Palazzo Abadessa

Live like a Doge in a beautifully restored Baroque palace with a peaceful walled garden and private jetty

Step back into the 18th century. Surrounded by gorgeous antiques, paintings, damask walls and flexible floors, warmly welcomed by owners Maria-Luisa and Giovanni-Battista Rossi and their charming staff, you'll feel like a temporary member of a historic Venetian family.

Tucked away off the Calle Priuli in the bohemian Cannaregio quarter, fronted by a secret walled garden, this was the private mansion of the Priuli family of Doges. The Rossis bought it in 1975 as their home and, after a quarter century of loving restoration - seeking out the perfect period detail, the finest pieces of furniture - opened it as an intimate hotel. Marisa (as she is known) grew up in a Palladian villa "surrounded by beautiful history", then ran several factories in Vicenza, inviting clients to the Abadessa (the 'Mother Superior') for weekend breaks. Now she loves her life as doyenne of an elegant palazzo hotel, welcoming cultured folk from all over the world.

Highs

• The location: beside a quiet canal, with the option of coming and going by private water taxi from the palace’s own red-carpeted jetty
• The huge ground floor ballroom with tall windows to the jetty; and the equally grand 'piano nobile' (first floor)
• The sumptuous bedrooms, with authentic C17th frescoes, lovely C18th furniture, silk-lined walls and massive Murano-glass chandeliers
• Nothing is too much trouble for Marisa and Giovanni
• The large walled garden where you may enjoy breakfast fit for a doge

Lows

• Breakfast is the only in-house meal, though they can order in for parties and conferences
• Some of the rooms are small and low-ceilinged
• Canals tend to be smelly in the heat of high summer
• Only a few of the rooms have bath tubs, though all have en suite showers