Cipriani, the stage-hotel where hosting and staying is an art
The historic hotel opened in 1958 on the island of Giudecca, now belonging to the Belmond group, remains an unmissable rendezvous in Venice, with its Olympic-size pool and memories of stars. And in the kitchen, this year, the touch of Massimo Bottura
by Sara Magro
3' min read
3' min read
How is a myth born? On the subject of hospitality, the Cipriani could be an exemplary case history, which begins with a gamble: in 1958, choosing to open a luxury hotel on the Giudecca, where there was nothing (and that was its beauty), was a risk that Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of the very popular Harry's Bar, took with foresight. Just as much foresight should be attributed to Count Rupert Guinness, who financed the project, which in a flash became a destination in itself. You go to Venice for the reasons we all know, and you go to the Cipriani because it is one of the most glamorous hotels in the world.
Just look at the 'halls of fame' in the corridor leading to the restaurant. Just to mention a few names, on the walls hang photos of Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Donald Sutherland, Mick Jagger, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, who organised his wedding party there with Amal Alamuddin and created a cocktail - the 'Goodnight' - that is still on the menu. In short, think of any movie star, music star, literature star: most probably they have been to the Cipriani. It seems that staying there is part of the rite of consecration as an official myth. The hotel is like another set where actors, rock stars and international artists stop acting and descend among us mortals. A dream machine, where experimentation is carried out without fear and with great investment, always aiming for the top, from haute cuisine to design and art.
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Just to talk about recent history, this is the year of the collaboration between the sparkling chef Massimo Bottura and Vania Ghedini, executive at the gourmet restaurant Oro, where the ingredients of the lagoon, from fish to vegetables, are the protagonists. Next year the restyling will be the turn of the rooms, where another celebrity, currently under embargo, will enter the field. But to get a taste of the footprint, take a tour of the toilets on the ground floor (the signature here seems to be the exuberant Peter Marino). And then there is art, a big theme in Belmond, the group to which the hotel belongs (and which in turn is part of Lvmh). For the Biennale of Art 2022, in the back courtyard - an English-style lawn, vegetable garden and rose garden - Indian artist Subodh Gupta built a hut made from thousands of aluminium pots salvaged from villages in his country, a message to share the idea of home-cooked food. Today, again for the Mitico project in collaboration with Galleria Continua, there is a site-specific work by Daniel Buren, who plays with light and a series of coloured panels around a fountain. One wonders: if they don't experiment, part of the world's largest luxury group, who does?
But then the 'A' factor (the atmosphere) and the 'HI' factor (human intelligence) add that intangible and unscientifically demonstrable value that makes the Cipriani 'the' Cipriani. The pale pink, the smiling and caressing ladies at breakfast, the carpaccio with the original recipe and the timeless Bellini (now also non-alcoholic), the cosmetics in the bathroom (from the perfumed moisturising oil to the sunscreen), the friendliness and helpfulness of every single element, the vintage postcards, even the gardener tending the flowers early in the morning, the passionate falconer keeping pigeons and seagulls away from the guests' lunch. We could go on and on with the evocative images. But there is nothing that makes one feel more privileged than arriving aboard the wooden lance with the hotel sign on the side, stepping out on the terrace in one's bathrobe early in the morning, coffee in hand to gaze at the island of San Giorgio, or lounging for an entire afternoon in Venice's only Olympic-size swimming pool, which seems to have 'stolen' a piece of the lagoon for guests.
An experience not for everyone, like dinner at Cip's: at the floating restaurant on the Giudecca Canal you order mixed fried fish with wasabi mayonnaise, grilled fish and shellfish, and castraure di Sant'Erasmo. With the gentle rocking of the old pier, you will feel like you are dreaming: St Mark's bell tower on one side, the embroidered facade of the Doge's Palace on the other. Needless to dwell on descriptions, one must try it.
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