Hotel Gritti Palace

Description:

• Although there are arguably more chichi hotels along the bacino off St. Mark's Square, if you're going for luxury status and the classiest hotel on the Grand Canal, the Gritti has been it for decades. It was the 16th-century palace of Doge Andrea Gritti, whose portrait graces one of the antiques-filled lounges, and everyone who is anyone has stayed here over the centuries, from international royalty to captains of industry, literary giants, and rock stars. Rooms have inlaid antique furnishings, gilt mirrors, ornate built-in dressers hand-painted in 18th-century Venetian style, tented curtains over the tall windows, and real box-spring beds set into curtained nooks. Many rooms have connecting doors so that families can share. Three of the suites on the piano nobile (with high, stuccoed ceilings, massive chandeliers, and 17th- and 18th-century furnishings mixed with overstuffed sofas and Bang & Olufson CD players and TVs) overlook the Grand Canal from small stone balconies; three more suites overlook the campo. Three junior suites open onto a side canal, with walk-in closets and one and a half bathrooms. The wood-beamed, elegantly clubby restaurant spills onto a Grand Canal terrace in warm weather, as does the bar, with its etched mirrors and evening piano music.

  Facilities: Venetian/Mediterranean/international restaurant; bar; concierge; tour desk; car-rental desk; courtesy water taxi (free hourly boat to the Westin Excelsior on the Lido); salon; 24-hr. room service; massage (in-room); babysitting; laundry service; dry cleaning; nonsmoking rooms

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Travel + Leisure 500

•  Best Hotel 2008
•  Best Hotel 2009

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010

ForbesTraveler

•  Forbes Traveler 400 2008