In the heart of Rome, where centuries-old is nearly young, the Palazzo Talìa hotel emerges as a fresh yet familiar face. The 16th-century building, once the private home of the secretary to Pope Leo X and later a renowned college, is now an immersive city stay with just 26 rooms and suites.

The storied school begged for a new narrative. And it received one from Studiolucaguadagnino, the eponymous interior design firm of Luca Guadagnino, the director of Call Me by Your Name and Challengers. The studio reimagined the hotel’s common spaces, as well as the Terrace Suite, refreshing the Renaissance architecture with artisanal craftsmanship, an unconventional chromatic palette, and Guadagnino’s signature dramatic flair.

Taking centre stage is a monumental rug by Irish architect and illustrator Nigel Peake. Its soft floral motifs in pinks, burgundies, and blues set a sensational tone, winding through a grand reception flanked by Roman busts, up a central staircase, and toward a floor where restored baroque frescoes delight across vaulted ceilings. The same themes define the Tramae Restaurant’s eggplant banquettes and mirrored walls, and the intimate Bar della Musa’s grotesque-frescoed ceilings. The Wellness Centre is inspired by ancient Roman bathhouses, with a heated 355-square-foot pool that glistens under handmade reflective metallic tiles and a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

A lighter touch distinguishes the Aula Magna, a restored great hall with 36-foot ceilings, ancient marble, and clerestory windows, which is furnished with oversized orange- and pink-bouclé armchairs. On the top floor, the Terrace Suite’s peach-wood panelling and muted shades of pink complete the 700-square-foot room perched over a palm-studded courtyard.

Just blocks from the Trevi Fountain, the fusion of modern design and centuries-old architecture is a burst of energy in the Eternal City—a sweetly updated Renaissance moment.

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