San Clemente Palace Kempinski

Located on an expansive private island, a fifteen-minute water transfer from San Marco, San Clemente Palace offers the luxury of space, gardens and resort amenities in the heart of the Laguna di Venezia.

• The spacious grounds and pool
• The restored 12th-century monastery, San Clemente Church
• An all-day kid’s club with activities like treasure hunts and Italian classes
• The many outdoor dining options with views of Venice in the distance

As Venice becomes more and more crowded during the high season, especially the summertime, a sense of space and cooler temperatures are coveted amenities, and this is precisely what the San Clemente Palace offers. The 190-room resort occupies its own 15-acre island. Yes, the trade-off is not being able to step outside into the middle of Venice’s dining, shopping and sights—for San Clemente's island is a 15-minute water shuttle away from San Marco—but, especially for families, the expansive grounds and resort activities are a great draw.

Guests arrive at a private pier and, walking up to the massive pink-colored palazzo, they are immediately transported into a world of lush vegetation, large trees and bird song (so different from Venice’s own distinctive sights and sounds). San Clemente has a long history in the Laguna: its first settlement dates back to the early 1300s, when the Church of San Clemente was built here ; this wonderfully atmospheric building remains on the property and, today, hosts weddings. The property has also served as a monastery, a hospital and an asylum, though the only details that remind of the latter two are the wide hallways and double-height ceilings, both of which ensure that the sense of expansiveness on the outside also continues within.

Kempinski took over managing the hotel San Clemente in 2016, focusing its design energies first on the common spaces and creating wonderfully varied dining options outside, along the lagoon. Nothing beats returning from a busy day of sightseeing to the property's beautiful gardens, where guests can sip cocktails with a view of Venice as it slowly lights up in the distant evening (Note: There are two other big hotels on nearby islands, the JW Marriott and the Hilton Molino Stucky, which can also be seen from San Clemente).

Plans to renovate the 190 rooms in phases are in the works, though the interiors left over from the pervious hotel company (St. Regis) are perfectly comfortable. The design scheme is classically Venetian, with beautiful, fabric-covered walls, Murano chandeliers, deeply hued curtains and, in some cases, original tile floors. All have large windows, and there isn’t a bad view here—you’re looking at the lagoon, at the gardens or both. Where the resort’s age shows is in the yellow-marble bathrooms, although some of them have already been redone with double-vanities and white marble; further renovations are already in the works.

The on-island offerings include three restaurants, a tennis court and a pool which, at 65 feet in length, does not quite boast the extravaganza of the Cipriani, but is still nicely sized. There are also jogging paths that are particularly lovely at dawn, when the Laguna rises out of the mist like a J.M.W Turner painting. The fact that San Clemente is particularly popular with families is seen in the complimentary Kid’s Club, where treasure hunts, Italian classes and Venetian mask making are on the schedule. The Club runs until 10pm, giving parents a chance to have a lagoon-side dinner.

On a map, the hotel appears to sit at quite a distance from San Marco, but, in fact, it is only a 15-minute water taxi ride away. The hotel operates complimentary shuttles that run from 9am until 1am every 20 minutes. Especially during the hot summer months, many guests choose to actually stay on-island, relaxing by the pool or booking a spa appointment, before catching the shuttle over to San Marco in the early evening for aperitivo and dinner.

**Good to Know: **The San Clemente has extensive conference facilities, which are removed from the main hotel. It also hosts a fair amount of weddings, especially during the high season. The grounds are large enough for groups to disperse, but couples looking for an intimate ambience might find the size off-putting.  The resort closes seasonally from early November until the end of March.

Families or couples who are looking for a resort experience during their stay in Venice and don’t mind taking boat transfers to access sightseeing.