Venice's Lido is the original, the term having been been appropriated by the British to refer to public swimming pools sometime in the mid-1930s. With large sandy beaches (some private, some public) and quiet open space, it's good as a summer retreat from the crowds for a stroll or spot of cycling. Most famously, Lido is home to the Venice Film Festival, which is held here every September. Other than that there's the Grand Hotel Excelsior and Grand Hotel des Bains, the latter made famous by Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. The lagoon side of the island has a Vaporetto water bus stop, from which the main street, the Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, leads to the island's eastern shore, on the Adriatic sea.