Head-to-head · Venice
My top two of Venice’s new hotels. Airelles Palladio is a garden estate with pools on Giudecca, five minutes across the water; Orient Express is a 15th-century palazzo in Cannaregio after an eight-year restoration. Here is how I would choose.
Toured both · October 2026
Pools, a three-story spa, four chefs, nearly a hectare of gardens and the best family suites in Venice. The most beautiful hotel I have seen in Italy, and my number one.
My Airelles Palladio review →
An eight-year restoration, some seventy kinds of marble and restored ceilings, on a quiet canal corner close to the station. It is almost overwhelming how beautiful it is.
My Orient Express review →
| Airelles Palladio | Orient Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Giudecca island, five minutes by boat to St. Mark’s | A quiet canal corner in Cannaregio, close to Santa Lucia station |
| Outside the door | Walled gardens and quiet, with the hotel boat to San Marco | Calm canals, an easy walk into the city |
| The building | Three historic buildings, a church and nearly a hectare of walled gardens | Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, 15th century, after an eight-year restoration |
| Size | 45 rooms and suites | About 47 rooms and suites |
| The showpiece | The arrival by water and the gardens | The marble and the ceilings |
| Pools and spa | A 25-meter pool in the gardens, a kids’ pool, and an indoor pool in a three-level Guerlain spa | No pool: it is a palazzo hotel |
| Room to ask for | The Suite del Doge, or Villa Mason for a family | The piano nobile, for the highest ceilings |
| Nights | I could easily do four | Three is the sweet spot |
| Best for | Families, groups, couples who want a resort, anyone who values calm | Design lovers, couples, travelers arriving by train |
Work with me and you get Fora perks, plus someone who knows these hotels personally and personalizes your stay: I arrange the water taxi from Marco Polo, the boats to Murano, Burano and Torcello, and the right floor or suite before you land. Same rate as booking direct.
I toured both on the same day in October 2026, along with the Danieli and Aman Venice. Of Venice’s three new hotels, Airelles Palladio is my number one and Orient Express is my number two.
Airelles gives you more: pools, a real spa, gardens and four chefs, with St. Mark’s five minutes away when you want it. It is the better choice for families, and for me it is the most beautiful hotel in Italy.
Orient Express wins on the interiors. If the marble, the ceilings and the chandeliers are what you come to Venice for, or you are arriving by train, book it and ask for the piano nobile.
Airelles Palladio is on Giudecca, facing San Marco across the water. The hotel boat makes the crossing in about five minutes. My one fear was that it would feel isolated. It does not, at all, and you come home to real peace and quiet in a very touristy city.
Orient Express sits on a calm canal corner in Cannaregio, away from the San Marco crowds and an easy walk into the city. It is close to Santa Lucia, so it works well if you arrive by train from Florence, Milan or the Dolomites.
At Orient Express, it is the mix: dark wood with some seventy kinds of marble, book-matched in the bathrooms, painted and coffered ceilings restored to their original glory, and Murano chandeliers. I have never seen so much marble in my life. Everywhere I looked, something new caught my eye.
At Airelles, the attention to detail in the finishes, the gardens and the rooms is truly serene, and the rooms are incredibly spacious. In the penthouse, one room has a slight slope where the original structure could not be changed. I loved it.
This is where Airelles pulls ahead. There is a 25-meter pool hidden in the gardens, an 8-meter pool just for children, and the Domus indoor pool in Spa Airelles by Guerlain, 1,700 square meters over three levels. Norbert Niederkofler, Matsuhisa, Jean-Georges and Cédric Grolet are all on the estate, so you can stay a week without repeating an evening.
Orient Express has no pool. It is a palazzo hotel. If a pool matters, Airelles is the answer in Venice.
At Orient Express, ask for the piano nobile, the noble floor one level above the ground floor, where the ceilings are highest. Three nights is the sweet spot: long enough for the city, the islands and a few long lunches.
Airelles is the best family hotel in Venice: a kids club, the gardens, Villa Mason with three bedrooms and its own pool, and the four-bedroom Suite del Doge looking straight at St. Mark’s. I could easily do four nights.
For most travelers, Airelles Palladio. It has the pools, the three-story spa, the gardens and four chefs, five minutes by boat from St. Mark’s, and it is my number one hotel in Italy. Choose Orient Express if design is the reason you travel: the eight-year restoration is jaw-dropping.
Airelles Palladio, without question: outdoor, indoor and kids’ pools, a complimentary kids club, gardens to run around in and a private three-bedroom suite with its own pool. Orient Express has no pool.
No. Orient Express is a palazzo hotel. For a pool in Venice, Airelles Palladio has a 25-meter pool in the gardens, a kids’ pool and an indoor pool in its spa.
Orient Express, close to Santa Lucia station in Cannaregio. Airelles Palladio is about 20 minutes from the station by water taxi.
At Orient Express, a room or suite on the piano nobile, where the ceilings are highest. At Airelles Palladio, the Suite del Doge for the big occasion, or Villa Mason, the three-bedroom suite with a private pool, for a family.
Three is my sweet spot for Venice, which suits Orient Express. At Airelles Palladio I could easily do four.
Tell me your dates and who is coming, and I will tell you which one fits and which room to ask for.
Airelles Palladio review → Orient Express review → Venice’s three new hotels → Airelles or the Danieli → Aman or Orient Express → My full Venice guide →