Experimental Roma by Rodolphe Parente Brings Marble, Steel and 1970s Vibes to a Former Bank.

A bank is a strange place to go looking for hedonism. Banks are built to reassure: sober, solid, permanent. So there’s a nice irony in Experimental Group choosing a former bank on Via Ludovisi, a short walk from Via Veneto and Piazza di Spagna, as the site of its first Roman hotel. Opening on 10 October 2026, Experimental Roma has been completely redesigned by Rodolphe Parente, and it leans hard the other way.

Experimental Group will be familiar to regular readers. We’ve previously featured three of its hotels, Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice, Menorca Experimental and Montesol Experimental in Ibiza, all with interiors by Dorothée Meilichzon. Rome brings a new designer into the fold. Founded in 2007 by childhood friends Olivier Bon, Pierre-Charles Cros and Romée de Goriainoff, later joined by Xavier Padovani, the group moved from cocktail bars into hotels in 2015 and now runs twelve, with Comporta and Porto also opening this year.

Il Palazzo Experimental Venice Hotel by Dorothée Meilichzon.

Set in the peaceful Dorsoduro neighbourhood, the 32-room hotel occupies a Renaissance palazzo, a former headquarters of a naval transport company.

The group describes Experimental Roma as a hotel of reversed perspectives: a French take on Italy, told through materials, texture and light. In practice, that means contrast at every turn. Marble sits against folded stainless steel. Terracotta tones play off polished metal. Fine materials share space with repurposed industrial elements. Layer in references spanning the 1950s to the 1970s, nods to cinema, glossy finishes, thick carpets and sunny colours, and the building’s old institutional seriousness doesn’t stand a chance.

The 82 rooms and suites split into two distinct personalities. The first is theatrical. Light filters through interior shutters onto large colourful boxes and dramatic headboards draped in antique fabric, a reference to the rendezvous rooms of the Villa Medici. Colourful sinks and bold detailing push the look somewhere between classical Baroque and 1970s excess.

Geometry & Colour Reign Supreme Inside India Madhavi’s Reinvention of Villa Medici in Rome.

The design features exceptional bespoke furniture by Mahdavi, as privileged spots for observing the surrounding 16th-century paintings and frescoes.

The second category dials it right back. Mineral patinas, two-tone lacquered ceilings and striated stainless steel headboards with real sculptural presence set a calmer, almost futuristic tone. The artwork takes its cues from Cy Twombly, Christo, Ugo Ferranti and the Yvon Lambert Gallery, lending these rooms a quieter, gallery-like stillness. Same building, very different mood, and it’s refreshing to see a hotel resist the urge to pick just one.

Bathrooms are treated as boxes in their own right, trading warm timber against cold stone and raw materials against custom pieces. At the centre of the building, the restaurant sits beneath a glass roof.

Experimental frames the result as Rome that reflects, literally and figuratively. With this much polished steel bouncing marble and terracotta back into each room, it’s hard to argue.

A Lasting Impression: Armesto Hotel in Madrid by Febrero Studio.

Formerly a modest hostel in the 1970s, Armesto Rooms is a vibrant newcomer to Madrid’s traditional hotel landscape.

[Images courtesy of Rodolphe Parente. Photography by Giulio Ghirardi.]