Venice's two grandest houses pose one question: seclusion or immersion. Hotel Cipriani, a garden-and-pool retreat on Giudecca, scores 9.3 on our rubric for its rare space and calm. The Gritti Palace, a Doge's palazzo on the Grand Canal, scores 9.2 for heritage and a position in the heart of the city. The Cipriani for retreat; the Gritti for Venice itself.
Affiliate disclosure: when you book through links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We never accept payment for placement or rankings.
To set these two against each other is, in a sense, to choose between two ideas of Venice. The Gritti Palace gives you the city at its most immediate: a palazzo on the Grand Canal, its terrace at the water's edge, St Mark's a few minutes' walk away. Hotel Cipriani gives you the city held at arm's length: a green, walled estate on Giudecca, gardens and a swimming pool behind its walls, the skyline of San Marco glittering across the lagoon. Both have kept their standards for the better part of a century; the question is only which Venice you are after.
The Cipriani is the younger house and the more unusual. It opened in 1958 as the project of Giuseppe Cipriani, the restaurateur who had founded Harry's Bar in 1931 and invented the Bellini, and it was conceived as something Venice did not otherwise possess — a resort, with room to breathe. Its guest book has since gathered the likes of Sophia Loren, Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. To this day it offers what almost nothing else in the city can: a large outdoor saltwater pool, mature gardens, and the quiet that comes of being reached only by boat.
The Gritti answers with lineage. Its palazzo on the Grand Canal carries the name of Andrea Gritti, the Doge who governed the Republic in the sixteenth century, and the house wears that history in its frescoes, its antiques and the Club del Doge terrace that sits directly over the water. It is the more central, the more immersive and the more emphatically Venetian of the two, and unlike the Cipriani it keeps its doors open the year round. The scoreboard below divides the decision into the measures that actually move it.
| Hotel Cipriani | The Gritti Palace | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Giudecca island (boat from St Mark's) | Grand Canal, San Marco (walk everywhere) |
| Rooms | ~96 rooms & suites | 82 rooms & suites |
| Opened / heritage | 1958, by Giuseppe Cipriani (Harry's Bar) | 16th-c. palazzo of Doge Andrea Gritti |
| Signature | Gardens & large outdoor saltwater pool | Club del Doge terrace on the Grand Canal |
| Season | Seasonal; closes for winter | Open year-round |
| Operator | Belmond (LVMH) | The Luxury Collection (Marriott) |
| HFK score | 9.3 / 10 | 9.2 / 10 |
Why stay: for what Venice otherwise withholds — room to breathe. Behind its walls the Cipriani keeps gardens, lawns and a large outdoor saltwater pool, the kind of resort calm that is all but impossible on the crowded sestieri across the water.
That seclusion is the whole point. Reached in roughly five minutes by the hotel's own complimentary launch from St Mark's, the Cipriani feels removed from the press of the city while remaining minutes from it; you can spend a morning by the pool and dine in San Marco the same evening. The rooms are generous by Venetian standards, the gardens genuinely green, and the service has had since 1958 to settle into its rhythm. It suits couples wanting a honeymoon pace, families glad of the lawns and pool, and anyone who has done the crowds before and wants the antidote.
Honest trade-off: the island setting cuts both ways. Every outing begins and ends with a boat, which charms on day one and can wear by day four, and the Cipriani is the pricier and less spontaneously connected of the two. It also closes for the winter, so it is no use at all for an off-season trip — and guests who came to be in Venice, steps from its churches and squares, may find the lagoon between them and the city a barrier rather than a moat.
Weighted: Setting 22%, Rooms 18%, Service 18%, Heritage 16%, Dining 16%, Value 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest review averages.
Why stay: for the address and the history. The Gritti sits directly on the Grand Canal in San Marco, a sixteenth-century palazzo where the city begins the moment you step outside, and where the Club del Doge terrace lets you watch the water traffic over lunch.
This is the more Venetian of the two in the literal sense: frescoed and antique-filled, immersed in the city rather than retired from it, and walkable to St Mark's, the Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The house carries the name of Doge Andrea Gritti, who governed the Republic in the sixteenth century, and a thorough restoration completed in 2014 returned its interiors to form. With 82 rooms it is the more intimate house, and being open all year it is the only one of the pair that can show you Venice in the quiet of winter. It suits first-time visitors, lovers of historic interiors, and anyone who wants to be in the thick of things.
Honest trade-off: a Grand Canal palazzo has no garden and no pool, and its position in San Marco means the bustle — and, in high season, the crowds — press close. Some canal-facing rooms trade quiet for their views, and a heritage building of this age yields rooms that vary more in size and shape than a modern hotel would. Those craving space, greenery or a swim will feel the want of them here.
Weighted: Setting 22%, Rooms 18%, Service 18%, Heritage 16%, Dining 16%, Value 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest review averages.
If you want space, a garden and a pool — and the quiet of an island reached only by boat — book Hotel Cipriani; its setting, room and resort calm earn it a narrow 9.3 and the edge for a honeymoon, a family or a return visit.
If you want heritage and the city at your door — a Doge's palazzo on the Grand Canal, open the year round — book the Gritti Palace; its lineage and central position earn it a 9.2 and the better base for a first trip or a winter one. The margin is slight, and either way you sleep in one of the great hotels of Europe.
Both are among the finest hotels in Venice, and the choice is one of temperament rather than tier. On our rubric Hotel Cipriani scores 9.3, leading on setting, space and resort calm on Giudecca island, with its rare garden and saltwater pool. The Gritti Palace scores 9.2, leading on heritage and a Grand Canal address in the thick of the city. Choose the Cipriani for retreat; choose the Gritti for Venice itself.
Position, and everything that follows from it. Hotel Cipriani sits apart on Giudecca island, a green, walled retreat with gardens, an outdoor saltwater pool and a private courtesy launch to St Mark's. The Gritti Palace is a sixteenth-century palazzo set directly on the Grand Canal in San Marco, with the city's sights a short walk from its door. One offers escape; the other offers immersion.
No. The Cipriani runs as a seasonal hotel, opening in spring and closing for the winter, with its current season listed to end on 30 September 2026 before it reopens the following year. The Gritti Palace, by contrast, is open year-round, which makes it the only choice of the two for a winter or off-season trip to Venice.
By boat. The hotel sits on Giudecca island, reached in about five minutes aboard the Cipriani's own complimentary launch, which runs between the hotel and a landing beside St Mark's Square. The short crossing is part of the appeal, and the reason the hotel feels a world away despite being so close to the centre. The Gritti, set on the Grand Canal, needs no such transfer.
Hotel Cipriani has around 96 rooms and suites spread across its Giudecca gardens and annexes, while the Gritti Palace is the more intimate house, with 82 individually decorated rooms and suites within its Grand Canal palazzo. Neither is large by international standards, but the Cipriani's grounds give it the greater sense of space.
For a first visit, the Gritti Palace usually makes the stronger base: you can step out of the door and walk to St Mark's, the Accademia and the Grand Canal vaporetto stops without a boat transfer, and you are immersed in the city from the first morning. The Cipriani rewards the return visitor, or anyone who wants a pool, a garden and quiet to balance the crowds across the water.
Subscriber only hotel offers, suite upgrade alerts, and one honest review every Sunday. Free, weekly, unsubscribe anytime.