Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart hosted a concert among its salons in 1771, during his first trip to Italy; Frederick Christian IV, King of Denmark, stayed in its gilded bedrooms in 1709; the third-to-last doge of Venice, Marco Foscarini, had settled in the palazzo before becoming the city’s head.
When it reopened earlier this summer, as a five-star boutique hotel following a full revamp, Palazzo Giovanelli was back to its old splendor, imbued with the mystique of its famed past — the secrets it treasured for centuries as much a part of the experience as its new tailor-made hospitality offering.
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“We want to welcome guests to the palazzo, not just a hotel,” said Angelica Semenzato, a second-generation member of the family who has owned the property since 2007. She oversees the hospitality business with her brother Oliviero.
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The family has sought to reframe the 16th-century property located in the San Stae district and overlooking the Grand Canal, Venice’s main water-traffic corridor, into a gateway to a more intimate and culturally rooted Venetian experience.
Not just compared to its previous incarnation as a mid-range hotel since 2010, also run by the family, but also relative to what else the city has to offer.
Venice is a peculiar beast when it comes to hospitality. It trades heavily on location, wowing guests with postcard-perfect settings, not always accompanied by the truly modern and flawless experience international high-end tourists have come to expect.
At the same time, major hospitality players are scooping up prestige venues — as is the case with the recently renovated Danieli Venezia, a Four Seasons Hotel.
Semenzato sees it as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Venice’s hotel landscape is changing radically — and quickly — with the arrival of major international groups. For us, that is a stimulating challenge. What gives us confidence is our history and our point of view, which we believe set us apart from large brands that often deliver a more standardized, and perhaps more impersonal, service,” she contended.
“With just a few rooms, we can afford the luxury of being highly attentive, tailor-made and flexible, with the ability to respond immediately to any guest’s needs. Service personalization and hands-on presence will make the difference. So will our deep local roots and distinctly Venetian identity, our understanding of the local mindset,” she enthused.
The hotel’s revamp, curated by the Lugano, Switzerland-based Studio Gascón design firm, required about three years and was carried out across several installments.
The palace is under the tutelage of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice. The family couldn’t — and didn’t want to — compromise on execution. Venturing into such a challenging endeavor, it sought to preserve the palace’s original charm while improving the overall customer journey.
Tucked away from the busiest tourist spots, the palazzo reveals intricate stuccoes, puteals, frescoes by artist Giovanni Battista Zelotti, polychrome marbles and Venetian terrazzo floors, all restored by local artisans, as well as period furnishings and fine fabrics brought back to their old splendor.
It took an outsider’s view to convince Semenzato and her family to embrace the upscale push.
When the family’s patriarch, Luciano Semenzato, an entrepreneur in the railway superstructure business, acquired the property, he crowned his hospitality dream. In the 1990s, he invested in a 19th-century Venetian villa set within a park outside the city of Treviso, turning it into the Park Hotel Bolognese Villa Pace, which is still in business. But his dream of opening even more prestigious locations didn’t wane, his daughter observed.
In 2022, the then four-star Palazzo Giovanelli hired a new general manager, Nicolino Grigio, a seasoned hotel executive with previous experiences at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, Italy, and the Hotel Splendide Royal in Rome, among others.
He was awed by the property and suggested it could meaningfully add to Venice’s luxury hospitality space. Angelica Semenzato was persuaded.
“The hotel is deeply rooted in classicism; it’s filled with light, elegance and brightness. Our goal is to attract a highly refined luxury clientele that can understand and appreciate the historic value of the palazzo, providing them with an exceptionally high level of service,” Semenzato said. “It’s all about harnessing the true Italian vision of hospitality and culture,” she said.
The hotel has 33 rooms, down from 41 in its previous incarnation, including suites and premium and junior suites overlooking the Grand Canal. The first floor can be reserved entirely by families or group of friends, as all rooms are communicating.
Decor and interior design choices were all intended to let the space breathe, almost camouflaging against the opulence of the building, which was erected for the Cavalli noble family and later acquired by the aristocratic Foscarini, Giunti and Giovanelli families.
“We’ve completely redesigned it in a way that preserves the hotel’s elegance and original character, from its color palette to its spatial flow,” Semenzato said.
“Venice cannot be designed: It must be listened to. Every Venetian palace holds an ancient voice that demands respect, vision and delicacy. This was our approach to Palazzo Giovanelli from the very beginning,” said Gabriele Gascón, founder of the namesake studio.
The ground floor was the latest portion of the hotel to be renovated, with final touches added just in time for the reopening last July. In addition to the reception area, it boasts the new cocktail lounge “Do Grifoni” flanked by a champagnerie, as well as the new restaurant Armonico.
The latter is curated by chef Ennio Interlenghi, a longtime collaborator of the Semenzatos, who has conceived a menu rooted in seasonal produce and ingredients as well as simple dishes hinged on the Venetian culinary tradition.
The Semenzatos are betting that the hotel’s unique ethos can win over the international wealthy pack.
“We are targeting a cosmopolitan guest who values luxury — which is central to our positioning — but who also appreciates culture…who is curious and looking for an experience that is not simply about showing off, but about understanding a place and truly living it,” Semenzato said.
To this end, Palazzo Giovanelli is to provide a range of exclusive experiences tied to local arts and crafts, including visits and workshops dedicated to textilemaking at Tessiture Bevilacqua, glassmaking at Vetreria Venier, Mazzega 1946, and lacework at Dalla Lidia Merletti D’Arte in Burano.