Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort ★★★★★L

“To build a city where it is impossible: to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius.” - Alexander Herzen.

Arriving in Venice makes me fall in love with life all over again. It's easy to forget how spectacularly amazing life can be, we humans too, and the things we make and do. Well, if you find yourself in a disinterested serotonin slump, I can only recommend Venice. Add Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort and you'll have loved ones calling for you to come down from cloud nine. Venice truly is a phenomenon full of breathtakingly beautiful scenes. Grand stretches of sea and petite canals reflect some of the best architecture in Europe, from marble palaces to terraced houses the colour of burnt earth. Gondolas remind us of a more natural pace of life, and to top it all off, Venice is populated with that spirited tribe of people, Italians. Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort is one of the city's finest hotels; set on the seven-mile long, the Venice Lido, with views of the city skyline and the Adriatic sea, this establishment affords guests a level of tranquillity impossible to find from within in the city. Even better for dreaming!

“Is it worthwhile to observe that there are no Venetian blinds in Venice?” - William Dean Howells.

Touché. Especially not in the Hotel Excelsior. This is more a sweeping curtains adorning floor-to-ceiling-windows type of establishment. The vast grand halls with their arched top windows and white gossamer fabric let the light and spectacular view flood in. It's a crystal chandelier and ornate stucco plastering kind of place. I can confirm I saw not one Venetian blind. What I did see was a 19th-century heritage façade, built in the spirit of an earlier golden period of Venetian architecture, as well as beautiful parquet flooring, sophisticated dining halls, and cosy lounges with mahogany bars. Outside, I found a beautiful terrace with panoramic views, exotic gardens, banana palms and manicured flower beds accompanying paths through the grounds. There were plenty of shady spots or sun traps to sit with a drink and take in the views, and sunbeds on the private beach and poolside for reclining even further!

“A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.” - Arthur Symons.

Rooms at the hotel have a distinctive Moorish design. It felt like an ode to the sea-faring, outward looking explorers that this city sent forth to new lands. I loved the exotic shapes and curves of the furniture, yet how the neutral colours kept the room calm and tranquil. The décor was luxurious but not ostentatious, and let the view from the window and terrace take centre stage. The Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido Resort is a dream within a dream!