Mandarin Oriental takes over Venice’s San Clemente Palace hotel from Kempinski

I’m old enough to remember when the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel chain used to add one hotel every three years, if you were lucky.

Now it is more like three hotels every single year. London alone will soon have three Mandarin Oriental hotels when Bankside Yards is completed.

The group recently took over two of our favourite hotels from The Set Collection – Hotel Lutetia in Paris which I reviewed here and The Conservatorium in Amsterdam which Rhys reviewed here.

It has just announced that it has taken over management of the San Clemente Palace hotel in Venice from Kempinski.

Readers may remember that this was originally a St Regis hotel when it first adopted an international brand, but it threw in the towel very quickly. The combination of seasonal operation – which made it difficult to retain staff – and its location on an island in the lagoon took their toll.

Mandarin Oriental has taken over with immediate effect. A renovation will start in November after it closes for the winter, to be completed in three phases.

It will not carry the Mandarin Oriental name until it reopens in April 2026, although it is bookable on the MO website.

This is a blow for Kempinski, which saw the resort as one of its European flagship properties alongside the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, reviewed here.

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