Orient Express
Palazzo Donà Giovannelli

Built in 1436 under the reign of Filippo Calendario, architect of the Doge’s Palace, Palazzo Donà Giovannelli stands at the confluence of two canals in Venice’s Cannaregio sestiere. Its spectacular 15th century restored façade, featuring a motif reminiscent of the Palazzo Ducale and adorned with a stunning row of seven finely wrought Gothic windows, plays with the shifting reflections of the Rio de Noale. 

Inside, architect Aline Asmar d’Amman has orchestrated a meticulous and masterful restoration, transforming the legendary palazzo into an iconic hotel. Gifted in the 16th century to the Duke of Urbino, the palace hosted grand celebrations, including the 1548 wedding of his son to Princess Vittoria Farnese. In the centuries that followed, ownership passed to the Donà and Giovannelli families, enriching the palace’s vibrant legacy with more artistry and legendary stories. 

Meduna’s 19th-century octagonal staircase, original frescoes, and Murano chandeliers complete this living testament to Venetian splendor. Here, Baroque flourishes engage in dialogue with Neoclassical symmetry and Gothic verticality, each style reflecting the palazzo’s enduring vitality.

Transforming such an extraordinary address demanded an exceptional creative force: architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d'Amman. 
Her masterful renovation of Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is both an artistic statement and an architectural feat, an effortless dialogue between memory and modernity.

Here, every detail is carefully considered. Dramatic plays of light and shadow, texture and tone, capture Venice's beauty to theatrical effect. With poetic precision, Aline Asmar d'Amman carries the Palace's ageless romanticism into the present, reawakening its spirit for a new era of discerning voyagers.

“Steeped in stories of legacy, artistry and romance, Palazzo Donà Giovannelli is an architectural jewel where the eye wanders and the spirit of Venice unfolds. Every site visit, during the past eight years of this epic renovation, revealed more secret tales magnified through the modern lens of its rebirth as an Orient Express address. 

I fell in love with every scorched stone, patina, fresco and cherub, relentlessly listening to the confidences whispered by the sculptural ladies of the house, guardians of its cultural resonance.

This transformative journey is a lifechanging experience for an architect, permeated with echoes of the past staged with timeless elegance and creative nowness, a testimony of the Serenissima’s permanent movement as a gate between East and West”. 

Aline Asmar d’Amman, Architect and Artistic Director