Ca’ Sagredo Hotel

Housed in a lavish, meticulously renovated palace, Ca’Sagredo faces the Grand Canal on the height of the Rialto Market and feels like staying in a museum.

• The incredible art works and restored interiors of this museum-worthy palace
• The helpful team
• The location across from the incredible Rialto Market and a quick walk into scenic San Polo and Santa Croce neighborhoods

This luxury palazzo hotel, which opened in 2008, boasts so many works of priceless art that some guidebooks list it as a museum. And if they are not too busy, the lovely staff will lead interested visitors to view the grand 18th-century staircase, created by Venetian architect Andrea Tirali and with stunning frescoes by Pietro Longhi, and show them the first-story salon adorned in detailed stucco work and large canvases by Andrea Urbani. Of course, if you stay at this stunning forty-two-room hotel, you can have afternoon tea within this backdrop, as well as find yourself in your own private room clad in centuries-old frescoes and artwork. (Be aware that some of the Grand Canal–facing rooms also face the Ca d’Oro vaporetto stop, which results in some boat noise in the rooms.)

Literally next door to the Ca d’Oro museum, the Ca’ Sagredo faces the Grand Canal and is a masterpiece of a renovation (which may be why it has already become the place to stay for foreigners who have bought their own palazzos or piano nobile apartments while doing their renovation work). The building dates from the 15th century and was enhanced through the centuries by many great artists. Antiques and the finest silks adorn the suites. The grandness of the place makes a stay here feel like an overnight in a museum, which will thrill some and leave others a bit cold. The hotel’s location near the Rialto Market at the top of the Grand Canal is a bit removed from the restaurants, shops and museums of San Marco and the Accademia. L’Alcova restaurant, on a lovely little terrace has an exclusive location (it’s the only restaurant terrace on this stretch of the Grand Canal), and the food gets good reviews from locals.

Travelers who like a grand, museum-like setting and don't mind getting on a vaparetto to get to San Marco.