Italy: Munich-based hotel group Ruby Hotels has announced it will launch a property in Rome following its Italian debut in Florence next year.
Located within a former office building near the Spanish Steps, the Rome hotel will feature 165 rooms and a 24/7 bar with cafe and a rooftop terrace.
Interiors of the new property will be overseen by Ruby Hotels’ design team led by Matthew Balon.
The conversion of the office site is being carried out by developer and owner ECE Work & Live, with long-standing partner of Ruby, ECE Group, the hotel’s landlord. The family office of ECE Group invested a 25 per cent stake in Ruby Hotels in 2019.
Catherine Hilt, group senior manager of development at Ruby, said: “Within Rome’s market, which is demonstrating stable growth, affordable luxury is an over proportionately growing, albeit underserved, niche segment. With our Lean Luxury concept, we aim to address this specific demand. This project fits perfectly, and we are particularly happy to be developing it jointly with our long-time partner ECE.”
Torsten Kuttig, director of hotel development at ECE Work & Live, added: “Our first hotel project in Italy combines the key objectives of our strategy in the hotel segment: to expand our international activities and extend them to attractive markets such as Italy, to invest more in the conversion of existing properties, and to focus primarily on hotels with a leisure and business focus.
“We are therefore very pleased to have identified a suitable existing property in the heart of Rome, which we can convert into a modern hotel building together with Ruby Hotels as our partner.”
Founded in 2013, Ruby Hotels operates 15 properties to date with a further 21 hotels under construction or in the planning phase. The company is led by CEO Michael Struck.
The Rome hotel is scheduled to open in 2025.
