The new Orient Express group, champion of slow train travel, is moving fast. After the opening of its first hotel La Minerva in Rome and the launch of La Dolce Vita train in April 2025, it has now opened reservations for Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice. Yet entry to its 47 rooms, suites, and apartments will not be possible until April 2026.

The new property will rise in a splendid noble residence in the Cannaregio district, built in 1436 by Filippo Calendario (also architect of the monumental Palazzo Ducale). Restoration and renewal works are led by Aline Asmar d’Amman, who sought a balance between the historical legacy of frescoes and decorations and contemporary design. A tribute to Venice, cultural and spiritual crossroads of the Mediterranean, the architecture blends Gothic details, baroque opulence, and classical harmony in a dialogue between different styles that shaped its identity. From gilded ballrooms to hidden passages, the new Orient Express hotel awakens as a cultural landmark.

Guests are welcomed into a spectacular lobby with soaring wooden ceilings and an octagonal staircase—an 1800s masterpiece by Giovanni Battista Meduna, architect of Ca’ d’Oro and Teatro La Fenice—topped by a vaulted canopy of stone and glass leading to the Piano Nobile. Here unfolds a sequence of historic salons: the baroque-style Salone Vittoria, the Library of Culture with lapis-lazuli pigments and gilded wood, and a Music Room. 

There will also be a fine dining restaurant with private mooring, an all-day dining space overlooking the garden, and the Wagon Bar, a homage to the golden age of train travel.

Discover the Orient Express Venice