From the moment I entered I was at home. At my left were Rosie, Attila, Franco, Gilda and Stefano who greeted me with gusto, offered recommendations-pasta si, risotto no, and from Rosie a hug-molto simpatico!
A doctor friend recommended the Albergo Quattro Fontane on the Lido and I will thank her effusively for the counsel. A short trip on a vaporetto from the heart of Venice, the Lido with its beautiful 12 mile beach, is ideal for relaxing after a day of 'touristing' among the throngs that swell Venice's population from 60,000 to several hundred thousand.
The entrance to the Albergo resembles a Tyrolean ski village. Several buildings combine to offer sixty rooms. No room is alike. They are filled with antiques and collectibles accumulated by the two sisters who inherited the property from their Danish mother and Italian father.
Our second floor home for four days looked out at a 300 year old tree and the brick fireplace where meat and fish are grilled, to be served in the large patio, or inside when there is a chill in the air.
The first pleasant surprises at dinner at the Albergo were Kaiser Wasser and a cabernet sauvignon from the nearby southern Tyrol. From the a la carte menu we selected a platter that included three whole fish grilled outside in the firelace and fileted tableside by sweet Sonia, giant scampi, potatoes and other vegetables. Benevenuto a Venezia.
To prepare for a charged day of touring we wolfed down eggs, bacon (good news, unlike the French, the Italians know how to make crisp bacon) sausage and two cappucini prepared and served by Sonia.
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