Luna Hotel Baglioni

Description:

• Just around the corner from Piazza San Marco on the street leading down to Harry's Bar, this luxury hotel may be Venice's oldest inn, converted into a hotel from a convent in the 1200s. "Standard" rooms are situated on dreary airshafts but are otherwise very nice, midsize with more modish styling and walk-in closets (in some) than that of the pricier-category rooms. The more desirable "deluxe" rooms are richly carpeted, with ornate stucco around the wall fabrics, Murano chandeliers and sconces, watercolors and prints, and double sinks with golden fixtures set in the marble bathrooms. Some have half-testers over the beds, and many sprout small balconies with a partial view of the little Royal Gardens at the Grand Canal. Junior suites are very large, with half-testers and huge bathrooms, though only no. 505 has the views of the Bacino San Marco (into which the Grand Canal empties), which is enjoyed by the full suites. The elegant breakfast room is covered with remarkable 18th-century frescoes and gilt-edged paintings. There's an airy, two-story lounge off the reception area, an Internet point, and salons strung along the canal across from the Giardinetti Reali.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Travel + Leisure 500

•  Best Hotel 2008
•  Best Hotel 2009

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2009
•  Highly Recommended 2010

ForbesTraveler

•  Forbes Traveler 400 2008