The Venice Venice Hotel

There’s no escaping the past in Venice; even the Venice Venice Hotel, dedicated as it is to “postvenezianità” — post-Venetian-ness — finds itself in the 13th-century Byzantine-style Palazzo Ca’ da Mosto, overlooking the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge. Its owners, however, have their sights set squarely on the future, and take their inspiration from the avant-garde spirit that they feel has always been an integral part of Venetian life.

While the historic structure remains immaculately preserved, this avant-garde spirit is immediately apparent in the artwork and the interior design — this is most definitely not another Renaissance period piece. Venice Venice is connected more closely to the Venice of the Biennale, and is furnished and decorated with design pieces and artworks from a number of disparate movements, from modernist classics to the present day.

Equally eclectic and unpredictable is the hotel’s versatile common space, Venice M’Art, which is a concept store, a café, a wine bar, and an all-day restaurant all in one. It’s not your typical hotel restaurant, to be sure, but then again Venice Venice is anything but a typical Venetian hotel. A group to keep an eye on, both in its home city and, in the future, overseas.