This incredible city is like no other. Built on stilts over water, Venice is a truly magical place. Typically known for romance, we can assure you that it’s also the perfect place to host your delegates for a corporate retreat. 

On our most recent visit, we were lucky enough to stay at Hilton Molino Stucky Venice, a 5* hotel based on Giudecca island, overlooking St. Marco. 

Following a boat trip taking you from the airport directly to the hotel, we were welcomed with sparkling wine on the hotel rooftop and a delicious buffet with fresh pasta and focaccia. We were then whisked across to St. Marco, one of the most popular tourist spots in Venice for a guided walking tour. Our guide showed us all of the best hidden-secrets, which you could easily miss if you didn’t know where to look.

At the end of our guided walking tour, we were taken to a very special shop filled with a variety of traditional masks. At the back of the shop there was a workshop space, where we had the opportunity to decorate our own Venetian mask. We learned about the history of Venice and how the masks were used in the past at parties and still used today for their annual carnival.

Our favourite day on the trip, however, had to be our visit to Murano Island to see the glass-blowing factory followed by lunch on Burano Island (a picture perfect place with houses in an array of colours). We had lunch at ‘Da Romano’ with burrata starter, pasta main and tiramisu for dessert. We then continued our adventures out on the water, but this time in one of the famous gondola boats. Considering it was February, we were fortunate that the sun was shining making it easy to get beautiful shots of the city as we cruised along the canals.

We then returned to the hotel for a moment of relaxation, getting to enjoy the rooftop once more. It felt too soon for it to be our final night on the programme, but it didn’t disappoint. We had dinner at the hotel’s most popular restaurant accompanied by performers in traditional attire – red and white stripes with straw bowler hats. It wasn’t long before we were all up singing and dancing along to the guitarist, accordion player and singer.

Whilst our 48 hours in Venice was quite leisurely, we got to see lots of impressive meeting spaces along the way. So whether you are looking for a meeting for 10 people or 1000 people, there are plenty of options in Venice which you can consider.