"Rome" LOUIS VUITTON, 2010 Guide

In the very popular Prati neighborhood, exactly halfway between Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican, this bold little hotel is unique.  The entrance may disconcert , being set into an ensemble of buildings occupied by banks. As for the actual hotel, it is lodged in a former police station. A boutique hotel with high design values, the Orange is also very green, but refuses to sacrifice fashion to nature.Owner Gabriele Merico conceived it as a challenge to the big hotel complexes. Her mantra "life is orange", was inspired by Jacques Prèvert, whose verse flows freely over the walls : "An orange on the table, your dress on the carpet, you in my bed."Everything is, of course, orange: the tables, the doors, the hassocks, although this monochrome-mania is tempered a little by other colors, such as gray. The bathrooms are all simple, with shower or tub, and carefully thought out. Breakfast is served on the top floor, where the panoramic terrace has breathtaking view taking in St. Peter's dome. A jacuzzi is set up when weather permits. The restaurant , Trattoria sul Tetto, serves its simple organic fare up here, too.