Aman Venice

Your eyes do not deceive you: the Aman Venice is exactly what the name implies. It’s fitting that Aman, those masters of luxe villas on jade-green desert islands, would choose this as the setting for their first city hotel. Like many of Aman’s far-flung, impossibly photogenic locales, there’s a sense that Venice isn’t quite of this earth. And, more prosaically, they’ve already perfected the craft of the waterborne arrival on those selfsame desert islands, and it’s a skill that transfers seamlessly to Venice’s canals.

The next biggest departure, after the distinctly urban (and quite marvelously central) location, is the fact that they’ve made use of a meticulously preserved Renaissance palace as a setting, rather than build something modern. Of course in Venice it couldn’t be any other way, but it’s a pleasure to see that they know when to leave well enough alone — aside from some subtly stylish contemporary interior design interventions, and a generous shipment of modern furniture from the likes of B&B Italia, it’s looking much as its old merchant founders would have left it.

If you know Aman then you can probably guess that the accommodations are first-rate, mixing period details with every conceivable modern comfort. The best ones have views of the Grand Canal itself, culminating in the Canal Grande Suite, offering a perfectly framed front-row view from directly above the palazzo’s front door.

This being Venice rather than Vietnam, of course, the hotel’s activities do diverge somewhat from the Aman template. The Italian cuisine centers around lagoon-sourced seafood and regional farm-to-table specialties, while the spa is hidden away in an adjoining building rather than sprawled out on some cliffside somewhere. And where a rural Aman might offer diving or horseback excursions, Aman Venice makes the most of its city setting — here the excursions are led by chefs, art historians or literary types, the better to show you whichever aspect of the City of Water you’d most like to see.

How to get there: The resort is located about 3 miles from the Santa Lucia train station, and 11 miles from Venice’s Marco Polo International Airport (VCE). Whatever the means of arrival, guests will be met by Aman staff and transferred to the resort via Venice’s canals.