As a financial center, Rome is not about to threaten New York, or even Milan for that matter, but the Eternal City has certain features that attract serious international business interests: the government with all its ministries, the Bank of Italy, and Vatican City, no slouch when it comes to investing. And what with cross-border bank consolidations, privatization and liberalization by the government, and a huge new trade fairgrounds near the airport, Rome is teeming with business travelers. Its cultural riches, spectacular architecture, great food and wine, and sunny climate make it all the more attractive. A building boom in the run-up to the Year 2000 Jubilee provided better transport and hotels. The city is flourishing culturally, too: Renzo Piano’s Parco della Musica auditoriums, Richard Meier’s new Ara Pacis Museum, the debut of RomeFilmFest, and three new contemporary art museums are only some of the recent developments.

Where to Sleep
Top American businessmen like Bill Gates feel most comfortable at the Hassler Villa Medici, as did U.S. presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford,  Reagan, and Bush I. The spacious suites, the views, and the prestigious location on top of the Spanish Steps are the icing on a very pro-American vibe, but Europeans also love it: London-based hedge fund wizard (and Elle MacPherson ex) Arpad Busson recently stayed here. While many northern Italian power players keep homes in Rome, others, such as Fiat heir John Elkann and stylist Donatella Versace, prefer the old-world elegance of the St. Regis Grand Hotel, between the American embassy and the railway station. The late Fiat head Gianni Agnelli had his own suite there. Fashion and design executives, including Diego Della Valle of Tod’s, choose the Hotel De Russie for its location off Piazza del Popolo, neoclassical garden bar and restaurant, and contemporary but so comfortable minimalist style. Rupert Murdoch and Steve Forbes like the luxuriously cozy Hotel Eden because it also provides a world-class business center. The Ambassador floor has adjoining suites and living room areas for meetings, and the upper floors have spectacular views of Rome and the gardens of the Villa Medici. Across from the presidential palazzo, Rome’s newest luxury hotel is the Villa Spalletti Trivelli, an exquisitely restored early-twentieth-century residence with enough twenty-first-century high-tech touches—Wi-Fi throughout, in-room flat-screen TVs—to make plugged-in guests like Samsung president and CEO J. W. Kim feel right at home.

Where to Eat
La Pergola, Rome’s only Michelin three-star restaurant, has a gracious and refined dining room on top of the Cavalieri Hilton Hotel; its magnificent view of the city and German-born chef Heinz Beck’s way with Mediterranean cuisine are sure to impress any client. Fortunato al Pantheon is a favorite with many politicians for its informal elegance and nearness to parliament. Condoleeza Rice has tucked into its Roman classics, such as the pasta e ceci (chickpeas), and Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is spotted there regularly. When in Rome, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio always stop for exquisite fish at Quinzi e Gabrieli, just north of the Pantheon and Piazza Navona—the catch is so fresh that much of it is served raw. Since moving to Rome to become president of Merrill Lynch Italy, former U.S. ambassador Reginald Bartholomew is a regular at Due Ladroni, where the food has a Neapolitan accent. Hard-to-find delicacies like spaghetti with moscardini (tiny octopus) or wild ovoli mushrooms are in-season specialties. Night owls like jeweler Paolo Bulgari and everyone in the entertainment business appreciate the fact that the restaurant is open into the wee hours. Federico Fellini’s old haunt, Al Moro, in an alley off the Trevi Fountain, is still a magnet for movie moguls (Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise dine there) and politicians from left to right. The restaurant is famous for always having the first delicacies of the season, whether they are wild strawberries, mushrooms, or truffles.

Where to Close a Deal
Thanks to several secluded niches around the baroque dining room, nothing beats the Michelin-starred Mirabelle restaurant, atop the Hotel Splendide Royal, for privacy and discretion. If sightings of Italian power brokers such as Silvio Berlusconi don’t turn your head, the Villa Borghese garden views will. An ambience that exudes prosperity, with white marble floors, antique wood inlay, and contemporary mirrored tables, sets the right tone for deal making, so Imàgo, the rooftop restaurant at the Hassler with drop-dead views of the city, is another favorite of American businessmen. Italians too. When they need to talk rather than be seen, bigwigs such as fashion magnate Diego Della Valle and Carlo Rosella, the new president of Medusa Film, go there.

Where to See and Be Seen
Roma bene, as the social register is known, can be found most evenings at Dal Bolognese in Piazza del Popolo, and if the weather is fine they’re sitting outdoors on the terrace. Frequently, La Repubblica founding editor Eugenio Scalfari and former Fiat magnate Cesare Romiti are in the mix. A favorite meeting place for international movers and shakers is the bar at Le Jardin de Russie in the Hotel de Russie’s glorious courtyard.

Local Codes
Rome is a casual city, and it’s rare for a restaurant to require a jacket and tie. However, it’s casual chic, not casual sporty. And if some of your stylish attire is made in Italy, that will only impress colleagues with your good taste. Appearances do matter: La
bella figura, or presenting your best image, is something Romans aspire to at all times. Asking after the family is always appreciated, and it’s advisable to know something about the soccer situation—which team is this year’s national champion, where Rome stands, and, of course, that Italy holds the 2006 World Cup. It’s permissible to be ten minutes late for an appointment since Rome’s chaotic traffic makes it difficult to estimate how much time you’ll need to arrive at your destination, but some find it disconcerting when others are early. Avoid ordering cappuccino after lunch or dinner—stick with coffee. And remember that arrivederci is always better than the overly familiar ciao when saying good-bye to a business contact.
    
Airport Intelligence
At Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) Airport, planes are frequently not docked at the terminal, so you have an annoying wait while the bus fills up with passengers. However, a makeover for the new millennium provided much better shopping and eating venues. The government has earmarked $250 million for the proposed international terminal, with work to start in October 2007. Construction won’t affect the functioning of the existing terminals and runways, but it will be four years before the new terminal, with an added capacity of six million passengers per year, is in operation. The fastest way to the center of Rome is the Leonardo Express, the airport train leaving every half hour and arriving in 31 minutes at Rome’s Termini railway station. To cut down on dishonest cabdrivers, the city has established a flat rate of about $55 for taxis from Fiumicino Airport to the center of Rome, but the ride could take an hour or more, depending on the time of day.

The Three-Hour Tour
Rome goes back almost 3,000 years, so it is difficult to grasp in three hours, even though any point in the historic center is within walking distance of the rest. If you are pressed for time and have an idea of what interests you most, contact Concierge in Rome for a tailor-made walking or limousine tour and access to many venues not normally open to the public. If you just want a lovely passeggiata, or evening walk, through Rome’s splendid ancient, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern architecture, grab a map from your hotel concierge and start at the beginning. Make your way up from the Coliseum past the Roman and Imperial forums to Piazza Venezia. Then turn down the Via del Corso, Rome’s Main Street, past the exclusive shops toward Piazza del Popolo. Within a few blocks of the route are such varied centuries- and millennia-old landmarks as the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, and Campo dei Fiori.

–Mimi Murphy