“It’s amazing here because you get the postcard vision of Venice without all the hecticness,” says Étienne Petitpez, general manager of the Airelles Palladio. “And the sunsets across the water are spectacular.”
Days before the opening of Airelles Palladio, the hotel is a flurry of activity. Pictures are being straightened on walls, sculptures arranged in the courtyard, a small army of gardeners is hard at work across the grounds, planting, pruning and training roses around a wooden pergola. But, like all good hotel managers, Petitpez remains a picture of calm. This is, after all, not the first time he’s done this. In 2015, he was front-of-house manager for the grand reopening of the Ritz Paris (the hotel where he began his career as a bellboy). He then became manager of a hotel and chalet in Val-d’Isère owned by French hospitality group Airelles. His appointment in Venice, overseeing the group’s first property outside France, sees him trading life in the mountains for a new home on Giudecca, close to the hotel.
The hotel’s façade © Giulio Ghirardi
He’s right about the view, which is indeed Canaletto-calibre: a sweeping panorama across to the elegant dome of the Basilica Santa Maria della Salute, the elaborate gothic façade of the Doge’s Palace and the towering campanile of Saint Mark’s Basilica, which sits almost directly opposite the property.
