Grand Hotel dei Dogi

Tucked away in the heart of Cannaregio, the most unspoilt area of Venice the beautiful and sumptuously decorated Grand Hotel dei Dogi is a recent and exciting addition to the city's hotel scene. The building housed the French Embassy during the 17th-century and became a convent in the 19th. It has an extraordinarily peaceful garden whose original landscaping, with fountains and rose bushes, has been lovingly restored by horticultural historians from the nearby University of Padua. Bedrooms have inlaid wooden doors, huge antique mirrors, and 18th-century frescoed walls and ceilings, but still manage to offer a wide range of modern comforts.