SUITE DREAMS

Housed in one of Venice's oldest palazzi, an expertly restored, art-filled hotel on the Grand Canal is launching an ambitious new expansion project

- LAURA MAY TODD

The Byzantine palace Ca' da Mosto sits at a prime location on Venice's Grand Canal, just as it bends to meet the Rialto Bridge, offering uninterrupted views of the famous landmark. It's the same panorama that 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto would carefully reproduce while sitting at the palazzo's second floor window, his light-drenched depictions of the scene exactly matching that privileged perspective. Built around the 11th century, it is widely agreed that Ca' da Mosto is the oldest structure lining the ancient waterway and, unsurprisingly, it plays an important role in the city's history. From around the 1500s, the palace was home to the Campiello del Leon Bianco, one of Europe's first hotels and a significant Grand Tour stopping point. Over the centuries, kings, czars and emperors, as well as figures such as Voltaire, Mozart and Shelley, all spent time within its fresco-laden walls.

However, since 2022, it has been the Venice Venice, an art hotel conceived by Alessandro Gallo and Francesca Rinaldo, the husband-and-wife founders of sneaker brand Golden Goose. In late 2023, the couple will officially open the hotel's second wing, which promises to host the largest and most luxurious hotel room in Venice yet.