Of the luxury hotels in Venice, I have chosen 5, each for a different Venice. The Gritti Palace is for a palazzo of 1475 on the Grand Canal, 8 minutes on foot from St Mark’s Square; Aman Venice for the frescoes and garden of Palazzo Papadopoli, 5 minutes from the Rialto; Ca’ di Dio for the Biennale, with the Arsenale on foot; Hotel Cipriani for the gardens and saltwater pool of the Giudecca; the Excelsior for the beach on the Lido.
3 are in the historic centre, set apart by their district and their bill; 2 are on the islands, the Giudecca and the Lido, with a pool and a boat to St Mark’s, but only in the warm months.
| Hotel | Suits | The trip | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ca’ di Dio | Biennale visitors who want a quiet courtyard in the evening | A pilgrims’ hospice of 1272 on the Castello waterfront, with the Arsenale on foot and St Mark’s Square 12 minutes away | It has no pool, and only the rooms sold with a view look onto the basin. |
| Aman Venice | Couples who want to sleep in a frescoed palazzo on the Grand Canal, with a garden on the water | 24 rooms and suites in Palazzo Papadopoli, in San Polo, 5 minutes’ walk from the Rialto | From €1,265 a night upwards; anyone after a pool will be happier elsewhere, and the spa has 3 treatment rooms. |
| Hotel Cipriani | Travellers who want Venice with gardens, tennis and a large saltwater pool | 55 rooms, 20 suites and 4 Signature Suites on the tip of the Giudecca, 5 minutes from St Mark’s Square on a free launch | Reopens 1 June 2027; Google showed individual nights from €1,924 in late July and August, read 13 October 2026; every outing is by boat. |
| The Gritti Palace | Travellers who want to sleep in a fifteenth-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, with the table and the bar on the water | 82 rooms and suites facing the Salute, 8 minutes on foot from St Mark’s Square, with a private landing stage | Anyone after a pool or a garden will be happier elsewhere; entry rooms start at 25 m², and no night we read cost under €1,000. |
| Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort | Travellers who want a beach and a pool with their Venice, as a family or a couple | 196 rooms and suites on the Lido seafront, with 300 cabanas on the sand and a free shuttle boat to St Mark’s from 09:00 to 21:00 | You sleep outside the historic centre, the hotel shuts in winter and has no spa; the last shuttle leaves at 21:00 and beach cabanas are charged separately. |
5 addresses, 8 centuries of Venice: the hospice of 1272 on the Castello waterfront; the Pisani family’s Gothic palazzo, home of Doge Andrea Gritti from 1525 and a hotel since 1895; sixteenth-century Palazzo Papadopoli on the Grand Canal; the Moorish grand hotel opened on the Lido in 1908; and the hotel Giuseppe Cipriani opened on the Giudecca in 1958.
Castello, Venice
From the Castello waterfront into a sheltered court, with the Arsenale on foot and San Giorgio at dinner.
Culture and evenings: Venice Biennale hotel
Discover Ca’ di DioSan Polo, Venice
24 rooms and suites in a 16th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal, with a garden on the water and Tiepolo frescoes, 5 minutes’ walk from the Rialto
Giudecca, Venice
55 rooms, 20 suites and 4 Signature Suites among the Giudecca’s gardens, with a saltwater pool, starred Oro and a free launch to St Mark’s; open in season
San Marco, Venice
82 rooms and suites in a Gothic palazzo of 1475 on the Grand Canal, facing the Salute, with a private landing stage, Club del Doge and a terrace on the water
Venice Lido
196 rooms and suites in a Moorish palace of 1908 on the Lido beach, with 300 cabanas and a launch to St Mark’s
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2 of the 5, both outside the historic centre and open in season only. Hotel Cipriani, on the Giudecca, has a saltwater pool heated to 28–30 °C, open from 9am to 7pm, with children from the age of 4. The Excelsior, on the Lido, has an outdoor pool between the hotel and the beach, for staying guests only. None of the 3 in the centre has a pool: at The Gritti Palace there is only the private plunge pool on the Redentore Suite’s terrace, and Aman Venice has 3 treatment rooms and a gym.
In the historic centre cars stop at Piazzale Roma, and you go on by boat or on foot. A water taxi moors at the private landing stage of Aman Venice, The Gritti Palace and Hotel Cipriani; for the Gritti the official site points to Garage San Marco and a valet at €75 a day, neither run by the hotel. The Lido is different: cars drive there, and for the Excelsior you board the line 17 ferry at Tronchetto.
On foot, The Gritti Palace: 648 metres, 8 minutes on our routes. From Ca’ di Dio it is 869 metres and 12 minutes along the Riva degli Schiavoni, from Aman Venice 1.1 km and 13 minutes, crossing the Grand Canal at the Rialto. From the islands you come by boat: Hotel Cipriani’s launch takes 5 minutes and is free; the Excelsior’s shuttle leaves every 30 minutes from 9am to 9pm, and for the crossing the site gives both 15 and about 30 minutes.
The Gritti Palace is open all year, and Aman Venice’s official pages announce no closure. The 2 island hotels are seasonal. Hotel Cipriani’s booking engine, read on 8 October 2026, gives it as closed from 30 September 2026 and reopening on 1 June 2027. The Excelsior publishes no dates: that same day its engine answered “closed” for October 2026, and Expedia was selling 2027 from 23 April.
It depends on the date and the hotel. On Google Hotels, for 2 adults, the cheapest night was €408 at Ca’ di Dio on 14 November 2026, read on 27 September; €1,040 at The Gritti Palace on 12 January 2027, read on 8 October; €1,275 at Aman Venice on 1 December 2026, read on 7 October. For the 2027 season, read on 8 October 2026, Hotel Cipriani’s official engine started at €1,990 on 10 August and Expedia had the Excelsior at €742 on 27 April. The tourist tax is paid at the hotel: €5 a person a night at Ca’ di Dio and Hotel Cipriani, €4.50 at the Excelsior.
The Excelsior is the best equipped: on the beach it runs a supervised children’s programme all summer, and it has family rooms. Hotel Cipriani has a Children’s Club and a pool open to children from 4 with a parent. At Aman Venice, under the terms of its Extend Your Stay offer, children under 12 sharing with their parents stay free. At The Gritti Palace the room cards set occupancy at 2 and allow neither cots nor extra beds. Ca’ di Dio takes children of any age, according to Booking.com.
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