The Best Hotels in Milan Were Made for Design Lovers

A visit to Italy’s fashion capital calls for upping the style ante. The first hotel from designer icon Giorgio Armani fits the bill. The hotel echoes his signature line of elegant, tailored clothing, from the color scheme (lots of beige, chocolate, and black marble) to the layout (backlit headboards and sliding panels keep things edgy while still functional). Both the restaurant and the lounge offer floor-to-ceiling views of Milan’s skyline, but we prefer to take it all in from the rooftop spa before a decadent meal at Nobu.

Despite its size (124 rooms), Hotel Viu feels like the cozy eco retreat of your urban dreams. It starts with the façade—seven stories of glass windows framed by a vertical garden of ivy, jasmine, and roses—and continues inside, where sustainably sourced wood-paneled walls are hung with art made from recycled paper and neutral tones of brown (coffee; taupe; beige) that keep the atmosphere warm. This is the site of Milan’s first hotel rooftop pool (and it's a good one) but the traditional Milanese menu at the downstairs Morelli Restaurant is just as much of a highlight.

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A leafy side street in artsy Brera sets a serene stage for one of the city’s most sophisticated stays. The interiors at Bulgari Hotel Milano, the hospitality brand from the luxe jewelry company Bulgari, are stylishly subdued: the 58 rooms and public spaces are dominated by black marble, teak, oak and floor-to-ceiling windows that let the light stream in from the private courtyard garden—a verdant setting for an evening aperitivo or fresh croissants at breakfast. There’s also a main restaurant serving seafood-centric Italian plates like anchovy tortelli and langoustine risotto.

Mere months before Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola debuted her game-changing vision at Il Sereno Lago di Como, she opened this mid-century boutique in the heart of Milan. The look is fun and cheerful—think retro geometric prints like grid-patterned curtains and colorful Cassina furniture upholstered in pops of red and forest green—while also social and affordable (as is the Room Mate way).

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Milan’s artsy Navigli district is the ideal address for this eclectic boutique, whose interiors read like the handsome bachelor pad of your most athletic friend. Vintage sports trophies and skis, boxing gloves, suede riding boots, and old-fashioned trunks occupy every nook and cranny, which the owner amassed from various European flea markets. No detail was overlooked: guests check in on barber’s chairs, guest rooms are individually themed (from hunting to racecar driving), and even the Doping Club bar was designed by country club design mogul himself Ralph Lauren.

Although the guest rooms at Fifty House are some of the largest in Milan, their design is somewhat forgettable compared with the hotel's chic, lived-in communal spaces. The ground-floor lounge feels more like a living room with its jewel-toned velvet sofas, fireplace, pop art, and tall dark bookcases lined with everything from coffee table tomes to vases and framed vintage photographs. The restaurant is equally styled, with a glassed-in wall that lets guests gaze out onto the courtyard. In warmer months, it’s the perfect place to enjoy drinks among Milan's stylish crowd.

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If you want to be in the heart of it all, look no further than the Park Hyatt Milano, whose best rooms feature balconies overlooking the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade, with La Scala and Piazza Del Duomo just a few steps away. The bones of an 1870 palazzo have been reverted into a luxury hotel, with a glass-domed lobby “cupola” dominated by a steel sculpture by Anish Kapoor. Upstairs, the guest rooms are visions of travertine marble, Venetian stucco, and hand-blown Murano lamps. Don’t miss the two-Michelin-starred restaurant VUN, where seven- and nine-course tasting menus spotlight Neapolitan staples with a twist like “sweet and salty” caprese and Genoese-style rabbit with provolone and black olives.