The Gritti Palace, A Luxury Collection Hotel ranks #6 on our 2026 list of the best anniversary hotels in the world. It is the pick for couples who want their milestone held on Venice's principal island, in a palazzo whose front terrace looks straight at Santa Maria della Salute. The case below covers the hotel, what it does for a celebration, and the alternatives we measured it against.
“A 15th-century Grand Canal address, restored in 2013 without erasing the bones. The Riva Lounge terrace looks straight at the Salute, and at sunset it is the most-requested anniversary table in San Marco.”
The hotel itself
A palazzo dating to 1475 on the Grand Canal directly opposite Santa Maria della Salute, restored in 2013 under Chuck Chewning, with the Riva Lounge terrace as the most-photographed sunset spot in San Marco. Marriott's Luxury Collection at its most properly historic, and best for couples who want the celebration anchored to the building itself.
The Gritti Palace dates to 1475 and in 1525 became the residence of Doge Andrea Gritti, the elected head of the Venetian Republic from 1523 to 1538 and one of the principal architects of Venice's 16th-century geopolitical recovery from the League of Cambrai. The palazzo's position, at the eastern end of Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, with its primary façade on the Grand Canal directly opposite Santa Maria della Salute, was, at the time it was built, the most prestigious private address in Venice. The building remained in the Gritti family until the 19th century, passed through several hands, was a private residence and aristocratic guesthouse for much of the 20th century, and became the Hotel Gritti Palace in 1948. CIGA acquired it in 1958, ITT Sheraton in 1994, and the Starwood Luxury Collection (now Marriott Luxury Collection) since 2006. The most recent major restoration, fifteen months, fifty million euros, was completed in 2013 under the direction of American interior designer Chuck Chewning, who reframed the property's Venetian-baroque vocabulary while leaving the historic envelope and the principal salons untouched.
Why it works for an anniversary
An anniversary in Venice lives or dies on the setting of the dinner and the view from the room. The Gritti does both without the city having to do the work: the Riva Lounge terrace puts the celebration table three steps above the Grand Canal facing the Salute, and the Grand Canal-facing rooms wake you to the same view. Best for couples who want the milestone tied to the water rather than to a restaurant booking across town.
The case here is the address itself. A 1475 palazzo on the principal island, restored in 2013 without losing its bones, means the building is the occasion rather than a backdrop to it. The trade-off is honest: at 82 keys the Gritti is small, and the lower room categories run tight by modern standards, so the celebration logic only fully pays off in a canal-facing room or a suite. Couples who want a pool and a full spa as part of the anniversary should weigh the Cipriani across the lagoon instead.
The hotel has 82 rooms and suites across the principal palazzo and an adjacent annex, distributed over four floors. The accommodations divide cleanly into Grand Canal-facing rooms (the headline category, with direct view of the Salute), lateral-facing rooms (looking onto Campo Santa Maria del Giglio or onto the smaller side canal), and the Serenissima Suites and Grand Canal Suites at the upper end of the inventory. The signature room is the Heritage Suite, a 100-square-metre named for its frescoes and the original 18th-century stuccowork. Rooms across the property combine Venetian '700-style hand-painted wood furnishings, Murano chandeliers, Rubelli silks, and the Acqua di Parma amenity programme; bathrooms are generally Carrara marble with Sherle Wagner fittings. The palazzo's narrow proportions mean that the smaller categories are smaller in scale than at some competing properties, a 30-square-metre Deluxe is normal here, but the room hardware is uniformly at the global Luxury Collection standard.
The Gritti's signature amenity is the Riva Lounge, the canal-side terrace at the front of the palazzo. The terrace is three steps above the Grand Canal, set back behind a low parapet, and looks directly at the dome and façade of Santa Maria della Salute on the opposite bank. It is, by general consensus, the most photographed sunset hotel terrace in Venice, and is the most-requested proposal-and-anniversary setting at this rate level. The hotel's principal restaurant, the Club del Doge, runs the formal Italian programme; the Bar Longhi, in the lobby, is the cocktail destination, named for the Pietro Longhi 18th-century paintings on the walls. The hotel does not have a swimming pool or a full spa, the Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Spa is small (treatment rooms only). For guests for whom pool and large-format spa matter, the recommendation is the Cipriani; for guests for whom Grand Canal address is the point, the Gritti is the answer.
Where it ranks against rivals
For a 2026 milestone anniversary at this level, the most direct comparisons on our Top 20 are Le Meurice in Paris (#4 on this list), The Carlyle in New York (#5 on this list), and Aman Kyoto (#7 on this list). The Gritti earns its place between them on the strength of its Grand Canal address and the Riva Lounge terrace. The other properties are not lesser hotels, and for a city-anniversary built around a restaurant or a garden the runner-up may suit you better. The list page below has the full ranking.
Practical: getting in
Address: Campo Santa Maria Del Giglio, 2467, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy. Anniversary-suited categories, the upgraded suites, the rooms with the morning view, book six to twelve months ahead. The full review at the hotel page has current rates, the room categories worth paying up for, and the dining and spa programmes worth booking pre-arrival. Use our anniversary occasion page for the broader context, or the Venice city guide for what else to do while you’re there.