by Anne Hanley, The Telegraph, July 22, 2019
An insider's guide to the best boutique hotels in Venice, featuring the top places to stay for period charm, attentive service, lovely gardens and canal views.
Ca Maria Adele Venice, Veneto, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
Tucked away behind the Salute in the pleasantly quiet, gallery-filled Dorsoduro sestiere, Ca Maria Adele has its own water entrance. It takes Venetian style to gothic extreme in five statement concept rooms. An additional five deluxe rooms and two top-floor suites are equally plush, with marble bathrooms. There’s no restaurant but guests order breakfast each evening, selecting not only what they want on their tray but where they want to have it: in their rooms, on the terrace or in one of the stylishly cosy reception rooms. Service is personalised and attentive. Read expert review. From £227 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
La Villeggiatura Venice, Veneto, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
A short hop from the Rialto markets, in an area buzzing with restaurants and residential activity, the six-room La Villeggiatura is an elegant home-from-home kind of place. La Villeggiatura is airy, elegant, and with a touch more originality in its design than so many hotels with that ‘traditional’ 18th-century Venetian look. The communal breakfast table gives the place a congenial air as guests swap advice and anecdotes over their cappuccino. Owner Francesca Adilardi and her staff make guests feel very much at home, and are unfailingly charming and informative. Rooms have an opera theme. Read expert review. From £124 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
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Cima Rosa Boutique Bed & Breakfast Venice, Veneto, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
A perfect mix of elegance and warmth, Cima Rosa offers five elegant classic-contemporary rooms – three of them overlooking the Grand Canal – and exceptional service from a welcoming team. Rooms are all beautifully decorated in Farrow & Ball pastels that pick up Venice’s water colours and enhance the classic-contemporary elegance. There’s a lovely courtyard by the entrance. The ground-floor living room – where breakfast is served in the morning – is filled with light reflecting off the Grand Canal right outside the windows. A kitchen for guests’ use means you can keep your wine chilled for evening aperitivi, and make tea and coffee whenever you like. Read expert review. From £128 per night.
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Corte di Gabriela Venice, Veneto, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
If the brocade-and-chandelier Venetian hotel norm doesn’t appeal, this 10-room, four-star boutique provides a refreshing alternative, juxtaposing serious design pieces, vivid colours and industrial-chic materials against exposed beams, beautiful terrazzo floors and some lovely ceiling frescoes. Nothing is too much trouble for the knowledgeable staff. Rooms are uniformly stylish and comfortably large. Breakfast is a highlight of the day for Corte guests, with a wonderful choice of goodies including crepes whipped up on the spot to order. There’s no restaurant but drinks and cicheti (snacks) are served in the wisteria-covered courtyard. Read expert review. From £231 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
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Oltre il Giardino Venice, Veneto, Italy
7Telegraph expert rating
Tucked away behind a high wall just around the corner from the Frari basilica, the six-room, two-suite Oltre il Giardino looks more country house than Venetian palazzo and boasts that Venetian rarity: a garden. Owner-manager Lorenzo Muner and his staff are unfailingly charming and helpful. Rooms are large by Venetian standards and delightfully airy and bright. Some overlook the garden, others the canals around. In warmer months, breakfast (a good spread of fresh fruit, homemade cakes and other treats) is served in the garden. Read expert review. From £153 per night.
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Novecento Boutique Hotel Venice, Veneto, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
This is one of those places that turns a holiday into a special experience. In a quiet corner, just off a busy street leading to St Mark’s Square, you’ll be made to feel like a treasured guest. Tastefully decorated with Oriental touches it's a refreshing change from the Venetian hotel standard. The charming Romanelli family extends the very warmest of welcomes which makes guests feel treasured from the word go. The array of excellent, fresh, home-made goodies at breakfast – which can be eaten in the courtyard in fine weather – sets you up perfectly for a hard day’s sight-seeing. Read expert review. From £150 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
• The most characterful hotels in Venice
Hotel Palazzo Abadessa Venice, Veneto, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
Palazzo Abadessa is a fair hike from many of Venice’s better known tourist attractions but very handily placed – in the quiet northern Cannaregio district – for lots of lesser known gems. With its beautiful heirloom antiques and frescoed ceilings, it is every inch the aristocratic family palace. But clients are treated very much as friends at a house party. The 13 rooms and suites are all elegantly kitted out, with individual colour schemes, rich fabrics and lovely antiques. Read expert review. From £111 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
Palazzo Venart Venice, Veneto, Italy
7Telegraph expert rating
Five-star Palazzo Venart boasts 18 extravagantly decorated rooms and suites that aim to challenge Venice’s grandes dames. An inner courtyard shaded by magnolia trees and a pretty garden stretching down to the Grand Canal – where water taxis can pull up at a private dock – give Palazzo Venart an edge in this very urban city. Décor varies in the 18 sumptuous rooms, while remaining very much in the Venetian vernacular, with glorious fabrics and colours. Some rooms have original wall or ceiling frescoes, others have wonderful terrazzo flooring. Four suites enjoy Grand Canal views. Read expert review. From £263 per night. Check availability. Rates provided by Booking.com.
AD Place Venice Venice, Veneto, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
Attention to detail and friendly, well-informed staff make this a stylishly relaxing place to stay. There’s a lovely roof terrace from which to survey the Venetian cityscape. Manager Alessandro and his assistant Kemal do a fantastic job of making your stay special. The 12 rooms are spread over four floors. There’s a canopied bed in the large top-floor suite. Elsewhere, rooms vary in size but each is individually decorated in unusual colours. Breakfast is a generous buffet, and snacks can be ordered through the day. And though there’s no restaurant as such, a formal tea is served from 5pm to 6.30pm. Read expert review From £105per nightCheck availabilityRates provided byBooking.com
This article was written by Anne Hanley from The Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
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