VENICE TREASURE: CHARMING AND UBER CLEAN
It would be easy to overthink this one. Arriving in Venice for a stay at a small hotel that featured soaring ceilings, antiques throughout and no elevator (not a complaint), we stepped into our designated room and the scent, well, wasn’t fresh. Having written endless articles for a pest control company I instructed my traveling companion not to set her bags on the bed or floor while I stretched back the bedding from the foot of the bed to discover visible bedbugs marching around the seam of the mattress.
We lugged our rolling bags down the steep stairs and called out to find the lone woman manager advising her we were leaving having found the nasty critters in our room. She insisted we lug our bags back up the stairs to the adjacent room, muttering something about having taken care of the blood-thirsty biters with an annual spray and us being Americans. The second room was a no-go for the same reason and we took a fourth cruise down the long stairway with our bags and out the door.
My companion had traveled Italy and Venice baker’s dozens of times and suggested we head toward Pensione Accademia, across the footbridge and somewhere off to the right. She doubled down with good things to say about the place, all of which were exponentially reaffirmed when we charged the lobby.
We caught the last two rooms. The cost: reasonable. And no matter…at that juncture, didn’t matter so much to us.
Pensione Accademia is, like most of Venice, thick with history. Called Villa Maravege (“marvels”), it was built in the 17th Century as a patrician’s residence and served as the Russian embassy from 1783 to 1797. Between the two Great Wars, this address was a consulate.
Featured in LuxLife Magazine’s “Best Global Boutique Hotel Guide 2024”, the hotel delivers privacy and convenience. On the front lawn, grapevines arch across a perfected room size trellis with plush seating, an afternoon cocktail refuge with a view of a slice of the Grand Canal—all very social media snap-worthy.
Frommers.com reports that in 1951, Raffaele and Giuseppe Salmaso adopted Venice with a dream to transform this humble spot into one of Venice’s best. Distinguished returning guests include the Dukes of Kent, director Marcello Mastroianni, former Prime Minister Mario Monti, and Nobel Prize-winning writer Joseph Brodsky who mentions the Pensione Accademia in some of his works. The hotel was featured in 2003’s The Italian Job plus other films and TV series.
Classic tapestries drape the walls and antiques fill the space at Fondamenta Bollani 1058-30123 Venezia. Each room features WiFi, UBS ports and air conditioning. Amenities abound. In 2018, the hotel was recognized by the Association of Historical Places of Italy.
The physical plant is glorious and the staff top tier. Of course, we got that when we showed up without reservations and the manager of the front desk remembered my traveling companion by name. The staff, each one, is passionate about guests’ wants, ever ready to serve.
And I cannot overlook the number of reviews of Pensione Accademia that reference its pristine cleanliness. Read more at: https://www.pensioneaccademia.it/en