The Locarno
is a small hotel on the Via della Penna,
just around the corner from the Piazza del Popolo, right in the centre of Rome.
It has a modest entrance
and ancient birdcage lifts.
The Art Deco details are a little faded
as is the cozy old salon.
But the Locarno has long been the favoured haunt of writers, film-makers and artists. Moravia frequented it as did Pasolini. The writer Alain Elkann
has even written a book about the hotel.
Flipping through a few pages of the guest book I saw, in quick succession, the names of the physicist Carlo Rubbia (Nobel, 1984), the directors Abel Ferrara and Wes Anderson; actors Colin Firth, John Turturro and Adrian Brody; and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, Shireen Ebadi.
The Locarno is one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever been in: unpretentious, friendly and very lively in the evenings.
