Orient Express—the storied train brand that once whisked travelers from Paris to Istanbul—is making a grand return to Venice, this time in the form of a luxury hotel. The Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is now accepting reservations for stays starting on April 1, 2026, marking the recently relaunched Orient Express brand’s second hotel in Italy.
The hotel is housed in a 15th-century palazzo in Venice’s quieter Cannaregio district, the northernmost of Venice’s six sestieri (districts), and home to the city’s Jewish Ghetto. It’s also where you’ll find sites like the Gothic palace turned museum of Ca’ d’Oro and the home of Renaissance painter Tintoretto. It follows the April 2025 launch of Orient Express La Minerva in Rome, also in a historic building, and aims to become one of the most luxurious hotels in Venice, a city with no shortage of world-class accommodations.
The noble palazzo’s original architect is unknown, but some sources attribute it to Filippo Calendario, the master architect behind the Doge’s Palace. (The facade is reminiscent of the iconic Gothic palace on St. Mark’s Square.) Over the centuries, it passed through the hands of several owners, including Francesco Maria I della Rovere (Duke of Urbino), Giovanni Battista Donà, and the
Giovannelli family.
Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is filled with original architectural details.
Photos courtesy of Orient Express
For the interiors, Orient Express tapped Aline Asmar d’Amman—the Paris- and Beirut-based architect best known for her work on the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. The ambitious eight-year renovation has transformed the private palazzo into a 47-room hotel that melds contemporary design with the building’s architectural heritage.
Gothic windows, a peaceful garden courtyard, and an octagonal staircase added in the 19th century by Giovanni Battista Meduna, the architect behind Venice’s Ca d’Oro and La Fenice opera house, contribute to the building’s splendor. The Piano Nobile—the floor where aristocrats typically entertained their illustrious guests—contains the baroque Vittoria ballroom created in 1548 for the wedding of Princess Vittoria Farnese, the Library of Cultures with its gilded woods, and the Music Room.
In addition to standard rooms and spacious suites ranging in size from 322 to 1,593 square feet, the hotel will have two apartments housed in an adjacent building. Details about the dining outlets and amenities are scarce, but there will be a fine dining restaurant with private boat access, a casual all-day dining outlet overlooking the courtyard, and a Wagon Bar conceived as a nod to the golden age of train travel. Rates from $1,553
