The Venice Film Festival’s Hotel Map, From the Lido to the Giudecca
The red carpet is on the Lido. The better question is where everyone disappears afterwards.
For two weeks every year, Venice develops a second geography. There is the city everyone knows—and the handful of hotels where the film world actually congregates.
The Excelsior remains the obvious starting point. Its Lido location puts it unusually close to the festival machinery, which is precisely the attraction. This is the address for being in the middle of it rather than escaping it.
Across the lagoon, Aman Venice offers the inverse: fewer rooms, considerably more discretion and a Grand Canal setting removed from the Lido’s daily theatre.
Then there is the Cipriani on Giudecca. Arriving by boat already creates some useful distance from the festival crowds, and the hotel remains one of those rare Venice institutions where retreating to the property can seem preferable to another evening out.
The Gritti Palace represents another version of Venice altogether: old-school, Grand Canal and unapologetically established.
The Maison Routes edit: Excelsior for proximity. Aman for privacy. Cipriani when the hotel should be part of the trip rather than simply festival logistics.
During festival week, choosing where to stay in Venice isn’t really a question of stars. It’s a question of which Venice you want access to.
Source: Condé Nast Traveler.