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Orient Express Venezia: A 15th-Century Palace Reborn

With the opening of Orient Express Venezia at Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, architect Aline Asmar d'Amman delivers eight years of work and a vision that has transformed one of Venice's most storied buildings into a living work of art.

Venice has never been short of grand interiors, but Orient Express Venezia, which opened on March 30, 2026 at the 15th-century Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in the sestiere of Cannaregio, feels like something genuinely different.

The project, owned by Arsenale Group and the latest chapter in Orient Express's growing Italian presence after La Minerva in Rome and the La Dolce Vita train, was handed entirely to architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d'Amman. What she has produced over eight years is not a restoration in any conventional sense, but something closer to an act of archaeology performed with a designer's eye: every layer of the palazzo's history uncovered, examined, and then deliberately, beautifully complicated.

The design philosophy d'Amman calls the tension between heritage and reinvention plays out across every surface and space. Historical frescoes coexist with contemporary sculptural forms; antique references multiply endlessly across mirrored surfaces with veiled tones; Venice's signature "Lost Colors" — those dusty, faded pigments the city wears like a second skin — are woven back into fabrics, drapery, and finishes throughout the Piano Nobile, whose reception rooms unfold as a sequence of scenographic spaces punctuated by generous cabinets de curiosités.

Embossed leathers and moiré silks line the walls, hand-crafted marbles integrate into the original structure, and bespoke Murano glass chandeliers crown the Corte del Conte — the former open-air courtyard, now elevated into one of the most extraordinary hotel lobbies in Europe. The palazzo's secret garden, historically hidden behind centuries-old walls and now revealed as a suspended world of elegant drapes, an ancient fountain, and Venetian lanterns, completes the picture of an interior that earns every one of its eight years.

Across 47 rooms, suites, and residences — including six Signature Suites where 19th-century frescoes, gilded salons with dancing putti, and monumental carved marble fireplaces frame some of the most coveted canal views in the city — the layered architectural history of the building is treated not as backdrop but as the primary creative material.

The dining spaces match that ambition with precision: three-Michelin-star chef Heinz Beck's gourmet restaurant occupies the historic Orangerie, the all-day La Casati opens onto the secret garden channeling the avant-garde spirit of Marchesa Luisa Casati, and the Art Déco Wagon Bar pays homage to the legendary Orient Express salon carriages. Orient Express Venezia ultimately makes a compelling argument — one this city is uniquely positioned to make — that the most exciting direction in contemporary hospitality design lies not in erasure, but in the patient, rigorous amplification of what was already there.