venice

One Cent Rate Is A Costly Mistake For Italian Hotel

Some travelers to Venice, Italy may have gotten a great deal on a hotel room. The Crowne Plaza in Quarto D'Altino, around 15 miles from Venice, mistakenly offered room rates for just one euro cent on its website. The discount rate happened by human error, it was supposed to be a change to offer a two-night stay at half price but instead the one cent rate was up last Sunday. Savvy travelers jumped on the deal and the hotel received bookings for the equivalent of 1,400 room nights. A night at the 151-room hotel normally costs between 90 and 150 euros. The hotel may lose as much as 90,000 euros in the mistake but a spokesperson has said that it will honor the rate for guests with a valid confirmation.

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Tags: hotel, italy, venice

Salma Hayek's Venice Wedding

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Los Angeles may have had the wedding of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag this weekend but the real wedding action was in Venice, Italy where Salma Hayek and her husband French luxury goods tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault renewed the vows they first made in a civil ceremony on Valentine's Day. The couple's ceremony took place at Venice's La Fenice opera house, one of the most spectacular settings in a city full of beauty and romance.

The bride wore a Balenciaga wedding gown with a long veil and her daughter Valentina, along with Francois-Henri's son and daughter from his first marriage in attendance. The affair attracted a rather impressive guest list. Among the stars in attendance were Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Olivier Martinez, Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend, Bono, Gael García Bernal, Enrique Murciano, David Blaine, Ziyi Zhang and even Anna Wintour and former French President Jacques Chirac. The weekend-long event includes a masked ball at the Venice's Punta Della Dogana on Friday night. The AP has a wedding dress picture here.

Tags: francois-henri-pinault, la fenice, LaFenice, salma hayek, SalmaHayek, venice, wedding

Venetian Masks - Decadent Decor

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Art

Venetian masks add a mysterious glamour to any room. Fortunately, you don't have to go to Venice to get them, there are a number of beautiful masks available from Horchow in the $200 - $400 range.

These masks are elegant and rich with history. Venetian masks, traditionally worn in Italy during Carnivale, draw on Commedia dell'arte characters for their designs.

Though you may never find an occasion to wear the dramatic masks, they make for splendidly decadent wall decor. We recommend them for conversation pieces in grand, well-accoutered rooms (and not so much for a child's bedroom, as those hollow eyes can be rather creepy in the dark).

The masks you see are on sale from Horchow for $183.90 and up.

Tags: commedia dellarte, CommediaDellarte, horchow, mask, masks, smallsplurge, smallsplurges, venetian, venice

Ingo Rademacher in Venice Beach, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Soap opera actor Ingo Rademacher has played sexy businessman Jasper Jacks on "General Hospital" for over a decade but his real-life home is more charming than a soap opera set. The LA TImes Hot Property column reports that Rademacher has a cute mini-compound in Venice, California. Rademacher's property includes a four-bedroom main home and two rental units, a two bedroom unit and a one-bedroom apartment.

The main house was built in 2004 and is a modern Mediterranean with high ceilings, a great room and green features, including solar panels, a tankless water heater and radiant heat in the floors. A courtyard offers a place to enjoy warm nights with a barbecue and a hot tub. The master suite includes a Spanish tiled steam shower, bath and infrared sauna and French doors open to rooftop courtyard with a fireplace. The lower level has an open recreation room with wet bar, bedroom and bath with a separate entrance. No pool but it is in walking distance to the beach. This home is listed at $2.599 million. (still at $2.895 million on Realtor.com).

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Ingo Rademacher in Venice

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Tags: california, celebrity real estate, CelebrityRealEstate, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, ingo rademacher, IngoRademacher, soap opera actor, SoapOperaActor, venice

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Venice Loft, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's loft-like house in Venice, California is almost too chilly. The listing refers to it as being Zen-like and it is definitely spare, bare and suited for entertaining if not so much for living. The home's ground floor is open space which could be an office or business. The five-bedroom home has a large open area with a kitchen, dining area and a massive sunken sectional couch facing a huge projection screen. Outside there is a small rooftop pool and a barbecue area. While the main entertaining area is gorgeous, the listing pic of a bedroom looks a bit like a college dorm room. This home is listed at $5.495 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Venice Loft

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Tags: california, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, livework loft, LiveworkLoft, loft, venice

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Canaletto's Visions of Venice Up For Auction

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Two masterpiece paintings of Venice by artist Canaletto will soon find themselves up for sale as Christie's has announced they'll be part of the Important Old Master and British Pictures auction scheduled for December 2nd. The paintings are believed to have been commissioned back in 1738 and have been passed down through family generations ever since, so this is the first time in their centuries of existence that they'll be up for sale.

Canaletto is one of the most celebrated artists of the 18th century, with his works involving Venice being especially popular. The paintings will be on display at Christie's of London from Nov 29th thru Dec 2nd.

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Tags: art, auction, canaletto, christies, masterpiece, painting, paintings, venice

Two Photographers in Venice, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Ann Brenoff of the LA Times Hot Property column likened this home in Venice, California to the the Taybet Zaman Hotel & Resort and certainly it's like no home I've seen in the Los Angeles area before. The home belongs to two top photographers Philip Dixon and Véronique Vial. Dixon is a fashion photographer and Vial is an art photographer who has published several books. Their home is a Moroccan-style palace inspired and created for Dixon in 1995. The walled-in compound is located near Abbot Kinney and the beach but seems worlds away. The three-bedroom home includes a photography studio with natural light and a river-like pool runs through the main rooms, The indoor and outdoor space blend easily into one another. The consistent feel of the home is not lost even in the kitchen which has modern appliances but looks like it belongs to another place and time.

Such a distinctive home is not for everyone. The couple put their home on the market for $13 million in January. It's now down to $8.295 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Two Photographers in Venice

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Tags: california, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, phillip dixon, PhillipDixon, venice, veronique vial, VeroniqueVial

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A Tour of Italy's Poshest Places to Stay

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Books

Anyone with the price of a room can book in at a grand hotel. It takes a little more effort to seek out the truly exceptional places to stay when traveling abroad in the continental style.*

There are some very posh and quite private places in Italy that don't exactly go out of their way to advertise: ancient castles and estates in Tuscany, sixteenth-century palazzos in Venice, and exquisite chateaus like the mountaintop Villa Beccaris in Piemonte pictured here.

In Italian Hideaways: Discovering Enchanting Rooms and Private Villas, out next week, Meg Nolan, formerly of the International Herald Tribune's Milan bureau, takes us on an armchair tour of the best of them. Take a look at the gallery below for an exclusive preview, and start saving up for that trip....

* (with apologies to Tom Waits)

Gallery: Italian Hideaways

Bedroom at Torre Di Bellosguardo, Tuscany.

Tags: italy, palazzo, tom waits, TomWaits, tuscany, venice

Ferrari Boat

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Luxury Cars & Autos

Can't decide between a Ferrari and a yacht? There is no reason to have to choose between the two when you can simply combine them. Artist Livio De Marchi sculpted a boat that is a replica of a full-sized Ferrari F50 out of wood. De Marchi lives in Venice, Italy, and uses his one-of-a-kind wheels to cruise around town. Sadly, there aren't too many other places in the world where a car of this sort would be all that useful. If there were, we would be on a waiting list for one.

[via neatorama]

Tags: boat, ferrari, ferrari yacht, FerrariYacht, italy, venice, yacht

Assouline Venice Special Edition Book

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Assouline's special edition of In the Spirit of Venice by Alexis Gregory is a two-book set printed on thick cotton paper with golden edges, wrapped with soft fabric and contained in a luxurious velvet box. Gregory's book is a reminiscence of the famed city as seen through the eyes of a bon vivant with the love of telling tales of the history and characters of the city. Like all of Assouline's collections, the presentation is as important as the words. You can pick up the ordinary version for under $30 but this deluxe version will run you $300.

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Tags: art books, assouline, book, coffee table books, library, publisher, special edition, venice

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