There are few cities in the world with the same head-spinning array of top-tier hotels as Venice. You can chalk that up, in part, to its long history as a popular tourist destination, which stretches as far back as the 18th century, when it was a stop on the Grand Tour for aristocrats to indulge in decadent (and often licentious) pleasures at the city’s casinos and masked balls. Today, it remains a bucket list destination, though with less of the bad behavior of centuries past: most visitors are here to soak up the city’s cultural wonders (don’t miss the Peggy Guggenheim Collection for that), or to sample its culinary delights (a trip to a bacaró for morning cicchetti is also a Venice must).
More recently, the city has seen a new wave of design-forward properties pop up around the city, from then eclectic Venice Venice Hotel on the Grand Canal to the Gio Ponti-inspired Il Palazzo Experimental in the more laid-back environs of the Zattere in the city’s Dorsoduro neighborhood—all ready to accommodate the hordes of creative visitors that arrive annually for the city’s art and architecture Biennales and, of course, its star-studded film festival. (Though you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune to stay somewhere with character and charm: the delightful Hotel Flora in the heart of the city’s San Marco district is proof enough of that.)
Here, find Vogue’s guide to the very best hotels in Venice, from glittering palace stays to under-the-radar design gems.
The Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
There are legendary hotels, and then there’s the Gritti Palace. As one of the most historic grande dames in Venice—the building itself dates back to the 15th-century, and was once the family seat of a Doge—there are few other stays that offer the same transportive magic through the classic gilded Venetian decor of centuries past. (And that’s without mentioning its illustrious list of guests throughout the 20th century, counting everyone from Winston Churchill to Elizabeth Taylor to Angelina Jolie.) Yet there’s nothing about the Gritti that feels fusty: the rooms may carry a sense of old-world glamour thanks to all those Murano glass chandeliers and elaborate hand-painted walls, but you’ll find all the cutting-edge mod cons you might expect from a five-star property today, whether lightning-fast room service or a sophisticated lighting system to set the mood in your suite.
As you might expect, the culinary offering here is top-notch, too: make sure to stop by the sleek Riva Lounge, with its signature Venetian spritzes and unrivaled views of the Salute church and the Grand Canal—as well as some of the best people watching in town—or to snag a reservation at the Club del Doge restaurant. (Their signature dish of risotto “Hemingway-style,” featuring succulent scampi mixed through the rice and delicately raw scampi on top, is heaven on a plate.) There’s also the unique offering of its own Epicurean School, where you can head to the morning markets at Rialto to gather fresh ingredients and then head back to prepare lunch with the hotel’s executive chef Alberto Fol. Here, you can be in the heart of the action—it’s only a few minutes’ walk to Piazza San Marco—but then retreat to your room and feel like you’re ensconced in your own private palazzo. There’s nowhere in Venice quite like it.
- Amenities: spa, bar, on-site restaurant, fitness center, airport shuttle
- Address: Campo Santa Maria del Giglio 2467, Venice 30124, Italy
Hotel Cipriani
After a long day of traipsing the Venice streets, a sense of fatigue is likely to set in: however beautiful the surroundings, hours spent sharpening your elbows to weave your way through the hordes of tourists will exhaust even the most intrepid traveler. It’s little wonder, then, that one of the most beloved hotels in Venice is one slightly removed from the heart of the city: Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, which sits in a prime position on the tip of the island of Giudecca. It’s just a 10 minute shuttle ride to St. Mark’s Square, but feels an entire world away—as you pull up to the jetty, you’ll see the ritzy Cipriani crowd sitting out on the terrace of the Il Porticciolo restaurant, retro umbrellas flapping in the lagoon breeze as they dive into plates of crab ravioli or some of the best wood-fired pizzas you’ll find in all of Venice.
The real magic of the Cipriani, however, is its scale: spread across a sprawling network of properties, ranging from the 15th-century Palazzo Vendramin with views across to St. Mark’s, to the Dolce Vita glamour of its sleek main building facing out to the lagoon, there are abundant gardens, multiple outdoor dining and bar areas, a tennis court, and the largest pool in the entire city, complete with cabanas so you can feel like you’re at a beachside resort. (The pool is especially welcome during Venice’s baking summer months.) With an ongoing revamp courtesy of fashion’s favorite architect and designer Peter Marino, the interiors are also being given a new lease of life without losing any of the old-world glamour that has seen celebrity guests flock here for decades. (During the Venice Film Festival, in particular, the star factor here rivals that of an Oscars after-party.) The Cipriani remains a classic for a reason.
- Amenities: swimming pool, airport shuttle, spa, bar, 3 on-site restaurants
- Address: Giudecca 10, Venice 30133, Italy
The Venice Venice Hotel
When arriving at The Venice Venice Hotel, which sits just around the corner from the Rialto Bridge, and it becomes immediately apparent that this isn’t your average Venetian palace. The hotel is the brainchild of Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo, the couple behind the cult sneaker company Golden Goose, and the hotel’s design M.O. is all about artful clashes between the classic and contemporary: just take the cavernous entryway, which features an enormous marble sculpture of a Pietà is bisected to sit across two halves of the room, with Carlo Scarpa-inspired slabs of suspended concrete appearing to hover around it, or the dramatic, high-ceiling piano nobile, which features a bespoke tapestry surrounding a bar in the center with boombox speakers and a red LED ticker light.
Avant-garde design doesn’t mean the team here has skimped on luxury, however. The hotel boasts some of the best views in the city, and if you snag a corner room, you’ll find they’ve installed windows that stretch across both sides. Larger suites come with expansive bathrooms featuring standalone tubs (stocked with plenty of fragrant lotions and potions for soaking, all from the in-house brand The Erose) as well as your very own steam room, with a window that glimpses across the rooftops of Venice. It’s no wonder the hotel has already become a Biennale and film festival hotspot—as well as a beloved hangout for well-heeled locals.
- Amenities: bar, on-site restaurant, fitness center, spa
- Address: Palazzo Ca da Mosto - Cannaregio 5631, 5632, Cannaregio, Venice 30121, Italy
Ca’ Di Dio
You could easily consider Ca’ di Dio as just another member of the new wave of design-forward hotels that has cropped up over the past few years—but that would be wholly underestimating how unique it really is. First, there’s its location, which—in the eyes of this writer and Venice obsessive, anyway—is hard to beat. It’s close enough to the ruckus of St. Mark’s and the Rialto that you can easily walk there, but by being placed closer to the Arsenale and Via Garibaldi, which tend to be packed with students and locals rather than tourists, it serves as the perfect springboard to discovering a different, more authentic side of La Serenissima. (There are no other five-star hotels in the immediate vicinity, and it’s puzzling when you think about it: it doesn’t get much lovelier than a stroll down to the Giardini in the morning, followed by a wander through the sleepy backstreets of the eastern Castello district then breakfast or lunch on Via Garibaldi, one of the few areas of the city that still belongs to the locals.)
And that’s without even getting to the hotel itself. It turns out that Ca’ di Dio is technically the oldest hotel in the city, with its origins as a hostel for pilgrims dating back to the 13th century, before living other lives—including as a women’s refuge and old people’s home—over the ensuing centuries. Every layer of its history has been meticulously preserved by its parent company VRetreats, while also being lent an impressively thoughtful and stylish refresh by Patricia Urquiola, taking traditional Venetian materials—Murano glass, Rubelli textiles—and rendering them into sleek, sculptural forms that sit in harmony with the antique details scattered throughout the building. (All of this was explained to me by the impeccably mannered staff, as I wandered through its enormous—and enormously tranquil—outdoor courtyard and the terrazzo-floored corridors that surround it.) Top marks for food, too: under the aegis of Chef Carmine Amarante, the tasting menu spans a variety of northern Italian culinary traditions—the silky Genovese-style tortello was a particular highlight—and was one of the most perfectly executed meals I’ve had in Venice in recent memory. It may have been open for less than four years, but it already feels like the kind of hotel you could comfortably describe as a hidden gem.
- Amenities: on-site restaurant, spa, bar, airport shuttle, garden
- Address: Riva Ca di Dio 2183, Venice 30122, Italy
Nolinski Venezia
When the Nolinski Venezia opened in 2023, it landed with a splash: not only because it was the first property from the beloved French hotel group EVOK outside of their native country, but also because the interior design was unlike anything that already exists within the city. Sure, it sits in a prime location for sightseeing (just minutes away from the jostle of St. Mark’s Square) and occupies a building with some serious credentials (the city’s former stock exchange), but you only need step through its doors to discover that the Nolinski does things a little differently to the city’s other design hotels. First of all, you’ll be whizzed up to the reception which, somewhat unusually, sits on the third floor—but has a whole lot of atmosphere, thanks to the understated sumptuousness of its interiors, overseen by the French-Italian designers Yann Le Coadic and Alessandro Scotto, with contemporary furniture and artworks thoughtfully mixed in with a tastefully sparing use of Venetian design signatures like Murano glass chandeliers and lavish terrazzo flooring.
There are serious culinary chops on display across the hotel’s two restaurants as well, with fresh twists on pan-Italian classics—panzanella with burrata, a crisp veal Milanese—served in the leafy, elegant ground floor courtyard restaurant Il Caffé, and a tasting menu by Chef Philip Chronopoulos that blends Greek, French, and Venetian influences to be found at the Palais Royal Restaurant. Set in the building’s former auditorium, with a majestic colonnade of modernist arches running around the perimeter of the dining area, it’s one of the most striking dining rooms in all of Venice—and has already earned a Michelin star. (There’s also a jewel box of a bar filled with red velvet banquettes and bookshelves stacked with collectible art and photography books to sip a cocktail in before or after dinner.) The real jewel in the Nolinski’s crown, however? Head up to the top floor, and you’ll find its entirely unique pool, with windows on every side offering a panoramic view over the rooftops of the city, all the way from the belltower of St. Mark’s to the white marble pediments of churches over in Dorsoduro. If you manage to secure a (highly coveted) slot in the spa timed to sunset, it feels like you’re in your own little gilded cocoon, floating above the city.
- Amenities: swimming pool, airport shuttle, 2 on-site restaurants, bar, spa
- Address: 2033 Calle Larga XXII Marzo, San Marco, Venice 30124, Italy
Il Palazzo Experimental
In 2019, the Experimental Group—the French team behind the beloved Grand Pigalle Hotel and Hotel des Grands Boulevards in Paris—debuted Il Palazzo Experimental. And despite the brand’s signature offbeat decor, it couldn’t fit more seamlessly if it tried. That’s partly down to the thoughtful choice of location: Il Palazzo Experimental is housed in a 16th-century building on the waterside walkway of Zattere, one of Venice’s liveliest (well, by Venice standards, anyway) neighborhoods. A mere 10-minute walk to the Accademia, its outlook across to Giudecca provides a less familiar—yet equally striking—view of the city, while its buzzing, friendly atmosphere in the afternoons speaks to its location near a branch of the city’s Ca’ Foscari university.
Still, the standout feature here is the daring, delightful interior decor, which takes its cues from the building blocks of the city’s historic architecture—arched doorways, marble floors, and a color scheme that balances deep Venetian red with powder blues that echo the shimmering surface of the Adriatic beyond the lagoon—then lends them a firmly of-the-moment update, speaking to a range of Italian design influences spanning Gio Ponti to the 1980s Memphis movement. Top marks for the food here, too: Overseen by chefs Silvio Pezzana and Stefano ‘Toto’ Dell’Aringa, the menu riffs on plenty of Venetian classics while also touching on culinary traditions spanning the Adriatic coast, whether delicately flavored cicchetti—chickpea and parmesan fritters, say, or fried pizzette smothered in stracciatella, peas, and mint—to snack on at lunchtime, or a heartier meal at dinner of duck and ricotta-stuffed agnolotti or grilled seabass.
- Amenities: bar, on-site coffee house, breakfast
- Address: Fondamenta Zattere Al Ponte Lungo 1411, Venice 30123, Italy
The St. Regis Venice
Venice has its fair share of historic, grande dame hotels offering unbeatable service and unabashed luxury—even if their decorative schemes typically adhere to the formula of heavy velvet drapes, gilded details, and damask wallpapers evoking the golden age of Casanova’s city. It takes some courage to break from that mold, but that’s exactly what The St. Regis has done with their first outpost in the city, which opened in 2019 following the top-to-toe refurbishment of an enormous U-shaped complex that features two canal-facing facades (meaning more balconies than any other hotel in the city)—and sits in a prime location, right in the heart of San Marco.
The fact that the rooms have all been freshly refurbished also means they’re fitted out with all the mod-cons you could dream of, from tablets to control the blinds and lights to enormous, flat-screen TVs—if you can peel your eyes away from those views for a few moments, that is. There’s even a plush spa and a small but well-equipped gym: the latter a real rarity in Venice’s city center. Plus, service here is top-tier while feeling a little less fussy, somehow—an effect possibly helped by the generously proportioned outdoor terraces, whether in the cozy garden space in the center of the building or on the waterfront terrace that serves as the defining feature of its flagship restaurant, Gio’s. It wouldn’t be a proper stay here without enjoying a meal of tuna sashimi with bottarga or fresh sea bass from the lagoon, served with aglio, olio, e peperoncino—all while sipping a refreshing botanical cocktail, of course. As the sun dips below the Baroque dome of the Santa Maria della Salute church on the opposite bank of the Grand Canal, and the gondolas lazily drift by, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more picturesque dining spot in all of Venice.
- Amenities: 2 on-site restaurants, airport shuttle, spa, fitness center, bar
- Address: San Marco 2159, Venice 30124, Italy
Hotel Flora
Ask any Venice obsessive (who doesn’t have the budget to splash out thousands of dollars a night on one of the city’s more palatial stays) where they like to rest their head, and it’s likely their answer will be Hotel Flora. Like so many of Venice’s best hotels, it manages to feel both secluded and in the center of the action, tucked away down a narrow side street off the hectic Calle Larga XXII Marzo, but set within a lush courtyard where the only noise you’ll hear is the trickle of the fountain and the occasional bird whistling in the canopies. The rooms are outfitted with charming Venetian antiques that lend the place an air of having stepped back in time, and while there’s no restaurant here (it’s not like you have any shortage of places to eat nearby, after all) there’s a lovely, bijou bar where one of the staff will happily rustle you up a bellini or two. The real reason to stay, however, is the hospitality—it’s a second-generation family-owned hotel, and you can tell. The reception from the team here is just as warm whether it’s your first visit, or your 10th.
- Amenities: room service, garden, bar, breakfast, on-site coffee house
- Address: Calle Larga XXII Marzo, San Marco 2283/A, San Marco, Venice 30124, Italy
Aman Venice
Aman hotels hold a reputation as much for their sleek, timeless design and architecture as they do their impeccable service—and on both fronts, the Aman Venice doesn’t disappoint. Despite being one of the most exclusive (and most expensive) hotels in the city, it’s often booked to capacity—and with its fortress-like air of privacy, hosting some of the starriest names passing through La Serenissima. If you can get in here, though, you’ll have the privilege of experiencing some of the most stylish and rarefied rooms the city has to offer. Arriving by water taxi—as pretty much every guest here does—you’ll step into the marble-floored lobby, before being whisked up to the gilded splendour of its piano nobile for check-in, where ceilings heave with Murano chandeliers. Every room has been meticulously restored to preserve all the original architectural details and frescoes that decorate the building, with the more contemporary touches—sleek B&B furniture, muted grey and taupe upholstery—thoughtfully introduced. The food here is of the highest order, too: the hotel’s Arva restaurant brings flavours from all over Italy to the dining room’s canalside tables.
- Amenities: spa, bar, fitness studio, on-site restaurant
- Address: Calle Tiepolo Baiamonte 1364, Palazzo Papadopoli, Venice 30125, Italy
Hotel Excelsior
There are few hotels in Venice quite as iconic as the Excelsior, which sits over on the Lido island—exactly where, in late August every year, the neighborhoods are abuzz with the frenzy of activity surrounding the Venice Film Festival. And if the film festival is the most glittering event in the city’s calendar, then the Excelsior is its beating heart: it’s here, after all, that the celebrities are photographed and beamed around the world stepping off the Excelsior dock and over to the red carpet for their premieres; it’s also here, with its rabbit’s warren of conference rooms and dazzling event spaces, that the films on show during the festival are bought and sold over handshakes and spritzes.
Yet while the Excelsior is people-watching (and celeb-spotting) paradise during the film festival, it’s also a beloved summer retreat for Venetians—and increasingly, those from further afield. It helps that the rooms here have recently been given a delightfully eccentric renovation that playfully echoes the hodge-podge of architectural styles that lend the building its grandeur and charm, with Moorish-style bedheads and a crisp color palette of pistachio green and candyfloss pink. (If you’re in an ocean-facing room, which, let’s face it, you really want to be, then all of this will be brought to life by the sparkle of the light bouncing off the Adriatic.) At the Excelsior, though, you’ll want to be spending more time out of your room: namely either sunning yourself by the 100-foot-long heated pool, or by booking a beachside cabana where you can sip cocktails and live out your Death in Venice fantasy. Fancy a few nights by the water after immersing yourself in the hectic pace of Venice proper? Well, you don’t need to head to Liguria or Lake Garda for that—it’s just a 20-minute water taxi over to Excelsior.
- Amenities: private beach area, swimming pool, airport shuttle, 2 on-site restaurants, bar, spa
- Address: Lungomare Marconi 41, Venice-Lido 30126, Italy
Violino d’Oro
Violino d’Oro is a family-owned jewel box of a boutique hotel that opened in 2024, featuring 32 elegantly designed rooms and suites are spread across a quartet of neighboring, interlinking buildings—and is one of the few luxury stays in the city that truly lives up to the promise of feeling like that favorite of hotel marketing clichés, a “home away from home.” Through the diamond-patterned windows, you can see the arched bows of gondolas floating by; inside, the taupe and cream walls are hung with an eclectic mix of paintings ranging from Baroque portraits of nobility to cutting-edge contemporary pieces that speak to the city’s current status as an art world hub, all lit by the gentle glow of 1950s Murano chandeliers lending the terrazzo flooring an alluring twinkle. It might be just off one of Venice’s busiest thoroughfares, but it also feels like a peaceful haven entirely removed from the chaos of the city.
Aside from the hotel’s keen emphasis on local craftsmanship—throughout its rooms, you’ll find everything from sumptuous Rubelli curtains and cushions all woven in Venice to walk-in wardrobes crafted by the Venetian woodworking masters at Lunardelli—the standout factor here is the excellent service and thoughtful concierge, who will happily help snag you a reservation at one of the city’s most popular restaurants, or help arrange a visit to an artisan’s studio whose pieces aroun the hotel you’re particularly enamored by. And don’t forget to book a table at the bijou Il Piccolo restaurant, comprising just nine tables to offer—in the spirit of Violino d’Oro more broadly—subtle, meticulously executed riffs on classic Venetian fare and the flavors of the lagoon.
- Amenities: on-site restaurant, bar, babysitting/child services available
- Address: San Marco 2091, Venice 30124, Italy
Sina Centurion Palace
This characterful, tucked-away hotel lies in a unique location between the Santa Maria della Salute church and the Accademia bridge, offering its guests an immersion in an area of Venice that is mostly residential (apart from those visiting the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which sits practically next door). And with its sweeping views over the Grand Canal, it boasts some of the best views in the city—better, indeed, than many of its five-star rivals, thanks to being on the opposite side to St. Mark’s Square. The hotel was opened in 2009 by Sina Hotels, a popular Italian hotel group that is perhaps lesser known internationally, and was among the first luxury hotels in the city to adopt a more inventive approach to interior design than the usual Venetian trappings of Murano glass and lavishly gilded surfaces. The quirky approach to decorating the rooms—bold colors, funky furniture, offbeat artworks—still holds plenty of charm, and the sweeping courtyard is one of the loveliest of any hotel in the city. Make sure to book dinner on the canalside terrace, too, where you can enjoy shrimp carpaccio or lobster Wellington as the sunset bathes the buildings opposite in a gorgeous, honey-colored light.
- Amenities: on-site restaurant, bar, gym, private pier on Grand Canal
- Address: Dorsoduro, 173, 30123 Venezia VE, Italy
