Pensione Accademia, Venice, Italy
Pensione Accademia 3 Stars
"Venice's best kept secret - a well-priced, charming, 17th-century palace with enchanting gardens, located near the Grand Canal."
Hotel Overview
Review of Pensione Accademia, by The TI Review Team
By TI Reviewer Caitlyn Ulbert
Pensione Accademia is the perfect honeymoon hotel. Overlooking the Grand Canal, guests can choose to arrive in picture-perfect fashion, by gondala, after a busy day soaking up the sights of Venice. The air of romance is apparent soon after crossing the threshold (ornate, Gothic black gates), into the manicured grounds, filled to bursting as they are with exotic flowers and antiquated statues.
These gardens are as much an amenity as what's contained within - there's plenty of space for outdoor lounging, which provides a welcome reprieve from the teaming Venetian streets. Inside, the Pensione Accedemia is all hardwood floors and mahogany furniture, which plenty of sumptuous fabrics and delicate paintings thrown in for good measure.
Staff are upbeat and welcoming, quickly establishing themselves as guests' personal city experts. Whether it's a fabulous dinner, quirky shop or must-see museum, they are willing to go that extra mile. They're also quick to introduce the collection of artworks and antiques scattered throughout the hotel.
The Pensione Accademia has no formal restaurant, but it does boast a quaint bar that serves complimentary tea every afternoon, alongside a selection of wine, beer and cocktails. Wireless internet and a computer station are on hand too, just in case the lure of the email is too much even for this, the most antiquated of cities.
All 27 rooms are individually styled, and are both comfortable and charming. Choose a room with a Grand Canal view for a truly amorous stay, and spend an idle afternoon watching the gondalas float past the window. The rooms are light and airy, simply furnished with sketches of St Mark's Square hanging about the bed, little chandeliers above and more antique furniture.
Facilities
Rooms
27Who stays here?
This hotel is the perfect romantic getaway for honeymooners and couples alike.Come for...
- Two delightful perennial gardens
- Peace and quiet
- Great value
- The garden rooms
Not Suitable for...
- The disorganised - it is so popular, you need to book at least a year in advance
Children
The hotel welcomes children. Interconnecting rooms are available for families, and a babysitting service can be arranged, with prior notice.Eating in
There is no restaurant but a full breakfast buffet is served every morning in the garden.The Press Say
"Few Venetian hotels have any outside space, but the Accademia has terraces both front and back." Telegraph 08Reviews
Review of Pensione Accademia, by The Hotel Inspector
Still one of the best loved hotels in Venice, the Pensione Accademia continues to exert its considerable charm on a stream of contented guests. Despite recent modernisations such as sliding front doors and air conditioning, both the hotel and its staff have the knack of making guests feel like travellers from another, more genteel, age rather than modern-day tourists.
The Accademia's privileged canalside location is both convenient and calm, but what really distinguishes the pensione is its gardens the large canal-side patio, where tables are scattered among plants in classical urns, and the grassy rear garden where roses and fruit trees flourish. Built in the 17th century as a private mansion, Villa Maravege retains touches of grandeur, and most of the furnishings are classically Venetian (the Murano chandeliers for once tasteful and harmonious).
Perfect for sitting and relaxing is the finely furnished first floor landing, while the bedrooms have inlaid wooden floors and antiqued mirrors. The airy breakfast room has crisp white tablecloths and a beamed ceiling; but, weather permitting, guests will inevitably opt to start their day in the garden. A recent visitor told us she wished the staff were friendlier: is this fair?
Copyright Charming Small Hotels
Review of Pensione Accademia, by Jamie Dunford Wood
The Pensione Accademia, a delightful rambling patrician 16th-century palace with its own docking point in Venice, is just a few steps from the Grand Canal. The hotel is owned and managed by the Salmaso family, who also have the Ala and the Do Pozzi.
The Pensione Accademia has been long feted by the guidebooks, and you can see why: the hotel is blessed with not just one garden but two. They are full of people lazing under banana trees reading Howards End, just too happy to be there to be bothered to traipse around. The garden in the back is full of roses and deckchairs, with a delightful ivy-clad arbour leading to a small fountain, while statuary graces the front. Breakfast is taken here in fine weather.
The 29 rooms at the Pensione Accademia are done in Venetian style, with antique furnishings, cool, plain walls, good-looking framed prints, parquet floors, and little Venetian chandeliers. Perhaps the best rooms to book are in the garden, if you are not on too much of a budget.