IC Bellagio is the world’s most specialized, custom travel advisor company, creating
exclusive experiences and itineraries in Italy. Their luxury advisors recommend Hotel Londra Palace Venezia.
Thinking of popping the question? Inspired to walk down the aisle? What better place to “take the plunge” than the watery world of Venice, Italy? There won’t be a dry eye in the house at your canal-side ceremony!
IC Bellagio (I.C. stands for “Italian Connection”) can get you coupled in Venice, the historic hometown of Casanova. The legendary lover, since 1742, has represented romance in Venice long before the elaborate Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sanchez wedding – circa 2025.
Here Comes the Bride…on a Boat
As one of the world’s wealthiest men, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos could have staged his wedding anywhere, including in orbit aboard his Blue Origin space rocket. But he chose Venice’s San Giorgio – a small island across the lagoon from Hotel Londra Palace Venezia.
“Imagine beginning your wedding experience on a water taxi with a bottle of champagne, strawberries, and chocolate. That is where everything starts. That is a day you will remember, and talk about, forever…and it is in Venice,” said Annimi Schifferegger, sales manager for Hotel Londra Palace.
Two-thirds of the 52 suites in this Venice insider’s chic hotel overlook the dome of Chiesa San Giorgio Maggiore across the water from the Londra Palace’s position on the popular Riva degli Schiavoni.
“The remaining rooms have views of the romantic rooftops, churches, tower bells, and beautiful squares.”
Roof With a View
Reception Manager Nicola Lucatello guided me up to see the rooftop patio, which is private for hotel guests. From there, I saw vaporetto waterbuses at the docks in front of Londra Palace ferrying guests to San Giorgio and singing gondoliers gliding couples into canals and ultimately under the Bridge of Sighs.
Londra Palace is a short stroll down the promenade to Venice’s main attractions: Piazza San Marco with its basilica and Doge’s Palace.
A little further along the lagoon, souvenirs and artwork – such as creations painted on-site by the charming artist Picchio Santangelo – are sold along the Giardini Ex Real before you reach Harry’s Bar. This bar, the birthplace of the Bellini, is where the newlyweds Bezos were seen having lunch.
“I would have introduced Mr. and Mrs. Bezos to our bar manager here at Londra Palace, Marino Luchetti, who creates an amazing Aperol Spritz by adding a few drops of Tabasco and a little ginger beer, instead of Select, to his version,” said Schifferegger.
Since its opening in 1853, other successful, significant figures have enjoyed the haute
hotel’s hospitality.
“The Russian composer Tchaikovsky wrote his most famous symphony here; French writer Jules Verne; Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio; and we are conversing in a renovated suite dedicated to Argentinian scholar Jorge Luis Borges. The light-blue and grey and green colors in here remind me of the lagoon just outside the balcony.”
“Did Vivaldi have a spritz on your patio?” I joked (the Venetian composer died in 1741.)
“Maybe the ghost of Vivaldi,” she allowed with a grin.
Spritz and Sip
Friendly, impossibly good-looking Londra Palace Concierges Andrea Padoan and Ilaria Dionori steered me for a spritz. They kindly charged my mobile phone while I drank it in the stylishly contemporary bar, joining the ranks, in my imagination, of the historical figures.
“‘People make the difference’ is the motto of our general manager, Alain Bullo, who has represented this beautiful property for 20 years now. He is always in the lobby, greeting people like a great ambassador and making sure everything is okay. So, we welcome many couples and families who, for years, are returning guests,” said Schifferegger.
“Sometimes we ask them, ‘Don’t you ever want to try one of the other beautiful hotels in town, just once?’ They refuse!”
IC Bellagio is the world’s most specialized, custom travel advisor company, creating
exclusive experiences and itineraries in Italy. Their luxury advisors recommend Londra Palace Venezia among their 12 prestigious “Insider” properties, which exemplify impeccable service and an unforgettable experience.
“It is a big sense of pride to be selected from thousands of hotels and have the opportunity to work with IC Bellagio,” Schifferegger said.
Schifferegger recently went to IC Bellagio’s Lake Como headquarters to meet with the company’s founder, Andrea Grisdale and her team of guest ambassadors who craft itineraries featuring “skip the line-style,” access to otherwise impossible experiences.
IC Bellagio’s personal and professional relationships with Italy’s most desired travel providers, expert guides, and hotel properties, plus the company’s status as part of the international Virtuoso travel network, give their clients VIP treatment with the best suites and services.
Wondering About the Wedding
One of IC Bellagio’s longtime logistical guest ambassadors is Giulia DeCarolis. Her husband owns the Corte Loredana guesthouse in Venice’s Cannaregio neighborhood.
Concerning the Bezos wedding buzz about the crowds and celebrities possibly choking the canals, DeCarolis expressed the attitude of most practical locals by saying, “It is two days. Venice will survive.”
Schifferegger concurred. “Venice goes through bigger events each year: Festa del Redentore, the Carnival, bringing so many people from all over the world, the Venice Film Festival, La Biennale and mass tourism in general.”
But she described genuine Venice as a smaller, slower world. “If you miss the boat, your legs can take you. And when you walk inside the tiny streets, you become part of the local community because you happen to meet with these nonnas helping their grandchildren go to school.
You see Venetians buying fruits at the grocery stores. In the local area called Castello, you can sit in a small bar and have a cappuccino and talk. This is something that makes things very special in Venice. That is the strength of this beautiful yet fragile city.”
Read more of Michael Patrick’s work at The Travel Tattler and contact him at MShiels@aol.com. Order his book Travel Tattler – Less Than Torrid Tales at https://amzn.to/3Qm9FjN
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