A Short Walk Down Abbot Kinney

Some of the best hours in Venice are spent on foot, and few streets reward a slow walk like Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It begins a short walk from the hotel and runs at a low, unhurried scale that never quite feels like a shopping district.

What the street is like

The boulevard has an independent streak. Small storefronts trade in design, alongside galleries and restaurants, and the pace stays closer to a neighborhood than a destination.

It is a street to wander rather than to plan. The pleasure is in the drift: a window here, a courtyard there, a coffee carried down the block.

How we'd spend an afternoon

• Start with coffee and let the morning light do the work.
• Move slowly through the design shops, where Abbot Kinney is at its most distinctive.
• Break for lunch or an early dinner. Gjelina, the restaurant that shares our name, sits on the boulevard a short walk from your room.
• Come back after dark, when the restaurants fill and the street settles into its evening rhythm.

Whatever the hour, it is close. That is the quiet luxury of staying here: the neighborhood everyone comes to see is a short walk from the front door, and you can leave the car where it is.