This article is about a luxury weekend stay at Nolinski Venezia, EVOK Collection, in Venice, Italy.
Nolinski Venezia - EVOK Collection
EVOK is known for marrying modern design with classic luxury, and the Nolinski is no different. The hotel is housed in the former stock exchange of Venice, a fittingly magisterial building on the Calle Larga XXII Marzo, a prime shopping street just off the Piazza San Marco.
The building is enormous by Venetian standards—it was the first reinforced concrete structure in the city—and even with its modern proportions, it retains the ornate craftsmanship characteristic of the Italian city.
The Evok group should be applauded for restoring Venice’s 1929 stock exchange, renewing its life, and preserving its grand façade, original ironwork, and maritime detailing.
As the building is a landmark, the French Italian designers Yann Le Coadic and Alessandro Scotto made sure to preserve its original features: from the grand staircase banister to the original Murano chandeliers, down to the bulletin board in the lobby, a vestige of its days as the Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, there are plenty of new additions, too. The furniture is modern—Art Deco-inspired baby pink velvet chairs line the colonnaded lobby—alongside the classic preserved Murano light fixtures sit contemporary pieces, also made in Murano by artist Mariapia Bellis of Avem.
Each of the 43 rooms, 13 suites, has a unique design and layout. Some have bathrooms as large as the living space with a monumental tub in the center. Others have towering vaulted ceilings or original Murano chandeliers offset by mango wood joinery. But they all share an unerring luxuriousness.
My room—which, even with the beauty of La Serenissima surrounding me, was so cozy it was difficult to leave—was decorated with the hotel’s signature scalloped powder pink sofa and overlooked the Basilica Santa Maria della Salute.
Why book Nolinski Venezia?
For the sake of originality. To surprise yourself. There’s no other hotel in Venice quite like this one. It delivers a fresh take on classic Venetian style – and might inspire you to see the city through fresh eyes as well.
Set the scene
So there you are, just off the water taxi, on the Calle Larga XXII Marzo, in the heart of one of the most glorious cities on the face of the earth.
Before plunging into the Nolinski, pause for a moment at the threshold. Take care not to be swept away by the ceaseless flow of shoppers whirlpooling around the YSL boutique directly behind you; step back, look up, and admire the building itself for a minute or two. You’ll quickly realize that it is an oddity in the overall scheme of this particular street and the city as a whole.
Its elegant five-story façade in a version of Stile Liberty is subtly animated by rippling lines and wavy undulations, rich in maritime associations. Later, once you’ve spent a little time at the hotel, you’ll appreciate that Nolinski’s designers have drawn on those elegant outward-facing forms and associations in all sorts of clever ways inside.
The backstory of Nolinski Venezia
The Nolinski Venezia is the most recent addition to the rapidly expanding French-owned Evok portfolio of hotels and restaurants. These operate under various brands: Nolinski, Brach, Sinner, Cour des Vosges, Bast, and Palais Royal.
Venice is the second Nolinski hotel. The first opened to widespread acclaim in Paris in 2016 and a third in Madrid in 2024.
Food and drink
Although Venice isn’t traditionally considered the culinary capital of Italy, the food at the Nolinski is worth a trip. Overseen by Philip Chronopoulos, the chef at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Palais Royal in Paris, the fare at the Nolinski offers a vibrant, modern spin on Italian cuisine.
Il Caffé, the ground-floor restaurant, is open for all-day dining in its plant-filled courtyard and serene indoor space and serves Venetian food with a pan-Mediterranean twist. Start with cicchetti—Venice’s version of tapas—and progress through particularly delicious yellowtail carpaccio and gnocchi cacio e pepe.
The grander dishes like the lobster linguine and whole salt-crusted seabass are showstopping. A host of desserts are available– including a hazelnut profiterole, a nod to EVOK’s Parisian roots—but the ice creams and sorbets are the real standout. In the main dining room, a cavernous room with a seven-meter ceiling, once the trading floor of the stock exchange, will play host to a Venetian outpost of Palais Royal. It serves an a la carte breakfast, including devilishly rich scrambled eggs with caviar.
No less alluring is the intimate library bar tucked away just off the third-floor lobby. Its cocooning elegance is offset by a ceiling fresco by artist Simon Buret entitled Qui i ricci di mare sono stelle (which roughly translates to “Here sea urchins are stars”). The fresco offers a surrealist take on the celestial, playing off the Murano glass sea creatures and metal octopi that decorate each room.
As befits a library bar, the walls are lined with over 4,000 books, almost half of which are about art, sourced by independent book dealer Anatole Desachy. If you’re really there to read, each evening, the bar features a different subtly flavored water—but the cocktails are unmissable, as inventive as they are delicious.
The spa at Nolinski Venezia
Of course, the most breathtaking view is from the top-floor pool. As the stock exchange is one of the tallest buildings in Venice, the wraparound windows allow for a 360-degree view of the city. It’s a sight to behold—gold mosaic tiles line the entirety of the grey stone walls—and when the golden evening light filters in, the pool is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular rooms in all of Venice.
After your soak, remember to descend to the spa with a program by the Swiss Alpine spa La Colline. This spa offers facials and massages in a serene treatment room with Ottoman-inspired, soothing décor.
The neighborhood
The particular stretch of Calle Larga XXII Marzo where you’ll find the Nolinski is like a mini Bond Street, only narrower and prettier, with no cars.
St Mark’s Square is only a couple hundred meters away.
Harry’s Bar is where writers, painters, artists, aristocrats, kings, and queens would meet. This legendary 1930s bar is known for its past clientele as much as for its world-famous bellinis.
The service
Warm, welcoming, attentive, personal, enthusiastic, and respectful.
For families
There are eight adjoining rooms, which can be further equipped with cots or roll-out beds as required.
Children will be very welcome, and VIP amenities will be offered. With eight hours’ notice, babysitters or nannies can be arranged, and baby monitors can be borrowed upon request.
Eco effort
Evok is big on CSR, participating in an impressive array of initiatives intended to improve the lives of its employees and residents in the communities in which it operates.
One of the Nolinski Venezia’s most concerted eco-efforts involves building materials, notably stucco marmorino and stucco marbro. These traditional techniques do not require newly quarried stone but achieve a marbled effect through a paste made of lime and recycled stone fragments.
Accessibility for those with mobility impairments
For obvious reasons, Venice is a uniquely tricky city for those with mobility impairments, and getting to the Nolinski will take a lot of work.
Once there, however, the Nolinski makes it possible to explore an old building from top to bottom. The entire hotel is wheelchair accessible—even the rooftop pool—and four fully adapted rooms exist.
Pet‐friendly
The red carpet is rolled out for paw pads here—dogs can stay in any room for free and will receive all they need to feel content.
Anything left to mention?
You can’t fail to be impressed by the profusion of beautiful glass objects illuminating and adorning the Nolinski – hundreds of them, practical, decorative, old, new, familiar, and mysterious. So far, so Venice.
Glass has long been the city’s side hustle. But visiting the island of Murano, specifically to see the Avem glassworks where these extraordinary objects were made, will only enhance your appreciation of their loveliness.
Nolinski Venezia - EVOK Collection
What really makes Nolinski Venezia stand out, though, is the attention to detail.
Each suite is already equipped with a Dyson hair dryer, but after marketing director Solenn Gubri realized that people often come to Venice for events like the Biennale and film festival—not to mention the lavish balls—she made sure Dyson Airwrap systems are also available to borrow from reception.
I experienced the beauty of Venice and enjoyed every minute. But I did experience a twinge of sadness knowing that, if I ever do come back, anything but the Nolinski will feel like a downgrade.
Pro Tip: Venice has restricted access from April to July. As a hotel guest, you can enter the city for free—just remember to grab your online voucher first!
