Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel

No Venetian hotel carries quite the mythology of the Cipriani. Founded in 1958 by Giuseppe Cipriani of Harry's Bar fame, it occupies the tip of Giudecca island with gardens, vineyard and lagoon on three sides, removed from the crowds yet four minutes from Piazza San Marco by the hotel's private mahogany launch. That boat ride—across open water towards the campanile—remains one of the great arrivals in European hotel-keeping.

The compound blends the original building with the adjoining Palazzo Vendramin, whose suites look straight across the Giudecca Canal to Doge's Palace. Interiors favour Venetian classicism—Murano glass, Fortuny fabrics, terrazzo—kept fresh by Belmond's ongoing investment. The Olympic-sized, filtered-seawater swimming pool, an accident of 1950s planning generosity, is unique in the city and anchors long summer afternoons, with the Casanova gardens and a small vineyard behind.

Dining runs from the Michelin-starred Oro Restaurant under its gilded dome to poolside grills and a terrace made for bellinis at dusk. The hotel operates seasonally, closing through the deep winter, and prices sit at the very top of the Venetian market. For a certain kind of traveller, no substitute exists.