Hotel Aquarius Venice art and space

Hotel Aquarius Venice is a Choice Hotels Ascend Collection property in the Santa Croce district of the city on water. San Giacomo da l’Orio is a vibrant campo/city square where locals gather and children play. We loved our stay at the hotel and found the location ideal for our needs. There are art pieces scattered around the hotel and an interior courtyard with an afternoon bar.

The hotel has three floors. Our room 201 is a second floor room a couple doors away from the breakfast room.

Here is my initial article with photos of Room 201, Hotel Aquarius Venice.

Hotel Aquarius Venice, Choice Hotels Ascend Collection

a group of paintings on a wall — Cruise ship blending into Palazzo Ducale/Doge’s Palace at Piazza San Marco/St. Mark’s Square.

The painting of the cruise ship on the wall of Hotel Aquarius caught my eye. It wasn’t until I watched a tourism video of Venice in August after returning home to California that I truly came to appreciate this piece. The video showed how cruise ships navigate the passage through the Giudecca Canal directly in front of Piazza San Marco to reach the cruise port for old Venice.

Large cruise ships are banned from passing through the Giudecca Canal as of 2021 after a years-long campaign and must now dock at the port of Marghera. Smaller cruise ships are still allowed to dock in the Santa Croce area at the southwest end of the Metropolitan City of Venice.

a group of boats in water — No large cruise ships blocked my view from St. Mark’s Square looking across the Giudecca Canal.

a statue on a table — ‘And walked upon the edge of no escape’

a courtyard with chairs and tables — Hotel Aquarius Venice inner courtyard.

a building with a patio and chairs — Hotel Aquarius Venice courtyard facing lobby doors.

a small courtyard with tables and chairs — Hotel Aquarius Venice

a brick wall with a gate and railings — Hotel Aquarius Venice canal side

a bridge over a canal with boats — Canal view from rear of Hotel Aquarius Venice.

a canal with boats in it — Canal view from rear of Hotel Aquarius Venice.

a statue of a face in a courtyard — Hotel Aquarius Venice courtyard.

There is a courtyard bar in the ground floor of the building on left in the photo above. We never made it there during our stay.

a group of red chairs on a rooftop — Hotel Aquarius Venice second floor outdoor seating area on deck.

a brick wall with a brick wall and a brick building — Rooftops of Sestiere Santa Croce above Hotel Aquarius Venice courtyard wall.

a fish tank with a blue light from the ceiling — Hotel Aquarius Venice lobby aquarium and lighted jellies.

Next to our second floor room 201 there was a large lounge with chairs, tables and books that remained vacant nearly the entire time we were at the hotel. The doors were always open and I leafed through some of the large art books.

a room with a chandelier and chairs — Hotel Aquarius Venice salon

a chandelier from the ceiling — Hotel Aquarius Venice lovely chandelier in lounge.

a picture of a building on a wall — Hotel Aquarius Venice lounge.

Overall, Hotel Aquarius is a hotel I would love to return to again. The staff were friendly and helpful, breakfast had long hours from 7:00-10:30, and our room 201 was large with a great view over Campo Giacomo da l’Orio. Opening the balcony doors wide and soaking in the local sounds of Venice with people gathering during the day on the campo and children playing all afternoon made us feel like we were experiencing something authentic in this city on water where tourists outside vastly outnumber local residents in many areas.

In a city filled with world famous paintings by Giovanni Bellini, Giorgioni, Titian, and Tintoretto, one of my favorite pieces of art I saw during my week in Venice were chalk animals drawn by two young girls below our room windows of Hotel Aquarius Venice.