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i-escape has written 422 reviews in 32 countries.
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Small Hotels in Venice, Italy
An intimate, art-filled, family-run hotel in off-beat San Polo, with spacious bedrooms and a secret garden
If you’ve ever wondered what it's like to live in Venice – in a family home, in comfort and in style – then here is your answer. Oltre Il Giardino (‘beyond the garden’) is the bucolic residence of Franco-Venetian Alessandra Arduini Zambelli and her charming son Lorenzo. They converted their three-storey villa, which once belonged to Mahler’s widow, into an intimate city retreat, now one of Venice’s really special secrets. Its 6 bedrooms are spacious and unfussy, its drawing rooms are filled with Edwardian art and family heirlooms, and there’s an easy grace about the place which make you feel immediately at home.
The garden in question lies at the front (or the back, if you arrived by canal boat), its lavender-covered walls shielding you from street noise and summer crowds. Breakfasting here is a real privilege. In the evenings, you can sink into deep sofas inside with a drink from the complimentary bar. Sheer style, and with none of the coldness of some design hotels. |
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Best Hotels in Venice, Italy
Grand design in an intimate hotel - an exciting and sexy new addition to one of the world's most romantic cities
Ca Maria Adele is a hotel for luxury-lovers; lovers of plush, decadent rooms and oversized jacuzzi baths; lovers of gold leaf, ornate kingsize beds and soft, velvety fabrics; and for lovers, pure and simple. Cool minimalism it ain't, but if you like designer opulence, this 16th century palazzo will wrap itself around you like a warm cocoon. Behind its deceptively plain façade are 11 breathtakingly sumptuous rooms, including five lavishly themed ‘concept’ suites. From antique marble floors to enormous bespoke chandeliers of Murano glass, this place oozes contemporary Venetian style.
And then there’s the location: tucked away in the classy Dorsoduro quarter, opposite the magnificent church of Santa Maria della Salute. From your windows (most rooms have several) you look onto the canals, churches and rooftops of Europe’s most stunningly preserved city. You can even watch the vaporetto arrive nearby courtesy of your very own webcam. So if you have a new lover to impress, or an old one to woo afresh, this is the place. |
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Small Hotels in Venice, Italy
Live like a Doge in a beautifully-restored Baroque palace with a peaceful walled garden and private jetty
Staying in the Palazzo Abadessa feels like stepping back into the 18th century. Surrounded by gorgeous antiques, paintings, damask walls and flexible floors, and warmly welcomed by owners Maria-Luisa and Giovanni-Battista Rossi and their charming staff make you feel like a temporary member of a historic Venetian family.
Tucked away off the Calle Priuli in the Bohemian Cannereggio quarter, this was once a private mansion of the Priuli family of Doges. The Rossi's bought it in 1975 as their home and, after a quarter century of loving restoration - seeking out the perfect period detail or original piece of furniture - opened it as a boutique hotel in September 2002. Marisa (as she is known) grew up in a Palladian villa ‘surrounded by beautiful history', and then ran several factories in Vicenza, inviting clients to the Abadessa ('Mother Superior') for weekend breaks. But she infinitely prefers her new life as doyenne of an elegant hotel, welcoming cultured folk from all over the world. |
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Small Hotels in Istanbul, Turkey
Converted Ottoman distillery on the Bosphorus with industrial-chic loft suites, excellent fish restaurant and a magical waterfront location This was once an alcohol factory which, from the 1870s, had produced suma, the fig-syrup spirit used to make raki. When it was bequeathed, derelict, to Turkish-American architects Nedret and Mark Butler, they must have been tempted to pull the place down: waterfront plots are like hen’s teeth in Istanbul. Instead, they decided to restore their unusual legacy – and this faded relic of industrial heritage found a new lease of life as a sassy waterfront hotel. Part sympathetic modern extension, part salvaged original, its opening in 2005 pioneered new interest in the city’s then undiscovered Asian shore. Exposed stonework, bare brick, steel joists and mezzanine floors celebrate the building’s past. The 20 rooms have warm wood / carpet floors and cool contemporary furniture; some have cosy fireplaces, all have views of the water. And what a view! Day and night, on the glittering Bosphorus, an endless procession of fishing boats, gin palaces, container ships and ferries drifts past. Watch from the terrace garden, from the restaurant, even from your bed. |
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Small Hotels in Istanbul, Turkey
A restored Ottoman apartment block in the throbbing heart of down-town Beyoglu, with 7 giant suites and a hip café-bar The so-called ‘Paris of the Orient’, Beyoglu was the city’s cosmopolitan epicentre; a wealthy community of neo-classical embassies and baroque hotels, where Jewish and Armenian traders rubbed shoulders with Christians, sultans, artists and eccentrics. By the middle of the last century, it had begun a slow decline. And when Joost Rooijmans bought a run-down squat of a building in one of its dingy back streets in 1997, his friends thought he was crazy. It was a risk, he admits; but he was captivated by the area’s history, believed in its future. Ten years later, the risk pays off. Modern Beyoglu is Istanbul’s answer to Soho: still a little rough around the edges, but enjoying a cultural revival. In a labyrinth of narrow lanes, there are antique shops, galleries, jazz clubs, night clubs. And in the thick of it all, Joost’s handsome Ottoman building has been resurrected as a boutique hotel. A cantilevered staircase spirals up to six fabulous suites. Below, there is a lively colonial-style eatery (try Thai-style prawns, and an ice-cold beer). The whole city is right on the doorstep. |
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