The golden violin is blown asunder! Well, this is the appearance of a spectacular bronze iteration of the instrument by celebrated sculptor Antonio Canova, who has skillfully juxtaposed each of the violin’s parts as a bronze sculpture of great polished beauty.

Still, if the instrument was whole, the urge may take hold of you as you enter the Violino d’Oro hotel to play the glistening golden violin waiting on its stand – a worthy temptation as your tired feet traverse the entrance doors into the cool interior of three converted Venetian, 17th-century palazzi.

Try to have a moment – stand still and absorb the quiet and calm ambience pervading the relaxed and welcoming interior – a moment to savour – a lovely transition from the hustle and bustle at the Ponte San Moisè or after a fabulous spending spree in the luxury shops along the characterful Calle Larga XXII Marzo.

Entering the reception area, one cannot help but glance sideways through the geometric leaded windows and the hotel’s archway canal-side architecture of the passageway, Sotoportego va in Corte Barozzi. You spy the silent commotion of the flower-bedecked black gondolas parked and gliding along a canal route – one that you may have used recently.

Access to the understated Violino d’Oro boutique hotel’s 17th-century palazzi-rendered elevation and red-blind-covered double-door entrance can be via a gondola ride down the narrow Rio di San Moisè – a canal entrance from the artistic Guidecca or Canal Grande, or perhaps, from the San Geogio Island over the Bacino San Marco. You arrive at the ancient stone steps leading to the Campiello Barozzi, a typical Venetian intimate courtyard bounded by 17th-century stone and rendered façades of luxury shops, and the quintessential stone-arched bridge, Ponte San Moisè.

Bear in mind while planning your Venezia stay that your comfortable home-from-home hideaway – and the Violino d’Oro Hotel is easily that – lies within an easy five-minute walk to Piazzo Saint Marco, with its famous Campanile and exquisite architecture of the Palazzo Ducale and Basilica di San Marco. The Ponte de Rialto is a mere eleven minutes away, with two minutes shaved off that time to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Even the unbelievably historic Arsenale di Venezia at the extreme east of the city is only twenty-five minutes of shoe leather away – and did you know the Venetian shipbuilders could construct a large warship in a day? Forget Henry Ford inventing mass production – the Arsenale shipyard had perfected it in the fourteenth century.

However, if you want to save your stamina for Veneziano cicchetti or (in Venetian) cichéti (think tapas) accompanied by delicious and local Venissa white wine, purchase a week’s worth of ACTV Vaporetto time on a card or phone. This marvellous transportation system is your local and highly efficient bus (on water) service that will open up easy and frequent access to all the main islands – Murano, Le Vignole, Giudecca, the famous Lido, and, of course, the whole perimeter and internal canals of the main Venezia islands.

After a day of sightseeing, let us hop off at the nearest Vaporetto bus stop to our hotel at San Marco-Vallaresso. You feel excited about seeing your comfortable home again. But why is that?

Let us find out why and explore the wonderful world of Violino d’Oro.

Two words describe the hotel: exceptional quality – of the people, services, food, drink and every item within each room and nook and cranny – it oozes a quiet, sophisticated and elegant wow factor.

Sara and Elena Maestrelli manage their business, Collezione Em – the “Em” celebrating their grandfather, Egiziano Maestrelli. Located in Firenze are the Grand Hotel Minerva and the Brunelleschi Hotel, which has the celebrated Ristorante Santa Elisabetta; and in Forte dei Marmi, the Villa Roma Imperiale and, in 2025, the rebirth of Pensione America; and what everyone was waiting for in November 2023, the grand opening of the Venezia’s best five-star Violino d’Oro Hotel.

Sara, who has a background in philosophy and neuroscience and her aunt, Elena, searched for over six years to find suitable premises in Venezia for their hotel vision. Having seen what they wanted, they worked closely with their architect, Piera Tempesti Benelli, to skillfully design an easy-flowing hotel plan, encompassing seven categories of thirty-two bedrooms, suites, lounges, reception, kitchen and ancillary rooms – no mean feat considering the complexities of combining three run-down 17th-century palazzi that were adjoining three- and four-star redundant hotels.

The Maestrellis continued their philosophies of ensuring each of their Collezione Em has its inherent location character when designing each element of the Violino d’Oro – hence when in Venezia, be Venezia or as close to it as possible.

Every detail of the hotel was considered to ensure it had the highest quality Venetian- and Italian-made interior building elements, furnishings and object d’art that have made Violino d’Oro unique. The fascinating and extensive mix of beautiful objects shouts in the most discreet way that their clients are surrounded by and treated to the best, but in a cosy and snug environment – one of the main goals of Sara and Elena.

The Violino d’Oro is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World – an accolade that brings immense pride to the band of friendly, welcoming and easily approachable staff. The award reflects the tireless work of the affable but ultra-efficient Annabella Carriello, who exudes inviting Venetian hospitality by the bucket load within a hotel of timeless style but contemporary genius. Her previous position was running the Hotel Vilòn in Rome, and now, she loves ensuring the Violino d’Oro runs like well-oiled clockwork. Most of all, she gains oodles of job satisfaction by providing her clients with memorable and stunning memories that guarantee their return to her home-from-home hotel.

So, let us delve into the feast of visual, culinary and liquid treats waiting for the clients of the Violino d’Oro when they experience the diverse mix of interior building finishes, room fabrics, furniture, glass and table elements lovingly created by brilliant artisans working between Venezia and Toscana.

When you first enter the Violino d’Oro, remember that the Maestrellis always focus on environmental and social sustainability by selecting as many products crafted by local artisans that last and are made in the Venezia area from quality natural and sustainable resources.

Underfoot, at the start of your journey into the hotel, is the beginning of an extensive hand-laid floor that took over nine months to craft. Since 1927, Ermino Asin’s family of Venezia began laying seminato flooring by hand – magnificent creations composed of a mixture of marble pebbles from the Carrara quarries in varying shades of white and dark green together with cement onto which decorations emerge using different coloured marbles. Ermino’s pièce de resistance, or should it be, pezzo forte, is seen in the ornate designs of the hotel’s il Piccolo restaurant – each pattern required over two hours of assembly before being carefully positioned in the floor’s surface.

Next, there is a treat for your eyes from seeing not one but three prominent glittering examples of the 1958 Brussel’s Expo prize-winning Poledri from Venezia – a stunning polyhedron design chandelier by Gardella, Paolo Venini and Vignelli.

Relax in the evening with your favourite book and read it next to a timeless Pipistrello table lamp dotted around the hotel – a 1965 Gae Aulenti design displayed in Olivetti shops in Paris and Buenos Aires.

Filling the Violino d’Oro for your enjoyment is the epitome of home furnishings of the highest quality and detail crafted by meticulous Florentine artisans. Sara and Elena chose every coffee table, lamp and dining table for their superior colour and materials in collaboration with Simone and Vittoria Marioni, whose business was founded in 1966 by the late Paolo Marioni.

While enjoying your evening meal or coffee at il Piccolo or the il Piccolo Bar, imagine being back in 1735 – what was it like when Marquis Carlo Andrea Ginori set up his porcelain factory in Florence? The exquisite beauty of the plates and cups you use, supplied by Richard Ginori, is the legacy of over 300 years of traditional porcelain crafting heritage.

Assia Palavicino, who studied decorative arts at the prestigious Van Der Kelen Logelaine Painting School, has created many gorgeous paintings and wall decorations for Violino d’Oro, imagining hidden and intimate gardens.

If you’re wondering where all the golden violins originated, visit Tornabuoni Art in Florence, founded by Roberto Cassamonti in 1981.

Take a moment to admire the care taken over the frames and bins in your room, crafted by Giovanni, the founder’s grandson, and Lorenzo Baccani in Florence, a business begun in 1903.

Besides enjoying your beautifully Francesco-crafted aperitivo of spirits, bitters and prosecco in the il Piccolo bar, appreciate sitting next to the iconic Giorgio Cattelan brushed brass layered Amerigo coffee tables in the rooms, lounges and il Piccolo bar.

This time, imagine Venice in 1781, frequented by Vivaldi, Goldoni and the inimitable Giacomo Casanova when Giovanni Paolo Rubelli became a member of the Arte dei Mercanti della Seta in Venezia and opened his fabric shop. Centuries later, Rubelli traditional velvets and broccati are present throughout Violino d’Oro – you may be sitting on them, or your head is snuggled into a soft pillow or against a grand headboard, or beside Rubelli fabric curtains – with every single piece 100% woven in the grand city of canals.

Every time you see an incredible view from Violino d’Oro, it will be via windows exclusively crafted by Lunardelli for the hotel – a Venezia family company founded in 1967 that also built your bedroom wardrobes.

Okay, we confess: the Viennese Gebruder Thonet company is not Italian, but it does produce its furniture in Italy. This Austrian company brought you the iconic curved lacquered beech bar stools you are sitting on sipping your Francesco Adragna’s unique Doge’s Fizz. However, the furniture has been allowed into the Violino d’Oro’s bar, together with Thonet’s wood and cane furniture, since they are now skilfully constructed in Turin – which is more Italian.

You are salivating over the delicious aromas emanating from your lobster tagliatelle placed in front of you, created to embrace the “piccole emozioni” – little emotions. Before using your beautifully gilded and silvered knife, fork and spoon (for a mind-blowing dessert), notice the logo – you are holding works of art by Broggi, based in Passirano, near Brescia in Italy – a company begun in 1818 in Milan, serving the royal court of Turin and a plethora of stylish tables.

Walk into the exclusive nine-table il Piccolo restaurant and be greeted by Ginori plates, soft Rubelli velvet pillows and Forme in Arte stuccoes, plaster decorations and statues. There, you will find a painted forest with Paolo Ferracci’s superb plaster roses, peonies, cherry blossoms and fluttering butterflies.

Satisfaction is guaranteed from the restaurant’s offerings, starting with a hearty breakfast, then scrumptious and mouth-watering cicchetti – a significant part of Venezia’s cuisine, featuring yummy meats, seafood and vegetables. And, for vegetarians, there are fresh vegetables from Sant’Erasmo Island. Finally, you must sample the vast variety of fresh fish and seafood from the Laguna di Venezia.

So… here we are.

You have had a soupçon or, in Italian, an ombra of what makes Violino d’Oro tick and flourish.

Unquestionably, you will want to stay at Violino d’Oro, so take some time to investigate the unforgettable rooms, suites and facilities here.

When the sad time arrives to leave your Violino d’Oro hotel, remember to say goodbye to the Golden Violin, since – based on guest return visits – you will, undoubtedly, want to say,’ Ciao, Violino d’Oro, siamo tornate’… ‘Hello, Golden Violin, we’re back!’.

Written by Peter Sissons

Photography courtesy of Collezione Em © 2024

A: Violino d’Oro Hotel, S. Marco, 2091, 30124 Venezia (Italy)
T: +39 041 277 0841
E: Information
E: Booking