Few Venetian hotels have enjoyed the social life of the Danieli, which has welcomed the glitterati to its palazzi on the Riva degli Schiavoni since 1822. Maria Callas met Aristotle Onassis at a party here in 1957, and Eleonora Duse and Gabriele D’Annunzio’s affair began within its rooms decades earlier. Reopened as a Four Seasons hotel in July 2026, the address received the discerning attention of Pierre-Yves Rochon (also responsible for the refreshed interiors of the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris), whose renovation preserves its gilded ceilings and Murano chandeliers while introducing the pale blues and greens of the lagoon outside.
Check-in now takes place in the Sala delle Maschere, a former events room where restored panelling and a frieze of theatrical masks surround paintings of carnival festivities and life along the Riva degli Schiavoni.
Wallpaper* checks in at Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel
What’s on your doorstep?
With the Doge’s Palace just across the Ponte della Paglia and Piazza San Marco a few moments away, the Danieli makes exploring Venice on foot wonderfully straightforward, allowing guests to slip out after breakfast or return between exhibitions without consulting a boat timetable. The Riva degli Schiavoni is busy, certainly, but the convenience is considerable, particularly compared with the lagoon’s island hotels, where a visit to this side of the city requires a crossing. Carlo Scarpa admirers are particularly well placed: his Negozio Olivetti is nearby on Piazza San Marco, while a walk inland towards Campo Santa Maria Formosa leads to the Fondazione Querini Stampalia, where his reworking of the palazzo’s ground floor and garden brings canal water into intricate arrangements of stone, concrete and mosaic.
Who is behind the design?
The Danieli occupies three interconnected palazzi, beginning with Palazzo Dandolo, built for the aristocratic Dandolo family and converted into a hotel by Giuseppe Dal Niel in 1822. Subsequent expansions incorporated Palazzo Casa Nuova, formerly the Venetian Republic’s Treasury, and the post-war Palazzo Danieli Excelsior. Under the supervision of the Soprintendenza, Italy’s heritage authority, Rochon’s studio adapted the buildings’ protected floor plans to accommodate dressing areas, enlarged bathrooms and additional suites. Palazzo Dandolo and Palazzo Casa Nuova have reopened with 120 rooms and suites between them, with the total due to reach 168 when Palazzo Danieli Excelsior’s restoration concludes in 2027.
‘We chose materials rooted in Venetian history and craft: Murano glass, terrazzo seminato alla veneziana, Italian marbles, Venetian mirror and woven damasks,’ says Rochon, explaining that each had to ‘extend the vocabulary of the palazzi and work with the light’. On entering Palazzo Dandolo, the eye is immediately drawn towards an azure ceiling patterned with gilded quatrefoils, its hand-painted decoration restored by specialist craftspeople who have also attended to the columns, stonework and floors below. The grand staircase continues the elaborate introduction, with gilded stuccowork and ornamental detailing accompanying the ascent.
The lobby lounge retains its pastel Murano chandeliers and restored roundel-glass windows, while a large painting of Venice now hangs at the entrance opposite a mirrored screen. The historic reception counter and key cabinet have also been relocated within the rearranged public rooms. Across the interiors, textiles from Rubelli and Dedar accompany bespoke furniture by Poliform, Medea and Salda, with mirrors and lighting by Arte Veneziana and Viamancinelli. The decorative collection includes intaglios, Venetian engravings and antiqued mirrors, drawing on the collecting habits of Grand Tour travellers.
The room to book
The renovation has increased the number of junior and one-bedroom suites, introducing generous living areas and dressing rooms while enlarging bathrooms wherever the historic fabric permitted. Several suites connect to adjoining bedrooms, allowing families or guests travelling together to expand their accommodation, with layouts that also provide space for dining and working.
A lagoon-view suite is the one to book for the prospect of San Giorgio Maggiore across the water, revealed by automated curtains. Rochon carries the lagoon’s pale blues and celadon greens into the furnishings, with Rubelli’s San Marco damask recoloured for the guestrooms and Venetian mirrors reflecting daylight through the interior. Marble bathrooms have walk-in showers and Jesurum toiletries developed by La Bottega, while selected Grand Lagoon-View Suites also include a separate bath – worth specifying when booking.
The former bistro on Palazzo Dandolo’s fourth floor has been converted into the 133 sq m Presidential Suite, where contemporary furniture and artwork mark a departure from the damasks and antiques elsewhere in the hotel. Arranged as a one-bedroom apartment, it has a living room with a dining table for six, a separate dressing area and a marble bathroom with a bath, walk-in shower and a wall of windows.
Staying for drinks and dinner?
At Terrazza Danieli, tables overlooking San Giorgio Maggiore are inevitably the attraction. ‘As soon as the weather allows, every guest wants to be on the terrace,’ says Rochon, who has dressed the outdoor space in terracotta tones to complement the historic façade. Inside, sky blue and muted gold replace the former dark finishes, while mirrors reflect the lagoon into the dining room, ensuring the view remains part of dinner even when the weather intervenes.
Executive chef Adriano Rausa, Roman-born with Sicilian roots, joined the reopening team from W Rome, having trained in kitchens alongside Oliver Glowig, Gennaro Esposito and Ciccio Sultano. His Italian cooking acquires its Venetian accent through suppliers such as Osti in Orto on Sant’Erasmo, the island long cultivated as Venice’s kitchen garden, while fish arrives daily from the Rialto market. Homemade mezze maniche comes with blue lobster, cherry tomatoes and lemon, and the Mediterranean catch of the day is served oven-baked or salt-crusted with seasonal Sant’Erasmo vegetables.
At Bar Dandolo, cocktail From Venice with Love pays tribute to the hotel’s appearance in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, directed by Terence Young. The Vesper variation combines Tanqueray No. Ten gin and Altamura vodka with Mancino Bianco Ambrato vermouth, Nardini Acqua di Cedro, fino sherry and Aphrodite bitters, batched in advance and served ice-cold from the freezer. A classic Negroni is also on the aperitivo menu.
Where to switch off
Ahead of the permanent spa’s opening, a temporary treatment room offers appointments including the 75-minute Glow Facial, which uses Mario Badescu skincare and begins with a deep cleanse before a sequence of lymphatic, sculpting and relaxing massage techniques. For bodies fatigued by Venice’s bridges, the 60-minute Su Misura Massage takes its name from the Italian tailoring term for ‘made to measure’, with a consultation informing a personalised combination of Swedish massage, deep-tissue work, aromatherapy and stretching. The completed spa will have three treatment rooms, including one for couples, alongside a sauna and hammam.
The verdict
Rochon’s renovation gives the Danieli an inviting freshness, though what stayed with us was how naturally life continued beneath the restored ceilings: throughout our visit, the lobby and bar were busy, and the warmth of the service encouraged us to settle in. For all its celebrated romances and illustrious guests, this remains a sociable Venetian address where an evening downstairs is part of the pleasure of staying. There is something romantic, too, in seeing a building so familiar on the city’s skyline prepared for another generation of arrivals, whose dinners, encounters and return visits will gradually become part of the Danieli’s history.
Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel is located at Riva degli Schiavoni 4196, Venice, Italy. Rooms from €2,300, including breakfast.