Inside Hotel de la Ville's Rooftop Kitchen Under Chef Fulvio Pierangelini

Hotel de la Ville sits atop the Spanish Steps, and its kitchen, overseen by Michelin-starred chef Fulvio Pierangelini, has become one of the more distinctive culinary programs in central Rome. Pierangelini's menu takes local produce as its starting point and layers in flourishes drawn from Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, a genuinely wide-ranging approach that avoids feeling scattered because of how consistently his technique holds it together.

The hotel has built a strong run of recognition around that kitchen and the property as a whole, landing at #2 in Travel + Leisure's Readers' Favourite Hotels in Rome and #14 across Europe, alongside a One Key Hotel Award from the MICHELIN Guide and a Forbes Travel Guide Star Award. Since opening as one of Rocco Forte's newer Roman addresses, it has moved quickly from novelty to established favorite among the city's luxury hotels.

What sets Hotel de la Ville apart from its sister property Hotel de Russie down the hill is largely a matter of altitude and view: the rooftop setting above the Spanish Steps gives it a different relationship with the city, one built around panorama rather than garden seclusion. Both approaches work, but for travelers choosing between Rocco Forte's Roman properties, that distinction is often the deciding factor.

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