Hotel group directors join key project partners for the official presentation of a launch which is generating considerable excitement
Berlin/Rome, 6 June 2025. Leonardo Hotels has offered an initial glimpse behind the scenes of the NYX Hotel Rome, a much anticipated new urban lifestyle hotel at the heart of the Italian capital which is scheduled to open for business in the summer. The project will establish a third location for the group in Rome and a second presence in Italy for the NYX Hotels by Leonardo Hotels brand. It also represents a further milestone in the company’s European expansion plans.
Representatives from the executive management team of Leonardo Hotels and further key stakeholders in the venture were present at a special event staged on 5 June 2025. Attendees included Jan Heringa, Vice President of Development and Project Management at Leonardo Hotels Central Europe, Country General Manager for Leonardo Hotels in Italy and France Raphael Carmon and Andreas Neudahm, who is responsible for the brand-defining design at all Leonardo Hotels. There were also appearances from the engineers Dimitra Michaelides and Giulio Cucciniello from Studio Michaelides, which was responsible for implementation planning, and from Marco Bassan of Spazio Taverna, the curator behind the art concept of the NYX Hotel Rome.
“We’re thrilled to announce the NYX Hotel Rome as the latest milestone in our brand’s expansion,” stated Yoram Biton, Managing Director Central Europe. “This marks the 11th NYX Hotel in Central Europe and the 19th across the entire company portfolio, reinforcing our ambition to establish NYX Hotels as a leading lifestyle hospitality brand in dynamic urban destinations. Rome, with its unique energy and international appeal, is a natural fit for our portfolio. This project is a strategic investment that reflects our long-term vision. We’re not just renovating a property, we’re reimagining it from the ground up. Once complete, it will showcase everything the NYX Hotel brand stands for: bold design, a vibrant social atmosphere, and elevated guest experiences. From the decorative pool to the curated interiors and flexible event spaces, NYX Hotel Rome will be a flagship for our continued growth across the region.”
The NYX Hotel Rome is located in the Prati district of the city, only a short walk from the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican. It is housed in a historic building which previously accommodated the Hotel Cicerone. Since the acquisition of the latter, a total of around €30 million has been invested in a lavish update. A complex and extensive redevelopment programme has transformed the site into a modern venue for leisure and business travellers alike and has also created a new highlight for local inhabitants.
The hotel extends over eight storeys. It offers 324 stylishly designed rooms, a generously proportioned lobby, modular conference rooms and a covered terrace complete with a decorative pool. Culinary delights based on a modern interpretation of Roman cuisine await at the Tullia Restaurant, which will also be open to external guests. The Clash Restaurant & Bar draws its inspiration from the urban and cosmopolitan concept which sets NXY Hotels apart and will provide a further dining option. The emphasis here is on serving up international street food with a creative twist in a young and dynamic atmosphere. The different facilities reflect both the artistic character and the creative DNA of the NYX Hotels by Leonardo Hotels brand.
“Bringing the NYX Hotel brand to Rome is a decisive move in our development strategy,” added Jan Heringa, Vice President of Development und Project Management for Leonardo Hotels Central Europe. We see tremendous opportunity in lifestyle-driven hospitality, and NYX Hotels is at the forefront of that evolution. With its creative design, immersive atmosphere, and urban edge, the brand resonates deeply with modern travellers seeking more than just a place to stay. Rome is a city that blends history with constant reinvention, and that’s exactly the spirit of NYX Hotels. This project exemplifies our commitment to growing our lifestyle portfolio in high-impact locations and setting new standards for guest experiences in the region. It forms part of a broader strategy to grow the NYX Hotel brand through targeted developments that deliver strong returns and long-term value. By partnering with local stakeholders and investing in bold design, elevated amenities, and vibrant social spaces, we’re positioning NYX Hotels as a market leader in lifestyle-driven hospitality, and this opening is a clear step in that direction.”
Raphael Carmon, Country General Manager for Leonardo Hotels in Italy and France, said: “We are very proud to present this exciting NXY Hotel Rome project only a few weeks prior to its launch date. Our aims for the Italian market are to continue to maintain a presence in cities which are the most important centres of art and commerce and to focus on urban destinations which combine tourist attractiveness with business and MICE potential. The NYX Hotel Rome is a good fit for this direction of travel and will help drive the further growth of Leonardo Hotels in Italy in 2025 and in subsequent years. Taking existing and new hotels into account, the turnover prognosis of €60 million for the current year also becomes more achievable.”
The essence of the NYX Hotels lifestyle brand in Rome
The NYX Hotel Rome is surrounded by the city’s most famous sights, all of which are accessible in only a few minutes. This makes it the ideal base from which to explore the historical and culture beauty of Rome. After an eventful day, the interior areas of the hotel provide a number of inviting opportunities. Guests may choose to enjoy an art exhibition preview, an aperitif at the pool bar or a DJ set. They may equally opt for a relaxing time-out in the restaurants or in the health and beauty spa. All of this makes the NYX Hotel Rome a new meeting point for business visitors, leisure travellers and locals.
“After a day spent in the lively metropolis of Rome, guests are able to seek personal sanctuary in rooms which are no less inspirational,” Andreas Neudahm continues. “The hotel’s trump card is its creative and surprising flair. Warm colours, unique materials and unusual shapes and prints all combine to produce a spatial feeling that establishes greatness on a small stage. The rooms also offer guests a temporary home from home which is guaranteed to be different from anything they have known before whilst also extending a warm welcome. Rome is a pulsating and exciting city. It refuses to compromise and is sometimes a little chaotic. Nevertheless, it is teeming with beauty and striking sights. The new NYX Hotel Rome takes the joie de vivre of the city’s streets and squares and transports it to the public areas and rooms.”
A daring and unconventional mix of patterns and colours lends the NYX Hotel Rome its unique spatial feeling. Every single detail has been carefully chosen to impart a particular sense of arrival and well-being to guests. The individual zones merge seamlessly into one another. Although the open lobby may be perceived as an overall entity, it is still possible to gain an intuitive understanding of the separate areas.
“The design of the NYX Hotel Rome is an invitation to embrace and become enchanted by the unknown,” Andreas Neudahm explained. “The open lobby offers a holistic experience whilst still allowing rapid recognition of its individual parts. The hotel encourages guests to immerse themselves in a new world and to succumb to its charms. The interior of the building represents a conscious breakaway from the commonplace. And yet it provides a feel-good setting and a home away from home.”
Urban renewal which involves both ecological sustainability and technological innovation
The new NXY Hotel Rome is a significant project in terms of urban renewal and architectural redevelopment. Carefully considered restructuring of the existing building lies at its core. The project is closely aligned to ecological sustainability and technological innovation with the goal of creating an integrated and smart setting that meets guest needs and upgrades the environment.
The hotel is currently undergoing the Green Building certification process. The objective is to comply with the criteria set out in the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities and to achieve a BREEAM certificate at the level of “Very Good”. Measures instigated include the use of sustainable materials and energy recording systems and the incorporation of autochthonous green spaces that are in accordance with regulations relating to the protection of ecosystems and the reduction of environmental impacts.
From a technological point of view, the hotel will be equipped with high-speed Wi-Fi in all rooms and an advanced building automation system. The latter will permit central control of lighting, temperature and energy consumption in order to deliver maximum comfort and the highest degree of efficiency.
The Milan-based company Michaelides, which was established in 1957, is in charge of project management, implementation planning and site management. Its team of 20 specialist engineers, architects and humanities scholars brings technical and cultural know-how to the table. Context and roots are key aspects of every project undertaken.
Michaelides has assumed particular responsibility for the reconstruction of a work by the renowned Italian post-war artist Nerone Ceccarelli which has been discovered at the hotel. This has been carefully integrated into its historical context and lends the project a multi-layered narrative dimension which ties together architecture, history and art.
Works are nearing their conclusion, and an average of 150 workers and 30 companies are collaborating closely to ensure that the schedule can be met. The aspirations behind this collective commitment are to achieve high technical standards and to restore an upgraded location to the city.
NYX Hotels – a focus on art
The artistic concept of the NYX Hotels brand is based on cooperation with artists from the region in question. NYX Hotel’s curator Iris Barak joins forces with leading local curators to turn every NYX Hotel into a unique work and a significant element of the scene on the ground.
The curation work carried out by Spazio Taverna is transforming the rooms at the new NYX Hotel Rome in Via Cicerone into a permanent exhibition space which redefines the borders between hospitality, art and urban history. Eight artists aged under 40, all either from Rome itself or with deep ties to the capital, were commissioned to design each work within the NVX Collection as a place-specific intervention which enters into dialogue with the hotel architecture and city landscape to open up an interplay between the interior and the exterior, between memory and the present day and between archaeology and innovation.
The starting point for the curatorial approach is a large work by Nerone Ceccarelli, which was rediscovered at the hotel. This is a piece which offers a reflection on the relationship between art and space. Like the works produced by the NR2 Group in the 1970s, it also references the frontiers between art and architecture. A room in this instance is no longer merely physical. It becomes a cerebral place full of memories, stories and identities. This creates imaginative spaces which blend into the history of Rome and project it into the present day.
The works reflect a multifarious city. The modern view of the artists leads to the emergence of new stories which interlink the past and the future, memory and fantasy and proximity and vision. The participating artists are Kim Isul (in collaboration with Ceramiche Marca Corona), Giulia Mangoni (in collaboration with the architectural firm DL-ARCH), Cecilia Caporlingua, Lihi Turjeman, Genuardi & Ruta, Diego Miguel Mirabella and Federica Di Pietroantonio.