If the name does not say enough, all you need to know is that it is the wide street that connects St. Mark's square with the Accademia area.
Housed in a patrician palace with typical Venetian forms and dating back to the fourteenth century, Hotel Saturnia overlooks the beautiful street full of boutiques of haute couture's biggest names. For art lovers, the Accademia Art Galleries and the museums of St. Mark's square - with Doge's Palace topping the list - are nearby, as well as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
A visit to the La Fenice Theatre is unavoidable, and just a one minute walk from the hotel.
While on the one hand it can be defined as a boutique hotel, on the other hand it is a family-run establishment.
The hotel's history is the one of hoteliers by vocation like the Serandrei family, who have run the hotel for four generations.
All began in 1908 when the first lady of the house Zoe Lustig, of Jewish-Hungarian origin, and her husband Ugo Serandrei who was born in Pisa and Venetian by adoption, opened a small guesthouse with eight rooms.
The great-grandmother is remembered by her grandchildren (today active in the family business) as a woman with great charisma: the first of many examples of careful and courageous management.
The name of the hotel was initially Hotel Internazionale, but in the Twenties was changed to Saturnia & Internazionale.
The first significant breakthrough was made by Renzo Serandrei, the son of Ugo and Zoe, and the current owner’s father.
He turned the small guesthouse into a four-star accommodation, and started to think the hotel as a place of history and tradition.
The Fifties were full of important guests: Saturnia's bar known as Ciro's Bar served intellectuals of the caliber of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, just a few among its most loyal customers that could be seen sitting at its tables.
Later on, in 1963, La Caravella Restaurant was born as integral part of the hotel, known from the origins for being one of the best restaurants in all Venice.
Today the current owner Ugo Serandrei can take pride in one of the most exclusive hotels of Venice with its impressive 87 rooms, where the charm of the past is paired with a modern and full-service hotel.
Family cohesion and an environment where - literally - every piece of furniture hides a story to tell give Saturnia a unique feeling today: sophisticated and classy, at times vintage, but at the same time cozy and discreet.
This leads to the fourth generation, the brothers and sisters Zoe, Gianni, Marianna and Kim, who after going down different roads, have decided to carry on the tradition of family hospitality.
More specifically, Zoe and Gianni mainly perform the management related to Hotel Saturnia.
Marianna and Kim, instead, manage more directly another property belonging to the Serandrei family: the Ca’ Pisani Hotel.
It is located in the Dorsoduro district and is modernly designed with a fascinating Art Deco style.
Within the Saturnia, they add and balance managerial and more artistically sensitive skills.
Thanks to the fourth generation, the hotel has been renovated with architectural respect for traditions.
Finally, as a sign of great continuity with its origins, another woman leads the team at Saturnia: Zoe.
New skills and new challenges carried on with the same passion.
In 2008, Hotel Saturnia & International celebrated one hundred years of activity, and rightly so can be defined as one of the most prestigious historic hotels in Venice.
From the first glance of the hotel, its exterior seems sober and elegant, yet the Saturnia Hotel hides a rich world of history inside, with an authentic Venetian note in its inlaid marble and wooden ceilings; but the best discovery is the hospitality that awaits you.
These features make the Saturnia a unique hotel in the Venetian panorama - for its management and its atmosphere - qualities that are recognised and also appreciated by an international clientele.