Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AQUA PALACE €€€
LUXURY HOTEL
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(Palazzo Scalfarotto; 041 296 04 42;
www.aquapalace.it
; Calle de la Malvasia 5492; s €150-350, d €200-490;
; San Marco, San Zaccaria)
With its exotic, spice-route vibe and burnished colour pal-
lete of gold, bronze and old grey, the Aqua Palace is a heady mixture of modern amenities
and Eastern romance. Suites 'interpret' the distant past of Marco Polo, and with only 25 of
them you can expect aristocratic proportions, acres of weighty fabric, and bathrooms
marbled within an inch of their lives. Complete with its own private gondola pier, this is
the hotel for love birds.
IQS €€€
MAP
DESIGN HOTEL
GOOGLE MAP
( 041 277 02 62;
www.dd724.it
;
Campiello Querini Stampalia 4425; ste €259-625; ; San Zaccaria)
Step out of your boat ahead of art-show aficionados and into the romantic lobby of iQS.
These achingly cool suites are arranged around an ancient Gothic courtyard opposite the
Querini Stampalia foundation, and are hung with modern art and furnished in B&B Italia
style.
All four of them look out on the vivid teal waters of the Rio di Santa Maria Formosa,
made even more luminous by the deliciously dark colour palate of the high-design interi-
ors.
HOTEL DANIELI €€€
MAP
HISTORIC HOTEL
GOOGLE MAP
( 041 522 64 80;
www.danielihotelvenice.com
;
Riva degli Schiavoni 4196; s €250, d €260-700; ;
San Zaccaria)
As eccentric and luxurious as Venice itself, the Danieli has attracted artistic bo-
hemians, minor royalty and their millionaire lovers for over a century. The hotel sprawls
along the lagoon in three landmark buildings: the 14th-century
casa vecchia
(old house),
built for Doge Enrico Dandolo, with frescoed, antique-filled rooms; the 18th-century, gilt-
to-the-hilt
casa nuova
(new house); and the Danielino, a Fascist edifice with a modern-
luxe interior redesign by Jacques Garcia.
In summer weather, breakfast is served on the rooftop terrace, with its extraordinary
views of San Marco and the lagoon. This is also
the
best place in Venice for summer sun-
downers. However, at these prices the €15 daily surcharge for in-room wi-fi seems churl-
ish.
