9 new hotel openings in Italy to watch in 2026

Hotel Danieli has never pretended to be discreet. It sits openly on the Riva degli Schiavoni, facing the lagoon with the confidence of a building that knows it has seen more Venetian history than most museums. What makes it singular is not polish, but accumulation. Three palazzi from different centuries stitched together by bridges and staircases, with no attempt to smooth the seams. You move from the 14th-century Palazzo Dandolo into later additions almost without noticing, except for a sudden change in ceiling height, light or temperature. Public spaces feel ceremonial, almost excessive, while some rooms retain an idiosyncratic, old-world awkwardness that newer luxury hotels edit out. Arrival by boat still matters here. Under Four Seasons management from 2026, the interest lies in restraint: preserving Danieli’s irregularity, theatrical scale and unapologetic historic weight, rather than sanding it down into something polite.

Pink-and-white Gothic drama on a quiet Cannaregio canal gives Orient Express Venezia immediate bite, but the real hook is inside. The hotel occupies the 15th-century Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, reworked by architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman into 47 rooms and suites layered with Murano glass, Art Deco touches and restored frescoes. This is not one for ticking off between sights. Linger in the salons, study the shell fireplaces and flying figures, then take a drink at the Wagon Bar once your eye has adjusted to the level of finish. It has proper theatre, but also the calm to make that theatre land.