The oldest part of the complex of handsome buildings that makes up Bulgari Hotel in Milan was a 17th-century monk’s quarters. Over the course of the last few hundred years it may have changed from monastery to high temple of style, but the hotel still retains some of the sense of sanctuary – if in a rather more glamorous and luxurious way.
You enter into a lobby that’s all sleek, black tiling underfoot with chocolates and taupes on the walls and soft furnishings. It is, needless to say, very stylish indeed. There are plenty of leather sofas (and even a fire in winter) to allow you to admire it – and its beautiful human occupants – or thumb through a coffee table book, in comfort.
As with the common areas, the rooms at Bulgari Hotel are glossy, clean-lined and wonderfully luxurious feeling with their opulent fabrics, their handful of clever techno touches and their marble bathrooms stuffed with Bulgari smellies. Teak balconies open out onto either views of the quiet courtyard, a private (and expansive) gardens or a typically Milanese rooftop scene. Either way they make for an attractive sight to throw open your windows to first thing in the morning.
Aside from the gym and a spa and pool area clad in mosaics, Vicenza stone and Turkish Aphyon, there’s an excellent restaurant and a buzzy bar. The former specialises largely in light (fashion-friendly), fresh takes on Italian classics, while the latter is a gloomily lit oval-shaped early evening aperitivo hotspot. The bar opens up onto a terrace and gardens (the hotel is surrounded by 4,000 square metres of them) and you can sip a cocktail and dine out amongst the sculptures and artfully trimmed trees and privet hedges on summer evenings. The only slight downside to Bulgari Hotel is that it’s ruinously expensive. But then haute hotel couture, like its fashion counterpart, always is…
What’s hot?
- The gorgeous interiors throughout
- The ornamental gardens
- The beautifully dressed (and handsome) staff - and the superbly unsniffy service they provide
- The personal shopper service
What’s not?
- The price
Need to Know: Bulgari Hotel
Number of rooms: 52
Check-in/check-out times: 1pm and 12noon
Room service: Yes
Swimming pool: Yes. A beautiful lapping pool
Spa: Yes. There’s a lovely spa and decent fitness centre
Dogs welcome: Yes
Eating and drinking: Il Ristorante serves a range of simple but beautifully prepared pasta, and classic Italian meat and fish dishes, while the bar does a nice line in light bites and fabulous cocktails. For the seriously swankily-inclined the special ‘Bulgari Breakfast’ comes complete with Beluga caviar.
Near to? The hotel is just around the corner from the Opera House, Monte Napoleone and the Quadrilatero d'Oro.
Getting there: Malpensa Airport is around a 50-minute drive/cab ride from the Bulgari Hotel; the train station is about 10 minutes away.
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