JEWEL OF THE ISLE
In a city renowned for its fascination with glitz and splendour, Belmond Hotel Cipriani is a treasure box at the centre of Venice’s floating world.
othing in the story of Venice is ordinary,” the author and historian Jan Morris wrote of the city that she came to fall deeply in love with during her first visit in 1945. “She was born dangerously, lived grandly and never abandoned her brazen individualism.” It’s fitting, then, that a place as extraordinary as the Belmond Hotel Cipriani has continued to f lourish in the City of Bridges, building up an illustrious history matched only by La Serenissima herself.
Much has been said about the hotel’s stardustcoated roster of guests. It’s true that you might spot George Clooney communing with head barman Water Bolzonella at Gabbiano Bar in the wee hours of the morning, or Charlize Theron lounging beside the Olympic-sized, heated seawater pool. But celebrity-watching aside, Belmond Hotel Cipriani’s real allure is the way it lets you enjoy the city – when you want, wherever you set your sights upon and in whatever way you choose.
Perched on the tip of Giudecca island, the hotel is at once neatly removed from and right in the centre of Venice. Should you be filled with a sudden sense of wanderlust after midnight, a 24-hour boat service will deliver you to a private dock at Piazza San Marco within five minutes.
There are few havens in Venice more comfortable than the hotel’s 95 opulent
rooms and suites.