Belmond Hotel Cipriani
The Cipriani is Venice's grande dame in the fullest sense. Giuseppe Cipriani — founder of Harry's Bar, inventor of the Bellini — opened it in 1958 on the tip of the then-deserted Giudecca Island, funded by the Guinness sisters, and it became almost instantly the address for the jet set: Yves Saint Laurent, Sophia Loren, later Mick Jagger, and George Clooney (who married here). It's reachable only by the hotel's private launch across the lagoon from San Marco, set behind a castle-like wall in gardens where Casanova reputedly arranged his trysts.
We visited and were enamored with it — the old-world glamour is entirely real.
We visited and were enamored with it — the old-world glamour is entirely real. This is a true grande dame hotel, the kind they don't build anymore.
Arrival by private launch across the lagoon — five minutes from San Marco, a world away from it. The peach-hued facade, the gardens, the wall keeping the city's crowds (and the paparazzi) out.
Around 96 rooms and suites, Murano glass and Fortuny and Rubelli fabrics throughout, the antique-Venetian register done at the highest level. The 15th-century Palazzo Vendramin annexe adds suites with private butler service and lagoon views to San Marco.
The Michelin-starred Oro restaurant (designed by Adam Tihany), Cip's Club on the wooden terrace facing the Doge's Palace, and — the legend — the Olympic-sized pool, the only one in historic Venice, created by a famous feet-vs-metres measurement mix-up.
Giudecca Island — across the lagoon from the main city, private and serene, with unrivalled views back to San Marco and the Doge's Palace. The seclusion is the point.
The Belmond Cipriani is old-world Venice glamour at its absolute peak — a grande dame on her own island, reached by launch, with the only pool in the historic city. For the grand occasion, there is nothing else like it.
The Cipriani pool is the finest outdoor hotel swimming pool in Italy and one of the best in Europe. The scale, the setting — the lagoon on one side, the garden on the other — and the operational standards make it worth the trip independently.
The private boat from San Marco crosses in four minutes. Those four minutes are the most effective transition in European hotel travel. You arrive on Giudecca and Venice becomes something you look at rather than something you navigate.
Belmond properties deliver a specific and consistent quality — classic, formal, never quite contemporary but always excellent. The Cipriani is the finest expression of this standard.
Opened in 1958 by Giuseppe Cipriani. The guest list since then is a document of how the world's most interesting people spent their Venetian summers. The hotel carries this lightly.
The hotel is seasonal — it closes for winter. Check dates when planning.
The boat runs continuously between San Marco and the hotel. It is private, fast, and the correct way to arrive.
The pool books up. Reserve a spot well in advance for summer stays.
The restaurant is one of the better hotel restaurants in Venice. Non-guests can book it. Worth a meal even if you are staying elsewhere.