Venice is in the midst of a hotel gold rush, with grand openings that are setting new standards in hospitality. Douglas Blyde, on his tenth visit with his wife and nine-year-old daughter Lyra, checks into three remarkable properties: the reborn Danieli under Four Seasons, the art-filled Venice Venice Hotel, and the extravagant new Airelles Palladio on Giudecca. He also escapes to Venissa's remarkable lagoon vineyard. The risk, he notes, is that such exceptional hospitality makes everywhere else feel inadequate.
Airelles Palladio: Excess with Excellent Manners
Arriving by cruiser across the Grand Canal to Giudecca, the crossing gives Venice back its outline. Airelles, the French group's first Italian hotel, has 45 rooms and suites, fewer than its predecessor, set amid lush gardens and a Guerlain spa. Dining names include Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Nobu Matsuhisa, Norbert Niederkofler, and Cédric Grolet. Next comes Elton's Club, developed with Giudecca resident Sir Elton John, who selected the piano.
Details impress: velvet slippers in three sizes, notepads with guests' initials stamped in gold, and a complimentary in-room bar including a full bottle of Roseblood rosé from Château d'Estoublon, co-created by Carla Bruni. Guests can meet Matrix, a four-year-old hawk employed to discourage gulls, and enjoy a 25-metre outdoor pool at 31°C. At breakfast, the hotel supplies sunglasses, even indoors, to manage the consequences of its own hospitality.
Danieli: Grandeur with a Sense of Humour
Across the water, Danieli's great staircase still makes an entrance feel under-rehearsed. Pierre-Yves Rochon's restoration revives Gothic splendour with gilded quatrefoils, pink marble, and Murano glass. The bedroom offers lagoon views from two aspects. General manager Christian Zandonella and bar director Stefano Ruocco note that even the laundry has canal views and balconies.
At Bar Dandolo, Ruocco makes his T&Tonic, combining local gin with tea liqueur, elderflower, and grapefruit. At Terrazza Danieli, head sommelier Gianluca Lorusso, a former casino dealer, and sous-chef Michele Da Broi enhance the meal. The scampi risotto is excellent, and a fig contains fig sorbet, a walnut shell conceals walnut sorbet. The spa and swimming pool are still to come.
Venice Venice: An Old Palace Misbehaving
Further along the Grand Canal, The Venice Venice Hotel takes a provocative approach. Founders Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo, of Golden Goose fame, rescued Ca' da Mosto after decades of neglect. Their 'Postvenetian' philosophy combines ancient arches, exposed brick, and contemporary commissions. A grand piano and drum kit stand near reception, and a 60-seat table culminates in JR's tapestry, a reinterpretation of Veronese's The Wedding at Cana.
The suite has an upstairs mezzanine with moon wallpaper and a cinema screen. At Francy's, the Grand Canal is close enough to require a lifebuoy beside the condiments trolley; Matteo Omodei notes that guests have fallen in while taking selfies. Illustrated menu cards arrive with recipes on the reverse. The chocolate-and-vanilla mille-feuille resembles an intricately woven nest.
Venissa: Venice Remembers Its Countryside
For lunch, a boat heads north to Mazzorbo, linked by footbridge to Burano. At Venissa, the extravagance is space, vines, and birdsong. Filippo Schiavon explains that reaching central Venice once meant five hours' rowing; a speedboat now takes about twenty minutes. The Bisol family's revival of the lagoon's Dorona grape continues after the vineyard was inundated in 2019. The wine comes in bottles with labels of Venetian gold leaf, applied by hand and fired onto the glass in Murano, and is available at Mayfair's Hedonism Wines (£225).
Lunch at Osteria Contemporanea includes blue-crab spaghetti with garlic, oil, and chilli, with claws for further excavation. The three hotels leave distinct impressions: Danieli's grandeur and warmth, Venice Venice's artistic nerve, and Airelles' prodigious attention to detail. Such exceptional hospitality resets expectations so comprehensively that other five-star addresses begin to resemble motorway hotels.
