The Hotel Londra Palace of Venice looks onto the splendid Riva degli Schiavoni, a few steps away from the Doges’ Palace and the Bridge of Sights. The Riva waterfront, a good 500 metres long, goes from St Mark’s basin to the district of Castello. The Londra Palace of Venice is privileged to have no fewer than a hundred windows on the lagoon of Venice that enable guests to enjoy a view that goes from the Salute Basilica to the island of Giudecca and the various islands dotted about in this part of the lagoon: San Giorgio Maggiore, San Servolo, San Lazzaro degli Armeni and Lido.

The Hotel Londra Palace of Venice is an old-established hotel arose from the union of two hotels that were founded between 1850 and 1860 on the magnificent Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront. Their names were Beau Rivage, designed by a Venetian engineer, Fuin, in 19th century Lombard style using white Istria marble, and the Hotel Angleterre et Pension, a work by architect Rossini. The merger took place in 1900, when the hotel took the name of Hotel Londres et Beau Rivage. With the coming of Fascism, the name had to be Italianised into Albergo Bella Riva; the hotel was given its present name, Londra Palace, in 1973.

Among the hotel’s illustrious guests have been the great Russian composer, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, who stayed in Room 106 in December 1877 and composed the first three movements of the Fourth Symphony, which he first called Do Leoni (“The Two Lions”) in honour of the lion of St Mark and the rampant English lion; and Gabriele D’Annunzio, the famous Italian lyrical poet who attended the unveiling of the big bronze equestrian monument to King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1887. This statue is still standing near the hotel.
 
An extensive project by architect Rocco Magnoli, which began in 1992 and was completed in March 1999, restored the façade, the public rooms including the hall and the restaurant and the 53 bedrooms, embellished with period furniture and pink marble baths and equipped with air conditioning. The glass entrance door, which is decorated with a reproduction of the score of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, brings guests into the hall with its magnolia white walls and typical Venetian paved floor. The hotel has been so meticulously decorated that the banisters and the bar counter are adorned with Murano glass. Magnoli, the architect, is also the designer of the world-famous Versace Boutiques.

This careful restoration has succeeded in keeping the history, personality and architecture of the hotel intact, but has also pervaded it with the modernity made up of light and contrast that is typical of the new millennium. The juxtaposition of different ages has proved to be very successful: on one hand there is a collection of Biedermeier furniture, paintings and antiques, on the other hand some of the latest communication technologies, which are so necessary to the contemporary traveller.
 

Hotel Londra Palace, Venice, Italy Accommodations

There are fifty-three rooms in all, spacious and bright, with authentic Biedermeier furnishings and original paintings and fabrics.

Each room differs from the others in the colours of its silk and brocade, so that every guest can savour the pleasure of exclusive and discreet luxury.

The bathrooms are in pink marble. There are three classes of room in the hotel, all featuring the same degree of quality and comfort:
 
Standard Rooms, with a view over the city of Venice and an area of from 18 to 22 square metres

Deluxe Rooms, with a view over the lagoon and the island of San Giorgio and an area of from 18 to 22 square metres

Junior Suites, with a view over the lagoon and St Mark’s basin and an area of from 25 to 32 square metres.

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Hotel Londra Palace, Venice, Italy Dining

Restaurant Do Leoni

The restaurant is named in honour of the Russian composer, Tchaikovsky, and is one of the glories of the hotel. It has received gastronomic awards and is strategically placed so that the diners can admire the lagoon scenery; it serves light, contemporary food with extreme attention to detail - suffice it to say that eight different types of bread are baked every day. Ice cream and chocolate are also homemade and the wine list offers a wide choice. In fine weather guests can have supper in the splendid veranda on Riva degli Schiavoni a few yards from the lagoon.
Loris Indri is the Executive Chef.