Palazzina G, a designer hotel in Venice

PALAZZINA G

Architecture PHILIPPE STARCK  /  Interior Design PHILIPPE STARCK

PalazzinaG, a Venetian hotel on the Grand Canal in a historic 16th-century building, has retained the aura and charm of a Venetian aristocratic house. Its interiors were renovated by renowned French designer Philippe Starck at the request of owner Emanuele Garoschi. The intriguing world of glass, mirrors, sculptures, vintage decorations and rare books — this is what the renovated hotel looks like.

Traditional Venetian design elements, such as exposed brickwork, are combined with contemporary design pieces, including transparent glass cabinets and decorative Murano glass works created by Aristide Najan especially for the hotel.

The rooms are extraordinarily decorated: several large mirrors in each, warm lighting, Venetian wood floors, natural stone bathrooms, and custom-made furniture. Guests also have access to a restaurant and bar decorated with works of art and a private club with beautiful views of the Grand Canal.

The hotel offers 6 apartments and 16 rooms, as well as unique services, including boat transportation to the hotel with check-in directly at the pier, or breakfast anytime, anywhere in the hotel building. This allows guests to stroll through the halls of Palazzina Grassi and enjoy its unique décor, rare books, and works of art.

y Philippe :

Palazzina G by Philippe Starck:

“In the epicenter of Venice, on the Grand Canal, PalazzinaG has the atmosphere of a home full of charm and vitality, steeped in history, where guests can experience the melancholy grandeur of the city like true Venetians. Privacy, flexibility, luxury, and elegance are the fundamental elements of this exclusive property, designed by Philippe Starck. With no reception desk at the entrance area, a personalized check in marks the beginning of the tailor-made service guests can expect throughout their stay. The fa?ade of the three-story hotel is a classical 16th-century shell, behind which generations of noble and haute-bourgeois families lived. Classical references abound, and the 15 rooms and 7 suite apartments are characterized by a marriage of contemporary and romantic design—highlighted by unique furnishings, glassworks from French artist Aristide Najean, and sophisticated collector’s items.

ARCHITECTURE

Sitting gracefully on the edge of the Grand Canal for over half a millennium, PalazzinaG is an impressive specimen. The first hotel in Italy designed by multifarious originator Philippe Starck, it pays homage to its historical aesthetic roots but offers up a new life and vision as well. The commitment to maintaining the classical skeleton extends to a restored central colonnade and modernized columns throughout the building, which is otherwise taken to extremes in abstraction and geometry, contrasting rigid contemporary standards with those similarly rigid classical elements. Its 22 rooms of course boast canal views, and most elements in the hotel are made to measure by the French designer extraordinaire. Each guest is invited to experience his or her ideal of luxury with 24-hour service aimed to fulfill desires and bring the fantasy of Venetian life to fruition.

INTERIOR DESIGN

The decorative elements and materials generally used around the PalazzinaG, made from the most exquisite of Venetian traditions of craftsmanship, such as deep mahogany, rich bricks and ‘terrazzo’, melt into the elegance and fluidity of the contemporary design where they are entrenched and smoothly integrated.

For all of PalazzinaG’s contemporary touches and inspired luxurious corners, designer-extraordinaire Philippe Starck makes sure that guests never lose site of the fact that are in an ancient palazzo in the heart of one of the world’s great cities, a city throbbing with the echoes of passionately melancholy grandeur.”