The Gritti Palace to your right takes its name from the Gritti family, an old Venetian family, the most important member being Andrea Gritti, who was Doge of Venice in the Renaissance, and led the Venetian armies against the League of Cambrai, which attempted to stop Venice’s expansionist goals in France.
The palace became a hotel in 1895, which Ernest Hemingway called “the greatest hotel in a city of great hotels”: What you see up close is in fact the wonderful terrace of the hotel’s restaurant. It is hard to imagine a better spot in the world for a romantic dinner with delicious local food and wine.
At one time or another most film stars, artists and writers have stayed at the Gritti Hotel. Hemingway famously staged a midnight baseball game in the hotel’s lobby—and instead of being reprimanded, the Hotel manager took 10 percent off his bill, since nobody had ever dared play the sport on the premises before. Hence, perhaps, his high-praise for the hotel.
