La Dimora di San Maurizio

Venice is a city where tourism constantly threatens to crowd out ordinary life; in a place like this, it’s more important than ever to be able to find a place to stay that feels like a place to live. La Dimora di San Maurizio is exactly that: a grand 5-story palazzo on the Campo San Maurizio, looking straight across the square at the Museum of Music, a tribute to Vivaldi and other stars of Baroque Venice.

Inside, you won’t find anything as pedestrian as an ordinary hotel room or suite — the palazzo now houses four extravagantly luxe apartments, each one decorated in a contemporary style that’s a fine complement for the historical architecture and the centuries-spanning tableau outside.

The whole house sleeps 30, if you’re traveling with an entourage; and to the privacy that’s typical of palazzo life, you can add the fact that San Maurizio’s setting, central though it may be, is actually rather on the quiet side — and straight across the Grand Canal from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. And while La Dimora di San Maurizio may lack such luxury-hotel staples as a restaurant or a bar, you’re never out of sight of at least a handful of worthy options.