HISTORY
While conserving the atmosphere of the Belle Epoque, the hotel today is a top-class
structure with services on a par with international luxury hotels. Construction
started on the Flora Hotel in 1905 and its harmonious Art Nouveau style was the
work of the architect Andrea Busiri Vici, project having been commissioned by
the wealthy half Russian-half German Krumngel.
Work on the hotel was completed in 1907 and it quickly became a refined residence
which attracted an international clientele. In 1930, Paul Valery, in a letter
to a friend written from the Flora Hotel said, “it has a special atmosphere you
can’t find anywhere else,” and Ada Negri writing to the Countess Anna Maria di
Broglio described the hotel as her “Roman home”.
In more recent times, but still the last century, the Grand Hotel Flora became
a home away from home for celebrities in the Sixties, the years of Rome’s “Dolce
Vita.” It was here, in the Villa Borghese, in the Casina Valadier and in Rome’s
famous cafes that the rich and famous met. In the concierge’s guest book you can
see the names of Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, Richard Nixon, Paul Getty, Christian
Barnard, Joan Crawford, Cassius Clay and Federico Fellini.
