Ken Bennett visits historic Venice. THE first glimpse of Venice, with its shimmering, pastel-hued buildings, takes your breath away. It offers a unique, almost unreal vision, that has changed little since it was first captured by Italian Renaissance masters centuries ago. This is no ordinary oil painting ... but a buzzing, vibrant place, echoing with life and laughter. And away from the well-worn tourist trails, including magnificent St Mark’s Square with its vast, mosaic-clad church and the Byzantine Basilica di San Marco, even the humblest street gives up marvellous secrets. Dip into beef and garlic meatballs, baby octopus, delicious squid or artichoke hearts that tempt any would-be gourmet from inviting doorways. Leaving the market behind (it is at its peak at 9.30am and all but over by noon) I wandered the maze of narrow side-streets, passing the windows of cute workshops where craftsmen blow glass or make those strange, Venetian carnival masks. One mask shop, noted for particularly outlandish designs, boasted it had made the masks for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s movie Eyes Wide Shut. And, you quickly realise it is an incredibly easy city to navigate, since it is fairly small and the water taxis are easy – and cheap – to use if you want to get somewhere fast. But for something really different, stay at the newest jewel in Venice’s crown – the sublime Hilton Molino Stucky hotel. It hosts the city’s largest spa, first rooftop pool, and unprecedented views and is hailed by experts as one of the “most important restorations in the last 50 years”. The former 19th Century flour mill turned premier hotel now boasts 380 rooms, Venice’s first rooftop pool, and two new restaurants from former Hotel Cipriani alumnus, Chef Franco Luise. The Molino Stucky was Venice’s first neo-gothic structure built at the turn of the last century on the western end of Giudecca, a gondola-shaped group of islands. Today, it remains one of Venice’s tallest buildings and offers aerial views of the city never before seen by an unsuspecting public. But the amazing history lies just beneath the surface in the hotel’s rustic beams, silo-shaped ceilings, pointed turrets, carefully restored red brick facades, lush gardens and tall, narrow windows. The rooftop pool provides sweeping views of the city, linked to the hotel’s new Skyline Bar – a chic new evening venue. And SPAce 1898, the hotel’s 600sqm (almost 7,000sqft) spa, is the largest in Venice and offers a range of treatments alongside a Turkish bath inspired by Rome’s Golden Age. The hotel also has its own landing jetty ensuring a quick, easy transport to Venice’s main attractions. And Giudecca is just a five-minute water taxi ride from the mainland and comes with a romantic history all its own. In the 16th Century, Giudecca served as an exile for banished noblemen – including Michelangelo – and convent-bound women. Today, it is one of the few pockets of Venice to escape the city’s resounding tourism boom. To make a reservation or for more information on Hilton Molino Stucky Venice contact: +39 041 2723311 or email: info.Venice@hilton.com, www.hilton.com/venice For general inquiries about Venice, contact The Italian State Tourist Board: (020) 7408 1254, www.italiantouristboard.co.uk | 
