Oltre il Giardino

I'd never have found this had it not been for my friend, Vittorio. We took a water taxi from the airport and when he pulled up, I thought he'd either made a mistake or was trying to rip us off as there was nothing to hint that we were in front of the hotel. When the driver pointed it out, though, we saw the simple green door set in an unremarkanle wall. The only sign was a tiny one set in the concreet over the doorbell. As we passed through that door, though, we entered another world. As we entered the small garden, we were greeted by the sweet smell of honeysuckle. Entering the hotel itself, we felt as we were entering a private home and indeed we were in a sense. This former house has only 6 guest rooms and is absolutely delightful. I learned later than this was actually the home of Alma Mahler, wife of Gustav Mahler, the famous composer! This former house has only 6 guest rooms and is absolutely delightful. The rooms are not even numbered. Each one is very different and they are denoted only by color. Our freinds and we occupied the two suites on the top floor and they were just about perfect. Venice can feel a bit crowded and hectic but this hotel was the perfect sanctuary. It's far enough from the tourist attractions to give one the feeling for the true Venice while being close enough when it's time to visit the must-sees.

BTW, I just looked at where this website put the hotel on the map. It's not correct!