Step inside and if you listen closely, you can hear it—the clink of glass, the shake of ice, the bursts of laughter, the roar of celebration. It’s a cacophony of cocktails…at one time a Strauss waltz, another a Herrmann score. Even if you wanted to resist it, the pull is too strong.
From the over-the-top opulence of the historic to the sleek and chic of the contemporary, hotel bars are magnetic. They attract out-of-towners and in-towners, haters and lovers, strangers and friends – all sharing secrets and stories over a masterfully made Martini!
This year, in association with Altamura Distilleries, I’ll be exploring some of the world’s most legendary bars—uncovering what makes them the beating heart of the hotel.
Our next stop is Rome!
Aleph Rome Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton
Now come and heed.
The Natural Gifts that Jupiter himself
apportioned to the bees
I will set forth.
Virgil, Georgics IV, 149–50
You might miss them if you aren’t looking. Above the archway door of the Aleph Rome Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, buzzes a semicircle of gilded bees, ready to fly out into the street. They would find they were among friends. Bees are found all throughout Rome, most of them the symbol of the Barberini family, whose palazzo, now a museum, is a five-minute walk from the hotel.
Pope Urban VIII, born into the Barberini family, literally stamped Rome with his family’s emblem, the bumblebee. He had the good fortune to be elected Pope during a golden era of Roman Baroque architecture and was quick to commission the three great masters of the age, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to construct fountains, churches, and statues all around the city, with the bumblebee prominently displayed.
Bees toiling away in their hives have represented industry and harmony in equal measure since ancient times. The reward for that hard work is honey, which Pliny the Elder, writing in AD 77–79, described as “dew fallen from the stars.”
So why are bees buzzing around the door of the Aleph Hotel? The building that is now the Aleph Hotel was constructed in the 1930s as the headquarters of the Central Savings Bank – a veritable hive of activity, thus a natural choice. Follow the bees inside and the first thing that greets you is the Lobby Bar with its restored marble floors, columns, and onyx detailing that transports you back to La Dolce Vita, when Via Veneto, just steps away, was the centre of 1950’s Rome.
Open all day from seven in the morning until midnight. Its menu is overseen by Restaurants & Bars Manager, Lorenzo Politano, a Roman by birth who has been with the Aleph since 2018. His career began in his grandfather’s bar near Rome’s Termini train station, then took him to London to gain international experience, and then his hometown called him back again. Alongside him are Head Bartender Francesco Ramacciati and bartender Sergio Ditrano. All working together to create the bar’s signature menu, built around their individuals takes on the classics.
The Heritage Twist is a Gimlet-style cocktail using Altamura Distilleries Vodka and a homemade ciliegini (cherry tomato) and mint cordial, finished with basil and parsley oil. The Plum Old Fashioned made with Woodford Rye, plum bitters, and sugar looks straightforward enough until you learn of the secret ingredient: lager. A touch of Ichnusa Non Filtrata from Sardinia gives it that special something you would never guess. The Gentle & Sparkle is a highball of Gin Mare and Three Cents Fig Leaf Soda, brought to life with their own cucumber cordial.
For those new to Martinis, or simply not wanting the same thing twice, the Martini menu offers the dry, the dirty, and the Gibson, plus their special Altamura Martini made with Altamura Distilleries Vodka, Mancino Secco, and orange bitters. For the genuinely curious, there’s also the Martini Cocktail Experience, a tasting of all of them.
The Aleph bar represents a professional life project for me. I have been working here for eight years, witnessing its evolution day by day, growing alongside the team and the venue itself, up to the role I hold today. It is a place that has taught me the value of continuity, listening, and responsibility. The Aleph bars embodies the meeting point between an international identity and a strong Roman soul, where product quality goes hand in hand with the quality of human relationships. Today, my role is to provide direction, maintain high standards, and at the same time create a solid, inclusive working environment focused on people’s growth. Lorenzo Politano, Restaurants & Bars Manager
Still, that’s not the only hive in town. Like bees themselves, which shelter through winter and emerge when sun returns, the hotel’s rooftop Organics Sky Bar reawakens each spring. During the day, there are more refurbed classics: e.g. the Crushed Espresso Martini with Altamura Distilleries Vodka, Kyma Amaro al Caffè, and espresso or the Negroni D’Amare made with Gin Mare, Mancino Rosso, and Campari.
Evening is when the team invites us to delight in a tour of the city, flying high above the Roman terracotta rooftops and church domes without leaving the terrace. Taking a cue from our yellow and black striped friends, we are introduced to Rome’s many neighborhoods (rione) and bumblebees through the bar’s signature cocktail menu.
As for the recipes, our intention was to pair ingredients that, thanks to their characteristics, could evoke the sensations and aromas one might experience while strolling through the streets of each Roman neighborhood. The idea is to create a sensory connection, evoking the atmosphere, scents, and impressions that both locals and visitors experience as they explore these neighborhoods and admire their iconic monuments,” explains Lorenzo.
With one sip of the Rione Trevi, a heady mix of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple, with touches of mango and lime, salt solution and The Organics Ginger Beer, we are transported to La Fontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees) sitting at the corner of Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto.
Explore the Rione Pigna, home of the Pantheon, where a tiny carved bee, symbol of the Barberini, is hidden on a column capital of the ancient portico, which blends Campari, Kyma Amaro al Caffè, and The Organics Black Orange.
The Rione Monti with its Nordes Gin, grapefruit syrup, sage, sugar and The Organics Bitter Lemon, sends us to the church of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli near Colosseum, where the Barberini bees swarm its gorgeous stained glass windows.
Leading us to St Peter’s Basilica down the Via Giulia and across the Tevere River, where the bees dance on their most glorious perch, Bernini’s Baldacchino, the canopy above the altar, is the Rione Regola created with Altamura Distilleries Vodka, violet liqueur, raspberry shrub and The Organics Tonic Water.
Of all those bees that have found a home in Rome, the gilded ones above the Aleph’s door are the ones that welcome us in to share the sweet rewards of Lorenzo and his team’s hard work – crafting cocktails that are, as Pliny described so eloquently, “dew fallen from the stars” and make their bars the heart of the hotel.
At Aleph Rome, the bar is more than a place it is a feeling, a window on the world, where different cultures, stories, and energies meet in a single moment – space of exchange between bartender and guest, between those who listen and those who tell. Every interaction is a dialogue, not just through words, but through gestures, flavors, and shared time. Behind the bar, I don’t just serve drinks I connect with people. For me, the bar is alive. It breathes through the people who sit at it and the hands that work behind it – where hospitality becomes personal, and where every drink is the beginning of a conversation. Gaetano Cacialli, Operations Manager
Aleph Bar Team
A Selection of the Other Bees of Rome!
