A Venetian palace remade as a hip boutique hotel.
Most recently the headquarters of a naval transport company before it shut down, the Venetian Palazzo Ca’ Molin has been revived as a boutique hotel, newly named as Il Palazzo Experimental.
Developed by the Experimental Group, the palace’s transformation was spearheaded by the group’s talented design partner, French interior designer Dorothee Meilichzon.
Consisting of 32 rooms, a cocktail bar and a restaurant, Meilichzon curated a design language that respects and reinforces the palace’s Venetian Gothic elements, while mixing in her signature style. Inspired by existing curved windows and carved window heads, the hotel is a layered pastiche of rounded motifs, as expressed in Luciano Vistosi’s mushroom Murano glass table lamps and scalloped edge paintwork found throughout the establishment. Meilichzon took the opportunity to weave in Venetian craftsmanship, with details like marble terrazzo scarpa flooring, treating the walls with Marmorino and imbuing the place with a sunstrewn palette of terracotta, sky blue and pale green.
White banquettes and booths with bordeaux velvet seats, marble dining tables and ceramic mosaic walls handcrafted by Botteganove are artfully assembled in a high-ceilinged dining hall that is now the hotel’s restaurant, Il Ristorante Adriatica. Guests can look forward to the authentic Italian fare, using locally sourced ingredients, that’s prepared by chef Attilio Franzoi of London’s Italian Supper Club fame.
Milan-based architectdesigner Cristina Celestino was appointed to design the cocktail bar – and the group’s first Italian outpost of their well-known Experimental Cocktail Club. Its laid-back nature is fleshed out with a lush custom-designed regimental inlaid carpet by Besana Carpet Lab, and paired with brass and antique mirror-topped coffee tables, as well as pink velvet poufs by Attico Design, Celestino’s line of products.
Facing the picturesque Giudecca Canal, from which guests arrive, it seems like the third life’s the charm for this remade palazzo. Il Palazzo Experimental is located at Fondamenta Zattere, Al Ponte Lungo 1412, 30123 Venice.
Visit www.palazzoexperimental.com.
Guests can partake in delicious Italian fare prepared with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients at the hotel’s Ristorante Adriatica.
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The hotel’s back garden, where breakfast, tea and early evening drinks are served.
