Hotel Cipriani on Giudecca – Venice's garden hotel since 1958

Giuseppe Cipriani, the man behind Harry's Bar and the Bellini, opened a hotel on the eastern tip of Giudecca in 1958 with money from three Guinness daughters. Facts about the hotel with Venice's only pool in the centre.

Hotel Cipriani is located on Giudecca, the island just south of Venice's central islands, on the other side of the Giudecca Canal. It is reached by the hotel's own boat from St Mark's Square, a journey of approximately five minutes across the lagoon, and it cannot be reached any other way than by water. It has long been considered one of the world's leading luxury hotels, and since 2014 it has been called Belmond Hotel Cipriani.

01The founder of Harry's Bar and the Guinness sisters

The hotel was opened in 1958 by Giuseppe Cipriani, who in 1931 had founded Harry's Bar and who invented the Bellini cocktail. The money came from his partners in the company: the three daughters of the second Earl of Iveagh, from the Guinness brewing family – Viscountess Boyd of Merton, Lady Honor Svejdar and Lady Brigid Guinness. Each was given a suite decorated for herself and her family. The rooms were furnished with Venetian items: crystal chandeliers from Murano, fabrics from Fortuny and Venetian art.

The hotel was an immediate success. In 1962, the earl asked Cipriani to rebuild and manage Hotel Belvedere on his estate in Asolo, which reopened as Hotel Villa Cipriani. In 1968, adjoining land was purchased and a pool was built amongst the gardens – the only pool in the centre of Venice. It has salt water.

02Orient-Express and Palazzo Vendramin

In 1976 the hotel was bought by the shipping company Sea Containers, which then established a hotel division under the name Orient-Express Hotels. The hotel expanded into the neighbouring building, Palazzo Vendramin, a 15th-century palace overlooking the lagoon and St Mark's Square. Out in the lagoon, the restaurant Cip's Club was built on a floating pontoon, and in 1990 the republic's old grain warehouse next door was opened as a venue for events.

Insider tip

The hotel's boat departs from St Mark's Square

In 2014, Orient-Express Hotels changed its name to Belmond, and the hotel became Belmond Hotel Cipriani. The same year, in April, the restaurant Oro opened, designed by Adam Tihany, which was awarded a MICHELIN star in December 2015.

03The hotel in literature

In John Gardner's James Bond novel Death is Forever from 1992, the second half takes place in Venice. Bond flies into Marco Polo and is collected by the hotel's boat, books a junior suite and dines in the restaurant. The hotel also appears in Michael Buckley's The Sisters Grimm and is the venue for the chess World Championship in Ali Hazelwood's 2023 novel Check & Mate.

04Giudecca around the hotel

Giudecca was known in earlier times as Spinalunga, the long thorn. The island was historically a place for grand palaces with gardens, became an industrial area with shipyards, factories and a film studio in the early 1900s, and is today a quiet residential area. Along the quay stands Andrea Palladio's Il Redentore, built 1577–1592 in thanks for the end of the plague in 1576, and the church Le Zitelle. At the other end of the island stands the old mill Molino Stucky, which has been converted into a hotel and flats. Just east of the island's tip lies San Giorgio Maggiore.

05More to read

Plan the rest of the city with 48 hours in Venice, and read about more grand hotels in Italy: Rome's grand hotels and Villa d'Este on Lake Como. All our city guides can be found at metromode.co.

06The address

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