Mascagni, Puccini and Verdi stayed here, for the hotel and the Teatro dell’Opera were linked by a passageway, which now goes through the garden. A large commemorative plaque tells how, at the windows of the hotel, Verdi was acclaimed by the people after the premiere of Falstaff in 1893. During the Kingdom of Italy, it was patronised by the Savoys, Catherine of Russia, and the princes Colonna, Torlonia, and Odescalchi. Requisitioned at the end of the last war, it became the headquarters of the New Zealand and Australian troops. Its Empire style is elegant and alluring.