Venice and the Excelsior Hotel – Review
By Kevin Pilley, October 2025
The best way to experience the high life in Venice is in low season – which means late September to 18 October.
That’s when the film festival is over, the iconic Excelsior closes for the winter, and the poseurs migrate to warmer climes.
After the red carpet has been rolled up and stored away, you may have the famous hotel to yourself. It quietens down. The flash bulbs stop and you half-expect a tumbleweed to bounce through the lobby, or an actor’s hairpiece to blow across the terrace of the Ristorante Tropicana.
But, when I was there, toupees were low on the ground where the red carpet usually goes.
And the Botox count was zero.
The Blue Bar was empty. So were the beach and terrace bars. The barman cleaned a glass that didn’t need cleaning. Film stars smiled mutely and sadly – from the walls.
Two waiters stood idle, discussing football by the Champagne bucket. One of them changed the location of the cocktail menu for something to do. Another flipped coasters. The piano stood abandoned, silent and forlorn.
There was no one there to order an Aperol Spritz. To my good fortune, freakishly, the hotel was virtually empty. Occupancy was 1%, and 195 room keys hung behind the concierge at the reception desk. The concierge read La Repubblica and looked at his watch every five minutes.
He was bored and the Excelsior was dead. And, with a few lucky others, I had the famous hotel to myself.
From the end of August to the end of the last week of September, the helicopters return and the water taxis drop off the stars. The Excelsior Hotel on Venice’s beachfront boulevard, Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi, is once again the best place to be seen – and the best place to watch all the enviously shapely and seriously photogenic people.
And to soak up the Death in Venice cocktails – strawberry-themed Cîroc vodka martinis – as drunk by the likes of Johnny Depp, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Sophia Loren and the King of Bulgaria. Probably Boris Karloff, too. It’s the original A-lister’s drink.
Venice Lido
“Posing hub”
The Lido is a fifteen-minute, bumpy vaporetto (water bus) ride from St Mark’s Square and the canal-side railway station stop, or half an hour from Marco Polo Airport in your own posh, private, wooden look-at-me-everyone launch.
The roughly ten-mile strip of land between the Adriatic and the famous lagoon is the beach area of La Serenissima – and the venue for the annual International Film Festival.
The über-glam event is held inside the Palazzo del Cinema on the Marconi promenade. Winners are awarded the Golden Lion, a statuette shaped after the landmark symbol of the city of Venice, the Lion of St Mark.
The Excelsior is the posing hub; the party venue.
Venice has 117 islands, 150 canals, 450 bridges, thousands of tourists and a lot of pigeons – as well as 475 gondoliers.
But only one Lido.
And only one Excelsior.
Looking back at the Venetian skyline – away from the perspiring masses and hustle and hassle; the crammed calles and selfie-stick salesmen of Venice – lies the famous sand spit between the lagoon and the Adriatic.
The exterior of the Excelsior
“Fusion of styles”
Founded in 1857 by Giovanni Busetto as Europe’s first public bathing and beach resort, the Lido was soon à la mode from the late nineteenth century.
It vied with Biarritz and Ostend as a magnet for the haute monde. Steamboats began ferrying the rich and fortunate over to the island. Lord Byron chose it as his home away from his Palazzo Mocenigo home. Shelley, Goethe and Wagner popularised it further. Only D. H. Lawrence loathed it. Thomas Mann set his 1912 novella Death in Venice there – at the re-opened (now apartments) Hotel des Bains. Visconti’s film starring Dirk Bogarde came out in 1971.
The private airport of Nicelli opened in 1900. It was the base for the 87th Squadron commanded by the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. One of the main Lungomare beachfront boulevards is named after him. Architects like Torres, Perez, Conrad and Del Giudice show-pieced their Liberty style – not named after the English designer Arthur Lazenby Liberty, but describing a fusion of styles from Moorish-Byzantine revivalist to free-standing Gothic and Art Nouveau.
In 1908, Nicola Spada’s Hotel Excelsior opened – 30,000 citizens and bon vivants attended. But it was the Venice Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia) that really put the Lido and Excelsior on the map.
Started by self-made tycoon-statesman Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932, it was the first international motion-picture event of its kind. In the early days, there were no awards, but films like Frank Capra’s Proibito, Il campione by King Vidor and the first Frankenstein movie were all first seen on the Lido di Venezia.
The Excelsior swimming pool
“Status symbols”
The stars sucked in their stomachs and their gelatos – and threw wild parties around the Excelsior’s swimming pool. And their friends into it. And played golf.
Car-maker Henry Ford was behind Venice’s Circolo Golf Club. Arriving at the Excelsior in 1928, he asked where the nearest links were. Informed there weren’t any, he asked for some to be created. Two years later, the Alberoni club opened around an ex-Austrian fort and former barracks. It has hosted professional events. Hitler and Mussolini once lunched in the clubhouse. Reportedly, a pastry chef tried to poison the former’s coffee.
Bing Crosby and the Duke of Windsor played there.
Byron liked to horse-ride down Blue Moon Beach, but today’s Blue Flags forbid such decadence. The cabinas – beach huts – are status symbols and family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation. A sunbed can cost €100+ for the day.
Most smaller hotels, like the Villa Stella on Via Sandro Gallo, have complimentary bicycles. You can explore the dunes and Pineta degli Alberoni – the pine forests and protected nature reserve at the southern end of the Lido. At the northern end is the Chiesa San Nicolo al Lido, where an annual banquet was held after the sposalizio, the ceremonial ‘marriage’ of the Doge of Venice to the Adriatic.
“Glamour and langour”
The best restaurants outside the hotel are the beachfront Pagoda, La Tavernetta on Via F. Morosini, and Parco delle Rose on the Gran Viale.
After you’ve done the Santa Maria della Vittoria, Il Tempio Votivo della Pace di Venezia, the cat sanctuary and Palazzetto del Consiglio dei Dieci; seen the old casino and ghastly Nazi-era Palazzo del Cinema; and had a Thai massage at the 1907 Grande Ausonia Hungaria Hotel, you have only one route left.
In the footsteps of the A-listers. Up the stairs, over the imaginary red carpet, through the 1914 Louis XV grand hall and onto the terrace for a taste of the Belle Époque and high life – and a Death in Venice cocktail.
The Excelsior is the only place to soak up a strawberry-themed Cîroc vodka martini and the late-summer sun, glamour and languor.
As American businessman Pierpont Morgan said back in 1912: “In America, those who have visited Europe talk more of the Excelsior Palace than they do of the Doge’s Palace.”
As another American, Truman Capote, also said: “Visiting Venice and the Lido is like eating a box of chocolate liqueurs. All in one go.”
More info: www.hotelexcelsiorvenezia.com
Flights: www.easyjet.com
Kevin Pilley is a former professional cricketer and the ex-chief staff writer of PUNCH magazine. His humour, travel, lifestyle and food & drink work appears worldwide. He has been published by over 600 titles.
Frequently Asked Questions about Hotel Excelsior & the Venice Lido
When is the best time to visit?
Late September to 18 October is ideal – the Venice Film Festival has finished, crowds thin out, and the atmosphere is calmer.
Does the Hotel Excelsior close for winter?
Yes – following the festival period, the Excelsior typically closes for the winter season.
Where is the Hotel Excelsior located?
On the Lido’s beachfront boulevard, Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi – facing the Adriatic with the lagoon behind.
How long does it take to reach the Lido from St Mark’s Square?
About 15 minutes by vaporetto (water bus) from the central stops near St Mark’s Square or the canal-side railway station.
How far is the Lido from Marco Polo Airport?
Roughly 30 minutes by private water taxi in a classic wooden launch.
What is the Venice Film Festival and where is it held?
The world-famous festival takes place on the Lido at the Palazzo del Cinema along the Marconi promenade. Its top prize is the Golden Lion, inspired by the Lion of St Mark.
Why is the Excelsior significant during the festival?
It serves as a posing hub and party venue – a focal point for screenings, arrivals and late-summer glamour.
What is the ‘Death in Venice’ cocktail?
A strawberry-themed Cîroc vodka martini served at the Excelsior – a late-summer signature associated with A-list tradition.
What makes the Lido different from central Venice?
It is a ten-mile sandbar between the Adriatic and the lagoon – Venice’s beach district – offering space, sea breezes and a slower pace away from crowded calles.
How many islands, canals and bridges does Venice have?
Venice spans 117 islands, linked by around 150 canals and 450 bridges – with roughly 475 licensed gondoliers.
Is beach access expensive on the Lido?
Premium setups can be – a sunbed may cost €100+ per day, and traditional cabinas (beach huts) are prized family heirlooms.
How can visitors best explore the Lido?
Many smaller hotels offer complimentary bicycles – ideal for the dunes and the protected Pineta degli Alberoni nature reserve.
Are there notable restaurants beyond the hotel?
Yes – beachfront Pagoda, La Tavernetta on Via F. Morosini, and Parco delle Rose on the Gran Viale are all recommended.
Is horse-riding allowed on Lido beaches?
No – modern Blue Flag standards prohibit riding on the beach.
