Of the hundreds of palazzi lining Venice's canals, only eight earn the title palazzi monumentali — and Aman occupies one of them. Set on the Grand Canal in the quieter San Polo sestiere, the 16th-century Palazzo Papadopoli has belonged to the same noble family, the Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga, for over a century. And the count and countess still live above those beautiful Tiepolo ceilings! This was Aman's first Italian outpost (opened in 2013), and the interiors are pure Jean-Michel Gathy: pared-back, considered, and completely in harmony with all the Baroque excess. Completely the entirely luxurious picture are 24 exquisite suites, two private gardens, and a team who learn your coffee order overnight.
The piano nobile (the sweeping first floor) is where it all happens. There's Arva restaurant, a homage to Italy's culinary heritage, in the Red and Yellow dining rooms with their Tiepolo painted ceilings and silk, gold-toned walls. The kitchen sources daily from the Rialto markets a few minutes' walk away. In The Bar, you'll find city's largest gin selection, a wink at Lord Byron who once lived around the corner, and outside, there's the water-side Grand Canal Garden for alfresco bites in summer. Elsewhere, there's a small but fabulous spa, a rooftop terrace that peers across the city's terracotta roofs, and the two gardens that feel almost yours alone.
There are 24 rooms and suites, divided between the main palazzo and an 18th-century annex overlooking the garden. The five signature suites are the showstoppers and you may find yourself sleeping beneath an original Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ceiling fresco, or beside a 16th-century Sansovino fireplace. Otherwise, even the classic rooms are a spacious 45 square metres (the largest in the city) and the polished terrazzo floors and Gathy's pared-back aesthetic let the elaborate Baroque architecture do the talking. On the fourth floor, The Coccina's Apartment is a stunning Venetian home accessed by a private lift, and sleeping six guests.
If you're staying here, take advantage of Aman's selection of curated experiences. From mask making sessions and private, after-hours tours of some of the most iconic sights to workshops with the city's master perfumers and early-hours market visits with the chefs, each is designed to immerse you in Venice's modern - and historic - glories in a way that not many others can. If you prefer to explore on your own terms, Rialto Bridge is an 800-metre stroll away and St Mark's a short pedestrian wander beyond. The hotel's water taxi will also whisk you anywhere in the lagoon, from dawn floats through the back canals to glassblowing visits on Murano.
The two private gardens — vanishingly rare in this city of stone and water — including one that opens straight onto the Grand Canal. Yours for breakfast, aperitivi, or simply hiding away from the world for a moment.
Pick a garden-facing suite over a canal-front one. Canal rooms come with a passing-boat soundtrack; the garden rooms are silent, considerably cheaper, and you'll see the Grand Canal at breakfast anyway.
Those after wall-to-wall gilded extravagance may find Aman's signature restraint a touch austere.
A slowly sinking city where gondolas glide along a labyrinth of enchanting canals.
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