Best Baths in Rome

At a new urban resort in Italy’s Eternal City, taking the waters combines good health practices with ancient historical culture.

by Deborah Frank

An ornate courtyard with a central fountain and a stained-glass ceiling. The fountain has multiple tiers and a cascading water feature. The stained-glass ceiling is colorful and geometric.

Housed in the UNESCO-protected, 15th-century Palazzo Salviati Cesi Mellini, Six Senses Rome (from $900; sixsenses.com) stands as a cathedral to the holistic wellness brand’s mantra of taking time for ourselves to relax, disconnect, and ultimately reconnect with others and the world around us. “Rome has always been the type of city that people come to for a brief stop then say, ‘Okay, done, let’s go to Amalfi, let’s go to Tuscany,’ and they do not really experience everything Rome has to offer,” says General Manager Francesca Tozzi. “But in this case, with us, it can also be about taking a day to do something for yourself because that’s part of the vacation as well, the complete experience.”

To that end, Six Senses restored the palazzo’s original façade and 600-year-old columns at the entrance and its monumental marble staircase with decorative skylight, then brought in Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola, known for her sustainability practices, to create her nature-focused aesthetic with lush greenery, local limestone, earthy colors, and soft-touch furnishings that combine natural textiles and wood throughout the 96-room hotel. It translates into a harmonious blend of classic and contemporary design. The abundance of plants from the lobby to the rooftop is calming and transporting from the moment one enters the property.

“It’s an understated luxury,” says Tozzi, “a little less formal and with a sense of place, but without statues of Julius Caesar and heads of Roman emperors. You can just sit in the courtyard and feel all the nature around you. It’s such an escape, a real urban oasis.”

An indoor Moroccan-style swimming pool with arched entryways and white columns. In the center of the pool is a four-poster bed. The pool deck is tiled and there are two chaise lounges visible.

The all-day dining concept at the BIVIUM Restaurant-Café-Bar in the inner courtyard, or on the living room–style NOTOS Rooftop with its herbal garden and views of surrounding monuments, features plant-based modern Italian and Roman home favorites of Executive Chef Nadia Frisina. If detox juices are just a morning ritual, then BIVIUM’s self-serve wine station is at the ready to dispense 2 or more ounces of various vintages with the swipe of a room card, further enhancing the laid-back, residential vibe of the hotel.

At the spa, the ancient bath tradition is brought to life with its 60-minute Roman bathing experience via a tepidarium (warm plunge pool), laconicum (sauna), caldarium (hot plunge bath), and frigidarium (cold plunge pool). Descending the circular stone stairway into this aquatic sanctuary feels like stepping into history. An herbal hammam, biohacking area, and a meditation room are also available, all perfect complements after a session of yoga on the outside deck.

Adding to the overall experience is a visiting practitioner program that launched last summer with Japanese sound bowl therapist Mayu Nishibe. Her unique application of the practice offered a different sensation to the vibration therapy that left participants more than mentally relaxed. Nishibe recommended drinking lots of water to release the toxins that had built up. Promoting further calmness and tranquility is the Sleep program that subtly incorporates in-room technology with, among other things, organic mattresses that allow for airflow to help stop night sweats. For the shower, guests can make their own coffee scrubs at the spa’s Alchemy Bar or pick up one freshly made in the Earth Lab, a communal space next to the courtyard where guests can exchange ideas and learn best practices for a more sustainable world.