Bauer Hotel (Venice)

Last updated
Bauer Hotel from the Grand Canal Grand Canal 18a (7241026178).jpg
Bauer Hotel from the Grand Canal

The Bauer Hotel is a historic five-star hotel located on the north bank of the Grand Canal in the San Marco sestiere of Venice, Italy, near the Piazza San Marco. It closed in November 2022 for renovations, with plans to reopen in 2025. [1]

Contents

History

The hotel was founded in 1880 as the Grand Hotel d'Italie Bauer-Grünwald by Mr. Bauer, a director of Venice's Hotel de la Ville, and Julius (Giulio) Grünwald, an Austrian who married Bauer's daughter.

The main hotel building, facing the Grand Canal, was rebuilt from 1900 to 1902, [2] to designs by architect Giovanni Sardi in an eclectic neo-Gothic style, [3] [4] which has been described as "perhaps the most significant representative of late-nineteenth century Venetian medieval mannerism". [5]

On the southwest corner is the Canal Bar, a large ground-level terrace surrounded by a stone fretwork fence; at the corner there stands and a 3.6m tall statue of a woman representing Italy, a work of Carlo Lorenzetti. Before the hotel's construction, this was a public square called dei Felzi. [2] The hotel's site previously held a 15th-century building in the "Arabo-Byzantine" style, [3] which was demolished in 1844. [6] Some fragments of that building were incorporated into Sardi's construction. [5]

In 1930, Grünwald's heirs sold the Hotel Bauer-Grünwald to Arnaldo Bennati, a Ligurian shipbuilder. An extra floor was added on top in 1939 by Giovanni or Giuseppe Berti. [7] [5] The 7th-floor terrace "Settimo Cielo" is the highest terrace in Venice. [8]

The hotel was closed for much of the 1940s, during which time Bennati undertook extensive renovations and added an extension to the hotel in the rear, [9] facing the Campo San Moisè. The new wing was designed by Marino Meo in 1945 and completed in 1949. [10] [11] [12]

The adjacent San Moisè church, with "the busiest façade in town", contrasts with the travertine cladding and light-colored marble columns of the Bauer extension, [10] which has been called "brutally modernist in its plainness"; [13] Joseph Brodsky described the juxtaposition as "Albert Speer having a pizza capricciosa". [11]

In 1999, Francesca Bortolotto Possati, granddaughter of Arnaldo Bennati, became the chairwoman and CEO of the hotel. [14] The hotel underwent a major renovation that year, overseen by Bortolotto Possati. The 1949 wing was marketed as the Hotel Bauer, while the older section was separately marketed as the Hotel Bauer Palazzo. [9] Elliott Management and Blue Skye investments acquired the hotel through a series of debt restructuring deals between 2017 and 2019. In 2020, the Austrian real estate investment group Signa bought the hotel. [15]

The hotel closed in November 2022 for a major renovation. [1] It plans to reopen in 2025, managed by Rosewood Hotels as the Rosewood Hotel Bauer. [16] The hotel is a member of Leading Hotels of the World.

In 2024, Signa sold the hotel for an indisclosed amount as part of a deal with German industrialist family business Schoeller Group. [17]

Services

The Bauer offers 56 suites and 135 rooms.

The hotel restaurant is De Pisis. Breakfast is served on the 7th floor terrace, the Settimo Cielo, which in the evening serves drinks and snacks. The Canal Bar is outside, at ground level, and the B Bar offers live jazz performances.

Location

To the left of the hotel, across the Rio San Moisè, is the Palazzo Treves-Barozzi, and to its right, separated by the Calle Tredici Martiri, is the Ca' Giustinian. The hotel's main entrance is on the north, on the Campo San Moisè. On its west runs the Rio San Moisè, on which it has a boat landing. It faces the Dogana and the Salute across the Grand Canal.

Other Bauer properties in Venice

For a period in the 2010s, the Bauer group operated three additional properties: the Residenza Grunwald (formerly Bauer Casa Nova), located adjacent to the hotel on the Campo San Moisè; [18] and the Bauer Palladio and the Villa F, both located on the Giudecca, facing San Marco across the Giudecca Canal.

In literature

The Bauer-Grünwald is one of the settings of Chekhov's novella An Anonymous Story (1893).[ citation needed ]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Home". Hotel Bauer Venezia. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  2. 1 2 "Il nuovo palazzo dell'albergo 'Italia'", L'Edilizia Moderna, 1902, p. 23f
  3. 1 2 Giulio Lorenzetti, John Guthrie, translator, Venice and Its Lagoon, Trieste:1975, p. 627
  4. John Freely, Strolling Through Venice, 1994, ISBN   0140146512, p. 57
  5. 1 2 3 "Hotel Bauer Gruenwald", Condotte nei Restauri, 1992, ISBN   8870627799, p. 89ff
  6. Hugh A. Douglas, Venice on Foot, 1907, p. 52
  7. Tudy Sammartini, John Julius Norwich, Giles Watson, Julian Honer, Decorative Floors of Venice, 2000, ISBN   1858941083, p. 197
  8. "Settimo Cielo Venice Rooftop Bar", Bauer official web site
  9. 1 2 "1880: Bauer Il Palazzo", Historic Hotels of the World
  10. 1 2 Touring Club Italiano, Venezia, Guida d'Italia del Touring Club Italiano (Guide Rosse), 3rd edition, 1985, ISBN   8836500064, p. 310
  11. 1 2 Giulia Foscari, Elements of Venice, 2014, ISBN   9783037784297, p. 150
  12. Egle Trincanato, Umberto Franzoi, Venise au fil du temps, Éditions Cuénot:1971, index
  13. Margaret Plant, Venice: Fragile City, 1797-1997, 2002, ISBN   0300083866, p. 353
  14. Nancy Chuda, "The Woman Who Keeps Venice Italy Alive and Afloat: Francesca Bortolotto Possati's Mission for Life", Huffpost, June 11, 2015
  15. "SIGNA Acquire the Bauer Hotel in Venice". The Hotel Property Team. 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  16. "Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to Manage the Legendary Hotel Bauer in Venice, Italy".
  17. Austria's insolvent Signa sells Venice's Hotel Bauer to German group Reuters , 26 April 2024.
  18. Residenza Grunwald

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canal (Venice)</span> Water channel in Venice, Italy

The Grand Canal is the largest channel in Venice, Italy, forming one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Labia</span> Baroque palace in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great palazzi of Venice. Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746–47 by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with decorative works in trompe-l'œil by Gerolamo Mengozzi-Colonna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Malipiero</span>

Palazzo Malipiero is a palace in Venice, Italy. It is on the Grand Canal in the central San Samuele square. It stands just across from the Palazzo Grassi Exhibition Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Clary</span>

The Palazzo Clary is a Late Renaissance Venetian palace facing the Giudecca Canal alongside the fondamenta Zattere by the ponte longo in Venice's Dorsoduro. It was originally built in the 17th century for a Venetian noble family. In the early 19th century, the palazzo was known as Palazzo Clary, named after the prince Clary-Aldringen who bought it. The neighboring building is Palazzo Giustinian Recanati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punta della Dogana</span> Art museum in Venice, Italy

Punta della Dogana is an art museum in one of Venice's old customs buildings, the Dogana da Mar. It also refers to the triangular area of Venice where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, and its collection of buildings: the church of Santa Maria della Salute,, the Patriarchal Seminary of Venice, and Dogana da Mar at the triangle's tip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesca Bortolotto Possati</span> Italian hotelier

Francesca Bortolotto Possati is an Italian entrepreneur, author, interior designer, philanthropist and hotelier. She is the chief executive officer of the Bauer Hotel group in Venice, and the granddaughter of Arnaldo Bennati, a Ligurian shipbuilder who purchased the Bauer Hotel in 1930. She was the only female CEO in the city of Venice as of 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Ferro Fini</span> Palace

The Palazzo Ferro Fini is a historical building in Venice, Italy. It was originally two buildings, the Palazzo Morosini Ferro and the Palazzo Flangini Fini, which were combined into one in the 1860s to create the luxury Hotel New York. The hotel was occupied by troops in World War II (1939–45). By 1970 the hotel was in decay, and the building was purchased by the Veneto region, which undertook extensive renovations and made it the seat of the regional council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Pisani Gritti</span> Building in Venice, Italy

The Palazzo Pisani Gritti is a Venetian Gothic palazzo located on the north side of the Grand Canal, opposite the Church of the Salute, between the Campo del Traghetto and the Rio de l'Alboro, in the Sestieri of San Marco, Venice, Italy. It was the residence of Doge Andrea Gritti in the 16th century. It is now the Gritti Palace Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Pisani a San Stefano</span> Building in Venice, Italy

The Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano is a large palace located facing Campo Santo Stefano, in an alley near the facade of the church of San Vidal, in the sestiere of San Marco, in the city of Venice, Italy. The palace is owned by the city and now houses the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia, founded in 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Correr Contarini Zorzi is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy, overlooking the Grand Canal and locating in the Cannaregio district between Palazzo Querini Papozze and Palazzo Gritti. The palazzo is also known as Ca' dei Cuori, a family whose wrought iron coats of arms is present on the façade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Giustinian Pesaro</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Giustinian Pesaro is a Gothic palace located in Venice, Italy, in the Cannaregio district and overlooking the Grand Canal. The palazzo is situated between Ca' d'Oro and Palazzo Morosini Sagredo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo D'Anna Viaro Martinengo Volpi di Misurata</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo D'Anna Viaro Martinengo Volpi di Misurata, also known as Palazzo Talenti D'Anna Volpi, is a Renaissance palace in Venice, Italy, located in the San Marco district, overlooking the left side of the Grand Canal, between Palazzo Tron and Casa Marinoni and opposite of Palazzo Donà a Sant'Aponal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo DonĂ  Giovannelli</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is a civil building located in the city of Venice, Italy in the Cannaregio district. The palace neighbors Palazzo Pasqualigo Giovannelli and overlooks the Rio di Noale and the Rio di Santa Fosca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Erizzo Nani Mocenigo</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Erizzo Nani Mocenigo is a palace in Venice located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal between Palazzo Da Lezze and Palazzo Contarini delle Figure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Querini Benzon</span> Building in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Querini Benzon is a palace in Venice located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal. It is placed between the small Casa De Sprit and Casa Tornielli, at the confluence of the Ca' Michiel stream. Opposite are Palazzo Bernardo and Palazzo Querini Dubois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Vitturi</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Vitturi is a palace in Venice, Italy located in the Castello district, on the north-eastern side of Campo Santa Maria Formosa, of which the palazzo is the oldest building. The palace is mentioned in the works of Sansovino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Barbarigo Nani Mocenigo</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Barbarigo Nani Mocenigo is a Gothic palace in Venice, Italy located in the Dorsoduro district, along the Nani embankment on the San Trovaso canal, near the Campo San Trovaso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Corner Contarini dei Cavalli</span> Residential in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Corner Contarini dei Cavalli is a palace in Venice, located in the San Marco district, overlooking the left side of the Grand Canal, between the Rio di San Luca and Palazzo Grimani di San Luca on one side and Palazzo Tron and Palazzetto Tron Memmo on the other. The opposite structure is the Palazzo Papadopoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Corner Valmarana</span> Office in Venice, Italy

Palazzo Corner Valmarana is a palace in Venice, located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal. It locates not far from the Ponte di Rialto, between Palazzo Cavalli and Palazzo Grimani di San Luca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Sardi</span> Italian architect from Venice

Giovanni Sardi was an Italian architect, mainly active in his native Venice; his designs were an eclectic adaptation of gothic and byzantine elements.