A stranded ship in the middle of Venice

Published: 2009 - November/December, ZOOM

Set in the elegant sestiere (quarter) of Dorsoduro, just steps from the Gallerie dell’Accademia and from the Guggenheim collection, “Agli Alboretti” is a three stars family-run hotel managed with passion and professionalism by Anna Linguerri, assisted by a loyal staff for many years. The peculiar name of the hotel derives from the trees which had been planted along the street Rio Terrà Foscarini when the existing canal had been filled in and transformed into a street at the end of the 19th century: Venetians, not accustomed to have trees along their calli, started to call it “strada degli alberetti” (street of the small trees), from there the name, half Italian and half Venetian, of the “Alboretti”.
The logo of the hotel is a ship reproducing the model of the sailing ship displayed in the window of the reception desk. Moreover, from the entrance with wooden walls to the furnishing of the rooms, everything reminds a stranded ship between the Zattere and the Canal Grande. The environment is warm and cosy; hanged on the walls there are the paintings presented to Anna by many painter guests.
As inn first, as trattoria then, finally as hotel and restaurant, the name “Agli Alboretti” has kept on with being present in Venice ever since the beginning of the twentieth-century. Twenty-five years ago started the running of Anna Linguerri who, year after year, has renewed the furnishing and the services and brought important improvements, included a lift that connects the four flours of the building, to the common terrace where the guests can sit and relax. There are twenty-three rooms, all furnished with original Nineteenth-century or Marine style pieces of furniture, provided with private bathroom, satellite TV, free minibar, air conditioning and wi-fi access. Some rooms overlook the Rio Terrà Foscarini or some private gardens among which there is also the hotel’s one, shaded by a woodbine covered pergola where in summer breakfast is served.
Custom, international for the most part, is settled and affectionate by now, attached to the owner by common music, artistic and literary passions: many guests come back every year and “take” their room, the one chosen where they are accustomed to stay. “We have an attitude of complete willingness towards the guests. – explains Mrs. Anna –  We make sure to provide him hours, telephone numbers, tickets for concerts and theatre, in other words we take care of the needs and curiosities of everyone, and sometimes also of their manias. For us the guest is not a packet to sell, for this reason we avoid carefully the overbooking.”
The restaurant where Peggy and her friends used to go opened again twenty years ago and it is still doing business. Today the menu proposes a wide choice of risotti, typical Venetian dish, and a rich wine-list with the best Italian brands. In summer lunch and dinner are served under the pergola in the inner garden.

Hotel Agli Alboretti
Accademia, 884
30123 Venezia
Tel. +39 041 5230058
Fax. +39 041 5210158
info@aglialboretti.com