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Milan may be one of the big four fashion cities—and Italy’s financial capital—and yet it hasn’t always had a glittering array of stylish hotels to match. Sure, there are a handful of beloved and longstanding grande dames—just look to the Principe di Savoia or Excelsior Hotel Gallia for that—but over the past few years, a new guard of independent, design-forward stays have sprung up too, offering something a little different for the travel visiting once (or twice) a year for the city’s design fairs and fashion weeks.
Here, find Vogue’s guide to the best hotels in Milan, whether you’re seeking a secluded retreat after a day of exploring the sights, or a buzzy see-and-be-seen design stay in the heart of one of the city’s trendier districts.
Casa Cipriani Milano
While walking along the buzzing thoroughfare of Corso Venezia in central Milan, you may find your eye caught by an imposing early 20th-century palazzo overlooking the Giardini Indro Montanelli, the oldest gardens in Milan that surround the city’s museum of natural history. If so, you’ll have stumbled upon Casa Cipriani Milano: the latest opening from the fast-growing hospitality group owned by the family whose history of hospitality extends from the legendary Hotel Cipriani in Venice (now owned by Belmond), all the way to the buzzy private member’s club Casa Cipriani in downtown New York, whose frequent (rumored) guests have included the likes of Rihanna and Bella Hadid. Opened in September 2022, Casa Cipriani Milano sees the group return to its roots, embodying the very best of classic Milanese hospitality and design, while reconciling it with the old-world feel of an English gentleman’s club.
Featuring just 15 jewel-box rooms and suites, the emphasis here is on sophisticated Italian mid-century style: think walls lined with striped wallpaper and wooden wainscoting trimmed with Greek key patterns, crisp white linens custom-made by the historic local textile house Rivolta Carmignani, plush royal blue sofas with white buttons and trims, and black-and-white photographs harking back to the heyday of Italian cinema hung over mirrored surfaces. If you didn’t already feel like you were stepping back in time to a bygone age of high-glamour hotel stays, the arrival of your personal butler to help you unpack will seal the deal. Don’t forget to head upstairs, however: at the Club Restaurant and Living Room on the top two floors of the building, you’ll find the Milanese glitterati tucking into plates of vitello tonnato and rigatoni alla gricia while taking in those dramatic views. —Liam Hess
Principe di Savoia
Milan may not have the same breadth of classic palatial hotels as cities like Paris and London, but if you were forced to pick just one classic five-star stay in the city for a first-time visitor, it would have to be the Principe di Savoia. For while the hotel boasts an impressive history—it recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, and previous guests have included everyone from Queen Elizabeth to Elizabeth Taylor—it isn’t one to rest on its laurels. The decor here may be old-world (think heavy sash curtains, antique furniture, and marble galore) but the service and dining offerings are firmly alla moda.
If you fancy fine dining, there’s Acanto for that—a gorgeous dining room, partly in a conservatory-style setting, offering inventive riffs on traditional Lombardy cuisine overseen by the 33-year-old chef Matteo Gabrielli—but really, you’ll want to find a table at the Thierry Despont-designed lobby lounge or the moody bar, where all the action happens. (Expect top-tier people watching during fashion week.) And if you do happen to be visiting during Milan’s fashion or design weeks, then make sure you pay a visit to the 10th-floor spa with an impressively spacious pool and gym area—and get yourself booked in for one of their world-class facials. —L.H.
Aethos Milan
This 32-room boutique hotel and private club is catnip for aesthetes, decorated with vintage Italian furniture and original artworks. (Even better: Most rooms have private balconies, which are well-suited for quick aperitivo before heading out for the evening to explore the neighborhood.) The property is tucked within the Navigli district, famous for its picturesque waterways and conveniently located near the Naviglio Grande canal.
The on-property restaurant, ZAÏA, takes cues from the Mediterranean (from Puglia to Beirut), with share plates including amberjack ceviche, homemade pici with three tomato varieties, and wild-caught croaker. If your stay lands on a Monday, make an appearance at the weekly cocktail masterclass where you can learn to craft a new beverage. Aethos Milan also operates like a private member’s club, which includes access to club spaces, gym and wellbeing sessions, food beverage discounts, and the ability to use 23 other affiliate global clubs. Members can catch up on emails with a coffee on the sun-filled terrace, watch a film in the cinema room, or savor a long dinner in the members-only garden. —Nicole Kliest
Casa Brera, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Less than a five-minute walk from Teatro alla Scala, but located in a tangle of cobbled backstreets that feel firmly away from the city action, this brand-new Brera gem sits within a restored 1950s-era Rationalist building—and its dazzling design has been overseen by Patricia Urquiola, whose other projects include Six Senses Rome and Il Sereno in Lake Como. The resulting vibe is quintessential Milanese charm, including Fior di Pesco marble, geometric rugs, and green ceramic mushroom lamps layered across the 101 rooms and 15 suites.
There are plenty of nooks for enjoying a meal or drink across the hotel, like at the rooftop restaurant Etereo where Michelin-starred Italian Chef Andrea Berton guides the culinary direction in a setting enriched with cherry red, chocolate brown, and desert sand hues. There’s also a pool up there with sunbeds and sofas if leisure is your day’s main objective. For heartier fare, head to Scena for fine Italian dining, or to Odachi where Chef Haruo Ichikawa (the first Japanese chef to earn a Michelin star in Italy) presents both an omakase and a la carte menu beneath a glossy, mirrored ceiling from which hang custom-made lamps reminiscent of those found in Japan. Expect Odachi, in particular, to become a fashion week hotspot. —L.H.
Crossing Manzoni
Meandering throughout the first two floors of a neoclassical Milanese palazzo, Crossing Manzoni offers an elegant respite in Milan’s city center. (It’s within the Crossing Collection portfolio, which includes Crossing Condotti in Rome near the Spanish Steps, a villa in Sicily, and an all-inclusive yacht that sails throughout the Mediterranean islands.) Those who want to ‘travel like a local,’ take note: Milanese families occupy the remaining floors of the building, many of which have been residents for generations.
There are six rooms (each individually decorated) and the unique floor plan allows for a helpful range of orientations for travelers, such as interconnecting rooms and a two-bedroom family suite. If you happen to snag one of the deluxe rooms, you’ll be treated to a bathroom with hammam and chromotherapy technology. All guests will savor design touches that span various periods and artists, and the historic building is located a brief stroll from a smattering of Milan’s highlights: world-class shopping at Via Montenapoleone a mere block to the right, and the Duomo about five minutes in the opposite direction, to give just a few examples. When you get thirsty, head for close-by Nottingham Forest for a cocktail whipped up by Italian mixologist Dario Comini. —N.K.
Portrait Milano
Under the rubric of their hotel group, the Lungarno Collection, the Ferragamo family has spent nearly three decades moonlighting as hoteliers—but with the Portrait Milano, which opened at the end of 2022, the group unveiled their most ambitious project yet. Conveniently situated between the grand boulevard of the Corso Venezia and the city’s shopping mecca, the piazza at the center was recently christened a public square by the mayor of the city, and will serve as a thoroughfare of sorts. But if that makes it sound a little hectic, you need only walk up a flight to find that the atmosphere of the hotel proper—with its hushed cloisters and expansive proportions—feels like, well, a peaceful sanctuary. (No wonder the priests who studied here in centuries past regularly went on to serve in the highest echelons of the Vatican clergy.)
For the interiors, the Ferragamos enlisted the help of their longtime collaborator Michele Bönan, who blended a sympathetic approach to the raw materials of the building with details inspired by the city’s rich heritage of mid-century design. Rooms come decked out in materials evoking a bygone era of luxury—black lacquer, rattan, bronze—and accented with bold splashes of red (in a nod to the flag of Milan), along with beds dressed in cloud-soft Frette linens and enormous Carrara marble-clad bathrooms with tubs perfect for soaking in after a long day stomping the cobbled streets of Milan. And if you really want to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city? There’s the impressively appointed subterranean spa to check out, with a softly lit swimming pool sitting under the basement’s elegant arches and a head-spinning menu of treatments available from the Longevity Suite, from cryotherapy to multi-day detoxes. —L.H.
Mandarin Oriental Milan
Mandarin Oriental’s sumptuous outpost in Milan is about as central as it gets, with quick proximity to the Duomo, La Scala Opera House, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade. There are 104 rooms (including 34 suites), which were curated by Italian architect and designer, Antonio Citterio, and enjoy luxe touches like custom furniture, marble bathrooms, oak wood floors, and soaring windows.
The property’s two Michelin-starred restaurant, Seta is especially of note—it’s helmed by Chef Antonio Guida who brings contemporary flair to Italian classics. If you’re feeling something casual, head for the property’s garden for aperitivo. Or, for an experience that feels one-of-a-kind, book a seat at one of Chef Guida’s monthly charity lunches held in his private home and presented in a family-style format for twelve guests, with proceeds donated to the non-profit organization, L’Abilità. And for a bit of pampering, unwind from a day of walking around with an afternoon at the hotel’s spa. Might as well book the private wellness package—Dòmm de Milan—which includes a head-spinning array of treatments, from foot rituals and massages to a facial treatment and spa suite with a steam room and jacuzzi. —N.K.
Bulgari Hotel Milan
Thought it may be centrally located, the Bulgari Hotel Milano is just the right amount of tucked-away. A five-minute walk from Teatro alla Scala and the ritzy boutiques of Via Monte Napoleone, it’s hidden down a side street right next to the oasis of the 18th-century garden and arboretum that is the Orto Botanico di Brera. Yet despite its leafy surroundings—it’s nestled within a 43,000-square-foot private garden—the hotel hovers like a glossy spaceship, with a contemporary minimalist edifice of white marble, bronze, and polished dark glass.
Breeze through its doors and you’ll find a more relaxed—if still ravishingly luxurious—vibe: Linen-paneled walls and glossy wood surfaces frame a lobby filled with plush cream sofas and side tables stacked high with art and design coffee table books. It’s an air of calm that extends to every guest room, which feature light, bright bedrooms and moodier bathrooms with enormous, opulent tubs crafted from granite and travertine marbles, lavishly stocked with Bulgari’s lotions and potions. The food here is uniformly excellent too, with contemporary Italian fare—and plenty of Milanese classics, including a fantastic Piedmont Fassona beef ravioli in asparagus sauce—served on Ginori porcelain at Il Ristorante on the ground floor, alongside a bar extending into the garden that becomes a buzzing hot spot for well-heeled locals once aperitivo hour rolls around.
But the real standout? That would be the subterranean spa, one of the few wellness havens of its kind in the beating heart of the city center. A modestly sized (but perfectly formed) jewel box of a spa, its dazzling centerpiece is the underground pool: lavished from one end to the other with glittering green and gold tiles, and surrounded by elegant loungers set against down-lit embossed stone walls. You could quite happily spend the best part of an afternoon down here, sipping on a cup of herbal tea and flicking through a magazine with Bulgari incense wafting through the air. —L.H.
Senato Hotel Milan
Prior to its status as an elegant boutique property in the heart of the city, Senato Hotel Milan was the private residence of the Ranza family throughout four generations. Its current iteration is utterly chic, while still preserving key original details like the iconic courtyard (now with its shallow pool) and the neoclassical façade. The 43 rooms are sleek and modern, with white as the prevailing palette, and handsome textures such as Milanese-style herringbone oak floors and Carrara marble bathrooms. For a room with a view, book one of the lovely terrace guest rooms that overlook the courtyard.
For bites and drinks, Senato Caffè is the spot. The menu is curated by La Cucina Italiana editor-in-chief Maddalena Fossati Dondero and the interiors were spearheaded by Milanese architect Alessandro Bianchi. To paint a picture: guests can choose from several curated areas to enjoy an aperitivo, like the bijou booth seating or a heated patio encircled by hydrangea and ginkgo biloba. As for the aperitivo itself, Senato Hotel Milan’s head barman Andrea Sanso serves five boutique Italian gins mixed into beyond-the-classic cocktails, which are paired with Cerignola olives, Milan-made light chips, and the like. —N.K.
Vico Milano
Intimate and beautifully designed, Vico Milano offers just seven suites. Founder Neri Baccheschi Berti (whose family is behind the much adored Castello di Vicarello over in Tuscany) brought on Sicilian architect, Giuseppe Alito to oversee the architecture and custom-designed furniture for the boutique hotel (the latter were then handcrafted by artisans in Tuscany and Sicily).
The design direction is refined yet full of detail. Look for the bathroom tiles sourced from Fez in Morocco, or the marble table in the lobby. And don’t miss the carpets brought over from Iran or the rattan chairs by Italian designer, Lio Carminati. The site of Vico Milano (Corso Genova 11) was once a factory for Legnano racing bikes. While on property, guests have private access to the house bar, stocked with the family’s range of award-winning wines as well as Champagne and cocktail ingredients. Sip on those with a few cheeses sourced from Castello di Vicarello’s cheesemonger in Tuscany followed by a leisurely sit in the property’s library. —N.K.
Excelsior Hotel Gallia, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Just a stroll across the street from the Milano Centrale station, you’ll find the imposing façade of Excelsior Hotel Gallia: first opened in 1932, it’s one of the oldest hotels in the city and a jewel of Belle Époque and Art Deco design. But you’ll find plenty of contemporary touches sprinkled around the hotel’s 235 rooms and suites, too, from Poltrona Frau furniture to Cassina lighting to Fendi Casa upholstery. The spirit is firmly one of early 20th-century style, with a contemporary twist.
The hotel is also known for its epicurean offering. The rooftop restaurant, Terrazza Gallia, features sweeping views across the always-bustling Piazza Duca D’Aosta in front of the station—making it the perfect spot for a late afternoon spritz while watching the world go by—and the Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant is overseen by chef Enrico Bartolini, who boasts five Michelin stars in total across his various culinary enterprises. The scale of the hotel also means there’s an impressive spa for relaxing after a long day of stomping the Milanese pavements, with Clarins treatments, and an indoor pool, sauna, and steam room. —L.H.
