Hermès members land in Rome at the new Mandarin Oriental

Merope in Rome has invested EUR 200 million in the purchase and renovation of the historic Villini UniCredit, ten 19th-century buildings located between Via Veneto and Piazza di Spagna, in the Sallustiano district. The project envisages the creation of an urban resort of over 18,000 square metres, spread over several buildings immersed in a centuries-old park, with 108 rooms and suites, more than 40 of which have a private garden or terrace.

The structure - which will be Mandarin Oriental's fifth in Italy after Milan, Lake Como, Cortina and Porto Cervo - will also offer six restaurants and bars, including the Mandarin Bar on a panoramic terrace, and a spa spread over two buildings with indoor and outdoor swimming pools in the green.

Merope has so far concluded over one billion real estate transactions, concentrating first in Milan and then in Rome and Genoa. In the Lombard capital it has in its portfolio Palazzo Bernasconi, which houses the Cipriani, a building once owned by the tailor Gianni Campagna. Then it acquired the former headquarters of Banca Ifis in the Palestro area where the American design brand Restoration Hardware is coming. Also in the Lombard capital, Merope ̀ bought a building in Via della Spiga 5, through a club deal involving Italian family offices, where Ralph Lauren's flagship store is now located. The building in Via Manzoni 9, on the other hand, was acquired between December 2019 and February 2020. Here, too, the property was acquired in a club deal, based on a value-added multi-asset strategy. It now houses the Molteni flagship store.

In Genoa, the company is recovering the historic Villa Spinola, purchased by an international family that is part of Merope's own membership.

With a hotel market in strong recovery - in the first quarter of 2025, investments in hotels tripled compared to the previous year, reaching €600 million - the transaction is a strong signal. The interest in the capital is currently high and attracts mainly investors interested in the hospitality and office segment.

In the hotel sector alone, several luxury hotels have opened in the last two years, from the W to the Six Senses to the recent opening of the Minerva hotel, branded Orient Express and owned by the Italian Arsenale group.

The management team of Mandarin Oriental, a Hong Kong-based hotel management company, recently stated exclusively to Il Sole 24 Ore that Italy remains in the crosshairs of its strategy of sustainable and quality expansion. The team is thus looking at many luxury destinations in Italy, from Forte dei Marmi to Sicily, where Taormina has experienced significant growth in recent semesters, to Sardinia, where it is already planning an opening.

With this latest operation, Rome returns to the centre of international luxury investment strategies. And it does so with the silent but powerful entry of one of the most emblematic families of French elegance.