The Experimental group continues to spread its lifestyle spirit to new major European cities. Last year, Paris saw the opening of a third establishment in the Marais district, the result of the repositioning of the former Sinner hotel. The group also has an address in London, the Henrietta Experimental, and Rome and Porto are preparing to welcome new hotels with a contemporary design and atmosphere.
Alongside its leisure-focused establishments – but open to professional events as well – such as in Biarritz, Ibiza, Verbier or Val d’Isère, the group’s development, with its lifestyle DNA originating from the world of cocktail bars and restaurants, is also targeting urban destinations. In this regard, next October, in the heart of Rome, at 46 via Ludovisi, between the prestigious via Veneto and the equally famous Piazza di Spagna.
Next door to the Swiss Institute in Rome, the Experimental hotel, whose name is not yet known, will be housed in an office building redesigned by designer and interior architect Rodolphe Parente, a former colleague of Andrée Putman before setting up his own agency. The result will be a top-of-the-range hotel with 83 rooms and suites, a vast restaurant under a central glass roof, an Experimental Cocktail Club Roma bar, and a rooftop swimming pool overlooking the Eternal City.
At the same time, as part of its international expansion, the hotel group will also be taking its first steps in Portugal in autumn 2026, in Porto, while planning other investments in the country in the near future. Together with Experimental, investor Extendam has just acquired the Portuguese city's first five-star hotel, the Infante Sagres, which opened in 1951. Currently managed by the Spanish group Hospes and a member of the Small Luxury Hotels chain, this characterful hotel, with its wood panelling, mouldings and stained glass windows, is to be transformed and repositioned to bring Experimental's own lifestyle to its walls, under the guidance of Dorothée Meilichzon, the group's almost in-house designer.
"Infante Sagres is an iconic address that fits perfectly with our strategy of developing exceptional heritage assets alongside visionary operators. "says Matthieu de Lauzon, Manager at Extendam. Located in the centre of Porto, on the Praça D. Filipa de Lencastre, a few steps from the Avenida dos Aliados, the Infante Sagres enjoys a privileged location for business travellers, with the São Bento train station just a 5-minute walk away and the international airport a 20-minute drive away. The hotel currently offers 85 rooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, three meeting rooms, a terrace with swimming pool and two shops on the ground floor.
