Hotel Palazzo Stern

Hotel Palazzo Stern offers a remote and stylish Venetian experience in a refurbished old palazzo on the Grand Canal. With elegant interior design, canal-view terraces, and rooftop Jacuzzi, it blends Venice's romance with modern comfort. Its compact size and sleek atmosphere make it a tempting sanctuary for visitors who seek authenticity as well as peace in the city's center.

Location & Arrival

Palazzo Stern is situated in the best of Dorsoduro locations, overlooking the Grand Canal with the vaporetto stop at Ca' Rezzonico a few hundred feet away. The Accademia Bridge is within walking distance, and Piazza San Marco is a ten-minute walk. The location puts visitors within reach of principal works of art such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Gallerie dell'Accademia, and the Ca' Rezzonico museum, yet maintains a more relaxed canal-front environment.

Their visitors typically arrive at the hotel's private jetty by water bus, or take the Alilaguna shuttle route to Ca' Rezzonico, which is beside the hotel. Tourists arriving at the Santa Lucia station can take vaporetto transfers to Ca' Rezzonico or request a private boat pickup. The hotel's dual access—canal and pedestrian—gives flexibility in arrival styles.

History & Building Character

Palazzo Stern is accommodated in what was the old Palazzetto Stern, a neogothic building rebuilt early in the 20th century by the Stern family in cooperation with earlier Venetian foundations. Its exterior shows Gothic and Venetian themes, and the hotel interior includes restored frescoes, mosaics, period furnishings, and art objects gathered over generations. Combination of Moorish, Gothic, and Art Nouveau styles in this structure creates a unique character, honoring its past while remaining an upscale boutique hotel.

Rooms & Interior Ambience

The hotel has some 24 rooms, some of which enjoy panoramic views of the Grand Canal. The rooms are individually decorated in Venetian style: highly patterned textiles, dark wood highly polished, Murano glass table lamps, antique mirrors, and paintings. Superior and junior suites often enjoy enormous windows overlooking the canal, allowing light, movement, and refractions into the room.

Each accommodation has modern amenities—air conditioning, free high-speed internet, satellite television, minibar, safe, and coffee/tea-making facilities. Suites include balconies in some, and vaulted ceilings or period decorative features in some rooms. Bathrooms are typically fitted with marble or tile, luxury toiletries, and in higher categories, facilities such as whirlpool baths or spa showers.

Amenities & Guest Services

Palazzo Stern matches its boutique atmosphere with a ground garden and canalside terrace at the back for relaxation and breakfast, and at roof level a terrace equipped with Jacuzzi bathtubs for guests to unwind and enjoy elevated views above rooftops and church domes. Breakfast daily à la carte or buffet, and in good weather also on the canalside terrace.

Reception operates around the clock, providing personalized concierge services, tour bookings, help with water-taxi or vaporetto transfers, luggage storage, and room service. The hotel also supports accessibility features, non-smoking rooms, and tailored assistance for special guest requests. The small scale enables staff to deliver bespoke and discreet care.

Guest Impressions & Reputation

Visitors consistently praise Palazzo Stern for its better location, calm atmosphere, and degree of staff service. They all emphasize the pleasure of breakfast on the balcony overlooking the canal and the sense of riverside tranquility in close proximity to Venice's most crowded attractions. Rooms with canal views are often noted by tourists as especially in demand.

A few guest reviews mention periodic room size constraints or inconstancy between bathroom configurations; occasional canal traffic is mentioned for front-facing rooms. However, general opinion is one of contentment: many guests comment that the hotel exceeds expectations for a Venice boutique stay, with value, sophistication, and memorable atmosphere.

Conclusion

For travelers seeking a character-filled Venetian boutique experience with elegance, views of the water, and sophisticated intimacy, Hotel Palazzo Stern is an elegant option. Its restored palace setting, balconies overlooking the canals, and attentive service combine to offer a Venice experience that is sophisticated and intimate—a fine launching ground for the city's art, its canals, and its hidden sophistication.