The Venice Venice Hotel — Review

VENICE

Venice is no stranger to spectacle. It’s a city that has built its reputation — quite literally — on water, wonder and a wealth of historical significance. It hosts over 20 million visitors annually, yet somehow still manages to feel like a place half-suspended between memory and myth. And nestled along the Grand Canal’s most cinematic stretch is The Venice Venice Hotel, a defiantly unclassifiable property that dials up the drama, the design, and the conceptual.

All images courtesy of Faye Bradley | CSP Times.

The hotel lives inside Ca’ da Mosto, a 13th-century palazzo believed to be the oldest private residence on the Grand Canal. It once hosted the Campiello del Leon Bianco — an early precursor to the modern hotel, where emperors, czars, and composers like Mozart supposedly stopped to soak in the city’s ambiance. The bones of the building are still intact: gothic arches, stone capitals, moody proportions that remind you how deeply time has settled here.

But in its newest iteration, courtesy of Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo — the Venetian power couple behind cult streetwear label Golden Goose — the palazzo has been reimagined as a maximalist haven for thinkers, tinkerers, and design devotees.

The aesthetic? Somewhere between post-heritage and post-punk. Crumbling frescoes remain defiantly untouched. Marble is cracked and glorious. But then come the interventions: signage by Yoko Ono, Brutalist chairs under Murano chandeliers, and rare art books strewn casually across tables as if they’d been left there by a former guest who just happened to be curating the Venice Biennale.

This place hit a little differently for me. I studied art and design at university, and wrote my dissertation on Joseph Beuys, the conceptual artist who once said, “Everyone is an artist.” So when I found myself staying in a suite inspired by Beuys — all raw concrete, velvet tones pulled from the lagoon, and quiet visual provocation — it felt oddly personal. Across the hotel, there are also works by Jannis Kounellis, Renato D’Agostin, Bruce Nauman, and yes, Ono again, whose presence here is more than just curatorial; it’s spiritual.

And yet, amid all the cerebral layering, comfort hasn’t been left behind. Our bed was a soft, linen-cloaked dream. The steam room, lined in marble, was like stepping into a Botticelli painting mid-fog. Even the ambient playlist, somehow both brooding and bespoke (listen to some of the playlist below).

Morning begins under colonnades beside the canal, where fresh orange juice and expertly crafted coffee is with croissants that arrive warm enough to melt the butter on contact. It feels theatrical, but never try-hard — as if you’ve been casually dropped into a Sofia Coppola scene.

The evening is another act entirely. At Venice M’Art, the hotel’s in-house restaurant/gallery/concept store, Venetian cicheti (small plates) come styled like edible installations. It’s fashion-forward dining with a side of Patti Smith playing over the speakers and possibly a gallerist flipping through a stack of artist monographs at the next table.

Up on the mezzanine, tucked discreetly behind soft curtains, is Felix Anima, a tiny wellness space created by Romanian artist Victoria Zidaru. There’s only one treatment room, which sounds limiting until you realise it’s intentional. Every session is private. Every touchpoint feels sacred.

Down a quiet stairwell is Venice Bitter Club, an invitation-only speakeasy that channels Fellini and futurism in equal measure.

If you’re especially lucky, you’ll be invited to the Altana rooftop, a wooden terrace rarely seen by tourists, where domes and bell towers glow across the skyline like ghostly sentinels. There may be dinner. There may be music. But more likely, there will just be you, a glass of Franciacorta, and a sky full of secrets.

The Venice Venice Hotel isn’t trying to please everyone — and that’s its genius. It’s not a five-star hotel in the traditional sense. There are no butlers, no fawning concierges, no “press 0 for spa.” What it offers instead is a cultural experience with a pulse. A stay that leans into the messy, layered, eccentric beauty of Venice itself.

If you believe that luxury is about character, chaos, and soul, then you’ll be exactly where you’re meant to be.

Book here

Location: Sestiere Cannaregio, 5631, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy | Phone: +39 041 097 0300 | Email: info@venicevenice.com | Instagram: @venicevenicehotel | Facebook: Venice Venice Hotel | Website: venicevenice.com