Ca Maria Adele
Baroque elegance
Canalside charm
With its Murano chandeliers, flock wallpaper and heavy damask fabrics, the Ca Maria Adele is absolutely Venetian, but its African wood, polished concrete and laid-back, bohemian atmosphere mean it is also undeniably modern. Located right opposite the Salute, it is in the heart of Venice's most tranquil area, the art quarter, and the only other tourists you are likely to come across are lost ones.
Facilities
Rooms
12, including two suites.
Checkout
Noon, but later departures may be arranged. Check-in, 2pm, but flexible if the room is not booked.
More Details
Rates usually include breakfast and soft-drink minibar.
Also
The hotel organises tailored tours around the city and you can take a gondola ride across to the Grand Canal to view the Royal Palace.
Hotel Closed
Annually from 7 to 15 January.
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Pet Friendly
Room Service
At the Hotel
Private landing stage, CD/DVD library, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: plasma TV, CD/DVD player, bespoke bath products. Personal shoppers and in-room massages can be arranged, too.
Our Favourite Rooms
We loved the themed rooms, in particular the seductive Sala Noire, the resplendent red and gold Sala del Doge and Sala del Camino for its huge fireplace. Overlooking the canal and the church, Deluxe room 332 and the Sala dei Mori have the best views. Modern, wood-beamed Suite 336 has a Jacuzzi tub at the foot of the bed.
Packing Tips
Comfortable shoes; mosquito repellent in summer.
Also
There’s a two-night minimum stay in high season (four nights during the Venice Biennale (28 May to 1 June 2013). Pets are welcome on request.
Children
This is a grown-up getaway for over-16s only; the apartment suite, with its extra bedroom, is the one to go for if you’re travelling en famille.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Find a spot on the ponyskin sofas in the cosy living room, and take your tea there. You’re almost at water level, so the fascinating view of the nearby bridge and church is unlike any you’ll see from the upper floors.
Dress Code
Ducal and decadent.
Hotel Restaurant
Only breakfast is served. Italian-style afternoon tea is available on the terrace, weather permitting.
Hotel Bar
You can order evening drinks anywhere in the hotel. We suggest the breakfast room or the Moroccan Terrace on the second floor; in summer, you can have a tipple brought to you outside. After 9pm, there’s an honesty bar, stocked with prosecco, spirits and a selection of soft drinks.
Room Service
A light, limited menu of salads, snacks and tasting plates is available from 11am until 11pm.
Planes
From Venice's Marco Polo airport, approach the city by crossing the lagoon on the Alilaguna (www.alilaguna.it) to San Marco, which takes roughly an hour depending on which line you choose. It costs around €30 for the express and €13 for the other routes. From there it’s a quick change to Route 1 of the ACTV (www.actv.it) vaporetto in the direction of Piazzale Roma. Get off at Salute, stroll in front of the church, and Ca Maria Adele will be on your left. Alternatively, Trieste, Verona and Treviso airports are all possibilities. The first two have bus links to their main train stations, and are then a one-hour or three-hour train journey respectively; Treviso has a direct bus (www.atvo.it) link to Piazzale Roma in Venice, from where a 30-minute journey on Route 1 of the vaporetto will take you to Salute.
Trains
Venice’s main station is Venezia Santa Lucia; see Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.com) for information on Italian trains. To reach the hotel, take the vaporetto down the Grand Canal from Santa Lucia to Salute (roughly 30 minutes on Route 1).
Automobiles
Venice is not made for cars and does not allow them into the city, so if you have driven from another part of Italy or the airport, you will need to leave your vehicle either on the mainland, which is easier, cheaper and avoids the sometimes colossal traffic jams, or at the edge of the city centre. If you park on the mainland in Mestre, you can choose between the rail station (and then proceed by train) or the San Giuliano parking lot (and proceed by boat).
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Venice is packed full of churches, museums and galleries. We love the Museum of Modern Art (San Stae waterbus stop). The neighbourhood, Dorsoduro, is arty in the extreme: as well as the Peggy Guggenheim collection (+39 041 240 5411), it’s home to the exhibition spaces of the avant-garde Fondazione Emilio e Annabianco Vedova (+39 041 522 6626) – a ‘floating gallery’, where paintings aren’t hung on the walls, but suspended from the ceiling.
Get a taste of what it feels like to be on a gondola for next to nothing: look for the yellow ‘Traghetto’ signs and follow them to the water. It’s a shuttle gondola service that costs 40c. If you want one to yourself, the average price is €100 an hour.
You’ll find all the designer labels around San Marco, and especially on Calle Larga 22 Marzo. Boutiques and gift shops line the streets between Piazza San Marco and the Rialto. Don’t buy masks in the tourist area: close to the hotels is Ca’Macana on Calle delle Botteghe, which made the masks for Eyes Wide Shut. For something different, buy a forcole, the wooden oar rest on a gondola; Saverio Pastor’s workshop is on Fondamenta Soranzo in Dorsoduro (522 5699). For Murano glass, try to get to the island of Murano itself.
Visit the town of Asolo, among the cypress-covered Dolomite hills, or the island of Torcello, the site of the original main square. The fish market in Rialto runs Tuesdays to Saturdays. Venice has a beach: you can hire cabanas for the day, but they’re not cheap.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
