The Westin Excelsior Rome

The Westin Excelsior, Rome is a luxury hotel located on the Via Veneto in Rome, Italy. It opened in 1906.

History
The Hotel Excelsior opened on January 18, 1906. It was constructed by the Actiengesellschaft für Hotelunternehmungen, based in Lucerne, Switzerland. They sold the hotel in 1920 to CIGA, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company, an Italian luxury chain. In 1944, the hotel became the temporary headquarters of General Mark Clark after the US Army entered Rome.

The Aga Khan bought CIGA in 1985, then sold it to Sheraton Hotels in 1994, who placed the Excelsior in their Luxury Collection. In 1998 Sheraton was sold to Starwood Hotels, and the Excelsior was transferred to their Westin Hotels division, renamed The Westin Excelsior, Rome. The hotel was fully renovated in 2000.

In popular culture
The hotel hosted the cast and crew of Ben-Hur in 1959. La Dolce Vita was filmed around the hotel in 1960 and Two Weeks in Another Town was filmed in the hotel in 1962. Portions of the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War were filmed in the hotel, as was a scene in the 2009 period musical Nine.

The hotel is marked by its distinctive cupola, and for the two-story "Villa la Cupola" suite located on the fifth and sixth stories beneath it. This suite is noted as one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world, and includes hand-painted frescoes, up to seven bedrooms, and a private cinema.