Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal

"The Benetton family acquired this 100-room Venice hotel in the 1990s, and have since incorporated three adjacent buildings. The first houses an additional 30 small but comfortable accommodations that are a mix of Venetian opulence (silk fabrics, Murano glass) and minimalist understatement. The second is the storied Palazzo Dandolo, where Casanova seduced courtesans in the seventeenth century and which is now reserved for public functions. And the third is the Palazzo Selvadego, where Luciano Benetton’s personal architect, Moreno Carniato, brings a masculine elegance to the magnificent late-Gothic palace’s 40 rooms. Although the staff won’t win any hospitality awards, the hotel’s fabulous location on the Grand Canal at St. Mark’s makes up for it."