Kike Sarasola lands in luxury with Jean Nouvel

[Akrapovic]

It had the cheapest and most stylish hotels. Now, with the help of the architect and the Fondazione Alda Fendi-Esperimenti, he embarks on an adventure with 24 apartments in Rome

Kike Sarasola speaks Italian fluently and shares with the employees who finalize the details of his latest project. Rarely a manager is so aware of a plug or a set of towels. "Soon?" He politely snapped at an operator. "My mother studied most of her life here and instilled in me the love for Italian culture." And to finish the circle of coincidences, the new project of the former Olympic rider and businessman from Madrid, president of Room Mate Group, is located precisely in the Rome that captivated his father, a few meters from the Circus Maximus, place where the po[CENSORED]r Quadriga races, for which Sarasola feels a strange curiosity and not just as a spectator. Sarasola has three Olympic diplomas in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, and is five times Spanish champion and bronze medalist in the 2001 European Championship in horse riding. But this is another story.

READ HERE: This is the building that Kike Sarasola has rented in Madrid for his VIP aparthotel

We are in the palazzo 'rhinoceros', owned by the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti. A place that has 360 degree views of the Boario Forum, the Arch of Janus, the splendid church of San Giorgio in Velabro, the temple of Hercules Victor (known as the Temple of Vesta), the Piazza della Bocca della Verità, as well as the Famous Palatine, its domes and historic houses, churches, Roman ruins and all stratifications of history. The same name palazzo 'rhinoceros' is an indication of imperial Rome -caput mundi-, where the rhinoceros, strong and powerful, led the crowd to the benevolence of the emperor.
Alda, 75, is the little one of the 'Sorelle Fendi', the five daughters of Adele Casagrande, an entrepreneurial seamstress who opened a small bag shop in Rome in 1918 and married in 1925 the handsome Roman Edoardo Fendi This woman - whose last name is an institution in the world of luxury worldwide - has wanted to have Sarasola for the management of 24 apartments, designed and decorated by the architect Jean Nouvel, and a privileged restaurant on the rooftop gallery of the building (there is no photograph that can contain the emotion of its views), which will be the first Kaspia Caviar in Rome. Without a doubt, the entrance to the world of luxury through the big door for Spanish. "We started being the cheapest chain on the street, then we offered another kind of experience and now we want to consolidate ourselves above and below," says the director.
The innovative and risky spirit of Madrid is in tune with that of Alda Fendi, which has leased part of the building for two decades. The agreement has helped the business figures of the Sarasola company, which last year broke a new turnover record (80 million euros, 12.3% more than in 2016) and in the coming months will open another 15 hotels for all the world.

Sarasola has affirmed that this initiative in the Italian capital is the starting point of one of his next projects, called The Rooms of The World, with which he intends to bring “the most exceptional experiences to many cities in Europe and the world”.

To understand this new concept of space, we must bear in mind that the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti, based on the ground floor at the rhinoceros building, will be a must for art lovers, a new must have for the Eternal City. In fact, the inauguration of this temple of art, hospitality and restoration will house a central exhibition dedicated to Michelangelo, twelve drawings of original architectural projects related to monuments of Florence and Rome plus the exceptional comments of Nouvel. Point October 11 on your agendas.

Kike Sarasola speaks Italian fluently and shares with the employees who finalize the details of his latest project. Rarely a manager is so aware of a plug or a set of towels. "Soon?" He politely snapped at an operator. "My mother studied most of her life here and instilled in me the love for Italian culture." And to finish the circle of coincidences, the new project of the former Olympic rider and businessman from Madrid, president of Room Mate Group, is located precisely in the Rome that captivated his father, a few meters from the Circus Maximus, place where the po[CENSORED]r Quadriga races, for which Sarasola feels a strange curiosity and not just as a spectator. Sarasola has three Olympic diplomas in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney, and is five times Spanish champion and bronze medalist in the 2001 European Championship in horse riding. But this is another story.