Three years ago, Giuseppe Cipriani was entrusted with the reinvention of his father Arrigo’s restaurant with rooms. This month, it reopens after a major renovation. Giuseppe Cipriani Sr acquired his beloved Locanda in 1936; among its better-known guests have been Queen Elizabeth II, Ernest Hemingway and Winston Churchill (who bequeathed one of his watercolours to the restaurant).
The bar at Locanda Cipriani, Torcello
A bathroom at Locanda Cipriani
But things have changed. The six rooms are now 10, the dining pergola has been removed in favour of a white fabric awning and the delicate wrought-iron chairs swapped out for modish rattan ones. The rooms themselves evince head-to-toe makeovers: new parquet floors, marble baths, slick minibars, gleaming wood panelling everywhere. Thankfully, the old antique desk in the Hemingway suite remains, and the lagoon landscapes in the Orson Welles suite are the same as well.
The garden at Locanda Cipriani
