A Russie Romance: Rome's Secret Garden

There's that famous saying - if walls could talk. That's the feeling you get as you walk into Rome's Hotel Russie and oh how I listened. Founded by Sir Rocco Forte with whom I have a special kinship. Our families share a fig tree boundary in Monforte Casalattico, the small hamlet town high up in the Lazio mountains. And yes you guessed it - the town was renamed Monforte because of The Forte's family legacy.

Sir Rocco first set his sights on this historic building that would become his Italian flagship, it also used to be the HQ of RAI broadcasting. So storytelling is in its DNA. Picasso stayed here during the Cubism period with French writer Jean Cocteau, in one of his many letters to his mother Cocteau writes

'We are living in paradise on earth. The hotel is in a garden that climbs up and looks over Rome. I pick oranges from my window and the sun warms furniture upholstered in sky-blue silk.'

It's out of my beautifully appointed suite that I open the shutters to the hotel's famous garden. Far from Picasso, it now lives for eternity as a viral image on Instagram. Dozens of white parasols line the bottom of the courtyard, the scent of Jasmine fills the air and a bright green parakeet flies to a nearby branch. Am I being wooed? And it's not just me. It seems like everyone here is romanced by Russie.

So what story is Sir Rocco trying to tell...

Breakfast is served in 'Le Jardin' by very charismatic waiters wearing Ivory tuxedo jackets. It's old Hollywood. It’s decadent Cornetti and Maritozzo. The walls are adorned with frescoes by local artist Gio Bressana, Gio says he wanted guests to feel immersed in the art and to dream. It's there I meet Priscilla, who is an important part of the hotel's family. We walk through the 'Secret Garden' which is set at the foot of the Pincio hill designed in the XIX century to accompany the neighbouring Villa Borghese. She tells me this neoclassical architecture has inspired many artists and film directors over the years.

Rome in all its fame. Has a way of making us feel like we discover things entirely for our own. Whether it’s a corner coffee bar or the perfect Cacio e Pepe. Hotel Russie may be a stone's throw from the Spanish steps but this garden is a haven tucked away from the city's mo-ped buzz.

Sir Rocco says 'A strong family influence - a powerful force in any business' and it really is a family affair with his children working across the hotel group and his sister Olga Polizzi co-founder and director of design. It's Olga's vision that brings the surroundings of Rome inside every room.

But it's in the smallest of details that the Forte's really charm. The handwritten notes at turndown, Irene Forte skincare in the bathrooms and a fresh coffee coupled with biscotti by the door so that I don't leave hungry. Ah there it is... evoking that same thoughtfulness from my grandparents high up on that Monforte hilltop. Maybe Sir Rocco is onto something. All love stories have family at its heart.