert and its delicious simplicity, is happily tackled spoonful after spoonful.

The Campo Marzio , which opens up under the watchful gaze of the Orient Express La Minerva , is a maze where you can happily lose yourself, amidst endless strolls and unexpected discoveries. At the hotel reception, the concierge never fails to suggest discreet and exquisite itineraries. A coffee at Sant&#39;Eustachio, an ice cream at Giolitti. And then the churches. The Caravaggios housed in San Luigi dei Francesi, the baroque setting of Sant&#39;Ignazio with its little square, the geometric perfection of Sant&#39;Ivo. From here, it&#39;s a short walk to Via Condotti, where at Pineider you can personalize a leather notebook in &quot;Rome yellow&quot;—the same color as the building facades—with your initials, perfect for jotting down travel memories. A little further on, the discreet institution of Schostal , with its old-fashioned pajamas, and the Aesop store designed by Luca Guadagnino next to Montecitorio, where even a beauty purchase becomes a design experience.

<h3 data-start="141" data-end="891" style="text-align: justify;">Artisan of Travel since 1883, Orient Express continues to celebrate the art of travel by intertwining myth and modernity.</h3>

If the first hotel in the world signed by the brand opens in Rome, the Orient Express La Minerva , which will be followed by the Venetian debut with the Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli , and among the waves with <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Corinthian , the first of two Orient Express sailing yachts . Rome is the departure and arrival point of the La Dolce Vita Orient Express train, awaiting the return to the tracks of the original, legendary convoy that wrote the history of international hospitality.

Orient Express La Minerva, a September weekend in Rome that is a journey within a journey

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