Your Villa in Venice

The Hotel Cipriani, a compound of glorious Renaissance villas occupying the tip of Giudecca island in Venice, Italy

Hotel Cipriani

(Giudecca)
There's only one reason to remove yourself from the easy access of Venice's six main islands and hole up on the Giudecca, the long curve of a residential island just south of Dorsoduro and accessible only by a ten-minute boat ride: the Cipriani, a sumtuous retreat for the truly rich and rather-not-be-bothered famous.

It may not have been the first luxury hotel on the Venetian scene, but it certainly ranks as the top these days. The Cipriani occupies a series of Renaissance villas and palazzi right at the tip of Giudecca, including for the most discriminating visitors private-home lodgings in a 15th century palace complete with your private butler.

This bastion of luxury was opened in 1959 by Giuseppe Cirpirani, the man behind the deluxe hospitality empire that began with Harry's Bar and the Locanda Cipriani restaurant on Torcello (he was so tight with Hemingway, Papa actually made Giuseppe a character in Across the River and into the Trees).

Giudecca 10

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