Belmond Hotel Cipriani
The legendary Cipriani is still today the most exclusive and “the” luxury hotel in Venice to stay at, especially during the summer months. The beautiful pool is a welcome respite after visiting the obligatory Venice landmarks in the sometimes oppressive heat. Cipriani is located on Guidecca Island, four minutes from San Marco via the hotel's glamorous private mahogany motorboat. It goes back and forth every 20 minutes 24/7. Here it’s all about making grand entrances and exits. If you’re coming to Cipriani from the Venice airport, don’t even think about using another service for your transfer. Transfers are expensive in Venice but the one that the Cipriani provides is perfection and part of the Cipriani experience.
The list of rich and famous is a long one but the Cipriani does an amazing job of caring for all its guests whatever their pedigree. It’s easy to see why some may be intimated by this luxury and grand icon. However we have found that even our most inexperienced Classic Travel clients fared well when they approached the well trained staff with the most innocuous of concerns. You can’t look at the individual prices so much when staying at the Cipriani but before you go know what it will cost for a week or a few days and then enjoy! Remember, the Cipriani is a complete resort hotel with amenities that include a full service spa, health club and tennis courts.
The Cipriani Hotel has the highest rates of any Italian hotel—a pleasant Deluxe room with a water-view balcony runs around US$2300.00. On occasion you may find rates a bit lower but not in the winter as the hotel is closed then. If you use a Virtuoso agent or book on this website you’ll be sure to get the best value added rates anywhere.
Venice can be bit daunting as most times of the year the main squares and canals are often as busy as New York during rush hour. The Cipriani’s location is almost a secret one. The Cipriani has carried the torch of luxury for more than 50 years, and for some the Cipriani may feel a bit old fashion. However this style of upscale luxury is impeccably maintained.
The main building, done in a warm terra-cotta hue, rises beside a large formal garden dotted with statuary and forever in bloom. In spring, cherry blossoms add color to the silhouette of San Giorgio Maggiore just across the canal. Marble columns embrace the small reception area. Internet service is available in the rooms and through out the property.
There are four dining venues and three bars to suit nearly all tastes. However, the focal point for foodies is the acclaimed Fortuny Restaurant, where, through arched windows, privileged diners can watch the lights of San Marco sparkle on the lagoon. Murano chandeliers and Fortuny drapes embellish the room, and superb antipasti, fresh fish and homemade pasta are the culinary highlights.
The less formal Cip's Club, provides a trattoria menu, as well as wood-fired pizzas. The Terrace opens only in summer, when reservations are necessary to score one of the tables facing the water and pool. Breakfast is served in a frescoed room with a lagoon-side terrace, and in fair weather, lavish buffets are served poolside.
Guests in the rooms and suites located in Palazzo Vendramin and the Palazzetto enjoy access to a tea and wine lounge. The Fortuny Bar is a beguiling space with a subdued residential air, well-upholstered sofas. The hotel takes its wealthy clients' needs seriously, and the variety of drinks in the bar point to that fact.
Accommodations overall are mix of modern and period design, incorporating thick carpeting, rich fabric wall coverings, distinctive linens and Fortuny fabrics. As mentioned before all the rooms are impeccably maintained. One of the things about staying at a really luxury hotel is how quiet the air conditioning is. The Cipriani not only has that but controls that always work. You really can control the temperature. Elaborate marble baths pamper guests with stall showers, WCs, phones, hair dryers and robes and slippers.
Guests in search of a home-away-from-home on their vacation can request one of the attractive apartments, which blend modern and antique appointments and have kitchenettes and private terraces overlooking the pool.
The annex, the 15th-century Palazzo Vendramin, linked to the hotel by a flowered loggia, holds two studios and five suites, all served by butlers. Although it has only a lounge, Palazzo Vendramin extends to its guests all the services of the Cipriani, except when the latter is closed. The palazzo's suites, priced lower than those in the hotel, offer large sitting areas with breakfast tables, spacious walk-in closets, and technological wizardry such as TVs that rise from draped tables.
TVs also provide entertainment for those soaking in their tubs, but the real diversion here is gazing out on San Marco, the Doges' Palace and the burnished dome of Santa Maria della Salute. The Palazzetto shares the breathtaking vistas through Byzantine windows. However the rooms in the main building are considered prettier by many who have stayed at both.
The Cipriani excellent staff is justifiably house-proud and maintains the kind of peerless standards that Orient-Express regulars demand. The staff-to-guest ratio is roughly 1-to-1, and butlers, room service and maids are on standby 24 hours a day. Small pets are permitted.
The Cipriani is open from mid April through November. It is, with out a doubt, one of Venice’s best address’s and well suited to romantics who seek to escape from Venetian clamor, enjoy relative seclusion, prize personal attention, and are willing to pay some of the world's highest rates. We tell clients and they seem to agree after they return. “It’s all about the experience”.
Belmond Hotel Cipriani is a member of exclusive Virtuoso travel network. Book online or contact our Virtuoso Travel Advisor lance@classictravel.com for more details.
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Please take a moment to view a personal tour of the Cipriani Hotel:
