Staying in Vivialdi's villa

The elegant 18th century Hotel Metropole in Venice, Italy

Hotel Metropole

It just doesn't get more Romantic 18th century Venetian than this: the former chapter house of La Pieta church (this is where Vivaldi lived 1704–38 while he was the church's concert master).

It has since become a quirky hotel/Victorian museum of the owner's curios (glass cases throughout contain his collections of purses, bottle openers, hand fans, cigarette cases, crucifixes...like I said: "quirky") and lavish furnishings (inlaid wood pieces, etched glass mirrors, Murano chandeliers, frescoed putti by the bed).

Plump an extra €100 or so and you can get a room with a view over the Bacino San Marco, plus free parking at a Piazzale Roma garage. You can still get a water view—over side canal where the water taxis pull up—at the regular rate, but ask for it or you might get stuck with one on the garden courtyard.

Castello 4149, Riva degli Schiavoni

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