Dear Shaded Viewers,
During the latest edition of AltaRoma, the international press and VIPs stayed at the über-chic Rome Times Hotel on via Milano. Located within a gelato-spoon’s throw of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, where many of the AltaRoma events were staged, the Times features bright, spacious rooms and clean, contemporary design.
And while Rome is notorious for its overall sluggish Wi-Fi, I’m happy to report that the connections at the Times run faster than greased lightning. Thank god, because there is nothing worse than an irate blogger throwing a hissy fit because she or he can’t post a photo of their outfit du jour on Instagram!
The Times is situated in Monti, an area less known for stampeding tourists and more for the colorful creative types who live there—actors, artists and writers. You’ll find wonderfully homey trattorias (lunch at Ai Tre Scalini was our favorite lunch spot) and more than one excellent gelateria where the gelato will knock your Gucci socks off. And if you don’t feel like leaving the hotel, you can retreat to the serene panoramic Roof Garden with a bottle of bubbly and bask in the prime views of the Città Eterna.
The first thing I do when I pull up to the bumper of a hotel bar in Rome is werque my best Lotte Lenya in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone: “Negrooooooniiii!” The Times’ Negronis, served in elegantly petite cocktail glasses, are delicious and deceptively lethal—just the way I like them!
I threw back a couple in the side lounge of the lobby while I was catching up on the catwalk news with fashion writer Rebecca Voight. (We clucked our tongues at Armani Privé’s recent “shocking pink” gaffe. Madame Schiaparelli was surely spinning in her grave.) Afterwards, we walked a couple of blocks over to my friend Rinaldo’s apartment for dinner on his voluptuous terrace. La dolce vita, indeed.
Perfect timing: Diane arrives at the Times for AltaRoma.
Stairway to heaven: Open air awaits on the terrace.
A shaded interlude: Between AltaRoma shows, I gossiped in the Times lobby with Ari Seth Cohen of Advanced Style and Diane, bathed in angelic Roman light.
The inn crowd: Me, Ari and Rebecca Voight. Waiting in the Times’ lobby before disembarking for the Azzedine Alaïa opening cocktail at the Galleria Borghese.
Good times, for a change: And then it was time for me and Moz to leave the Times…grazie mille for the great stay!
Love,
Glenn Belverio
