San Clement Palace Kempinski hotel – San Clemente Island – Venice

Venice is Venice…. right?

A city that fluctuates… where roads are made of water… where ambulances and police are not on wheels…

A city that millions of people visit it every year… so many that it is hard to find peace and quiet…

But that exists…

As you may know the Venice lagoon is surrounded with Islands of different sizes… of which some are private properties with no public access.

One of the them is the San Clemente Island…

Founded in 1131.. yes, you read it right… the Island has changed purposes and occupiers throughout the centuries. Initially a place to host pilgrims from Rome on the way to the Holy land…as the Island had a strong connection with the Catholic faith… it was named in dedication to Pope Clemente I. Later,  the island was also turned to a mental hospital facility, which many gossip that once received Mussolini’s first wife to more recently be turned into a 5 stars hotel complex, since 2016 managed by the Kempinski group.

The hotel is magnificent… a proper palace with 190 rooms spread through 3 floors of high ceiling walls and immense corridors.

Decoration is luxurious respecting the local style with the use of Murano chandeliers and Venetian tapestry… elegant and surprisingly discreet.

Invited to visit… our 10 years wedding anniversary seemed the perfect moment.

As the hotel is situated in an Island, access to it  is by boat only. No public transport is available, so the options are either a water taxi or the hotel’s private boat which departure from San Marco square every 30min. The hotel is not closed to the general public and one does not need to be a guest to visit it and enjoy the restaurants. We arrived late and we took a water taxi from the airport to the hotel. It was super convenient and quick, actually a big thrill as it was dark and the boat was flying over the water on the foggy night… I felt almost on a James bond movie.

The hotel assigned to us the amazing Venice Suite… Spacious and luxurious… the suite is a dream place to be in…

If Venice was not Venice… I guarantee you I would not leave the room for the whole stay…. But… we wanted to make the most of it.

Breakfast was served in one of the inner patios. The breakfast room in itself was enormous with a huge variaty of options. Very hard to keep focused on the diet… It is Italy… it means la vita eh bella so… let’s enjoy and eat! Diet… only on Monday…

Also the hotel deserved to be explored… as it is a private island, the property has extensive gardens for a long a relax promenade… the view over the Venice lagoon is breath taking and we spent a significant amount of the morning just wondering around…

Then we hopped into the boat which transfers to Piazza de San Marco… Venice is gorgeous but I quickly got hit by reality. It was so overcrowded that I almost regretted having left San Clemente.

I don’t mean to put you off visiting the city, but it is best that you know what to expect…. it is sooooo full that it is hard o walk…. then, we decided to take a gondola ride.

I have visited Venice several times but I had never taken a gondola ride… It was the first time and for my 10th year wedding anniversary… How romantic!!!

We took the long ride which lasted around 40 minutes. It was too short… floating through the canals Venice reveals itself a magical place… no wonder the locals circulate by boat… it is what Venice is all about…

Each corner and patio is a surprise… hidden passages made me imagine this city centuries ago…. so much has changed but nothing has changes at the same time… it would not make sense to you unless you visit and take a gondola ride…. After so many visits I can finally say I saw the real beauty of Venice.

As times passes quick when you are having fun… the ride ended and we decided to go back to the Island with a pit stop for an ice cream at Suso…

This it is a travel tip… if you go to Venice, indulge with an ice Cream at Suso…. it is 5 minutes away from San Marco square… all the flavours are delicious…

Back to the Island… we decided to take it slowly and enjoy a Spritz watching the sunset…What a spectacular sunset! The hotel gardens are amazing and there is a bar overlooking the bay… hours passed until we realised that it was time to prepare for dinner.

Then… where to go for dinner??? Back to the Venice or stay in the hotel????

I honestly hesitated because it would have been fun to see Venice’s night life but the thought of the crowds somewhat put me off… The hotel is such a paradise place that we could not envisage fighting for space when I could have candle light dinner overlooking the Venice lights.

Best decision we could have ever made… we had a terriffic dinner at the restaurant L’Acquarello ! The food was spectacular.  Gastronomic… the dishes were Gorgeous but also extremely tasty…. we had a wonderful time….

As we had a busy day… another great idea was to go to bed early… the Suite was sooooo confortable that I lost touch with time and the next time I realised myself was Sunday 10 am…

Lazy morning… we again decided to leave the room just before check out…

A very good Italian friend of mine came and joined us for lunch and before we realised we had to leave to go back home…

I only have to thank the Kempinski San Clemente to welcome us so wonderfully.

If you wish to visit this terrific city in the best of Glamour… the Kempinski San Clemente hotel is your place to be.

www.kempinski.com/en/venice/san-clemente-palace-kempinski/

xx Valentina

Ps: I did not test the spa, but I visited it… it looked AMAZING!