Rating		Reviewer from : TR
Great Places to stay We loved the hotel

Rating
"We loved this hotel" Wow, having read through the reviews posted by other travellers, they could be writing about completely different hotels. It seems you either love this hotel or hate it. My husband booked it and I had not seen any photos or reviews before we went so had no expectations either way. The hotel was in one of the less busy parts of the city within a short stroll from the metro station which links you to the whole of Milan via different lines. Drinks at the bar are expensive, but there is a supermarket very close by so we stocked up on wine at incredibly low prices and brought it back to our room. I thought the foyer very impressive with its colour scheme of black, cream and terracota marble. Our room was clean, comfortable and we were welcomed with a selection of delicious chocolate, cakes and pastries in the room. There were also tea and coffee making facilities which I really appreciate. We booked a standard room and were offered an upgrade on arrival for 60 euros per night which we took. This put us on the executive floor with free access to the gym (which we didn't use), free internet access and use of the private breakfast room which was also open for afternoon tea. The bed was huge and extremely comfortable. and, as one previous reviewer said, you could choose from six different types of pillows and four different materials for sheets. Never seen that facility before. I also read the review from a traveller who said that there was nothing to do in Milan and it was boring. One man's meat is another man's poison as the saying goes. Milan is a huge, bustling, vibrant and cosmopolitan city. Parts of it are picturesque and parts definitely not. I am interested in museums and architecture, not everyone's bag I know, but it does for me. We went to the Duomo (Cathedral) and found it breathtaking. If you go, take a trip up to the roof and you can walk around three sides of the Cathedral. The views of the city from here are magnificent and to be up close and personal with the masonry and carvings is wonderful. If you like renaissance art then visit Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and Pinacoteca Brera. You will see paintings by Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello and Botticelli amongst others. As we went in March, there were very few other visitors so we could browse at leisure. The Italian lakes are a short train ride away. We went to Lake Como which is said to be the prettiest and it certainly lived up to its name. Very picturesque. George Clooney has two villas on the lake. It was a 25 minute journey by train from the Central Station. You could also take a trip to Lake Garda which is the sportiest with many water sports. There are various other smaller lakes well worth visiting. The highlight of our trip was seeing Da Vinci's Last Supper in the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church. You are advised to book well in advance (six months) to be sure of getting a ticket but we were lucky in that we booked tickets over the web two weeks before our visit and they were ready for us to pick up. It was an amazing and very humbling experience to stand in the very place that Da Vinci created his masterpiece. The fresco is in a far better state of preservation that I thought it would be and I would really recommend that you try to see this. Designer shops abound in Milan and there is a thriving cafe culture, especially around the Duomo. Do check prices before ordering. We went to one place where the food was very reasonable but the cheapest bottle of wine was 47 euros. No thanks!

Rating
"Fantastic Hotel" We loved this hotel. It was one of the top three hotels we stayed in during our 12 city European trip. We stayed here for 3 nights in October 2006 and had the same first impressions as other reviewers. From the street the hotel looks like a large 5 story office building, but once inside, you step into a truly magnificent hotel lobby with black marble everywhere. We were placed in an enormous room on the first floor. The room contained a king size bed, upholstered headboard and a separate sitting area with sofa, coffee table, desk and chairs. The bathroom was large and completely covered in marble. Robes and slippers were included, and the air conditioning in the room worked extremely well. The main negative is the hotel’s location. It’s near San Siro football stadium, in the northwest part of the city, and the neighborhood doesn’t have many restaurants, shops, or bars. There’s a supermarket about a block and half away called Esselunga, where we found great wine, cheese, and fruit, as well as ingredients for terrific ham and cheese sandwiches. Also, the Metro stop is about a block away, and it will quickly take you into the heart of the city. The Metro is really easy to use, and all the stations we used were modern and immaculate. Taxis into the city are also fairly inexpensive (between 10E and 15E). A couple of other negatives are the high price to use an internet station ($1 or so per minute) and the mini refrigerator in the room. There are pressure pads under the stocked items in the refrigerator, and if you move any of the items (for example, to put some cheese in there), your room will be billed for the item that was moved. As an aside, we could not find an internet café anywhere. That struck us as very strange for a city that’s the economic heartbeat of modern Italy. The included breakfast was a truly sumptuous buffet of cereals, fruits, juices, bread, pastries, and a separate station of healthy food options. There’s also a hot food area with meats, seafood, vegetables, and an area where you can order omelettes with a variety of fillings. It’s such a pleasure to eat eggs that really taste like eggs as opposed to the mass-produced eggs in US supermarkets. However, we have yet to find a croissant in Italy that’s comparable to anything in Paris. There’s a fitness center in the basement, which was well equipped. The extra costs for using hotel facilities that other reviewers have complained about would annoy us, too, but we found an amazing price for our room, including breakfast and access to the fitness center, on the internet. Milan itself was not terribly interesting. We were entranced by DaVinci’s “The Last Supper” and would return to Milan on a day trip from elsewhere to see it again. We also enjoyed seeing Don Giovanni at Teatro alla Scala. We found one good trattoria, called Trattoria Della Pesa, courtesy of one of the hotel’s desk clerks. It’s not that easy to find, but is well worth the effort. My wife had a veal chop alla Milanese which covered the entire plate and was superb. All in all, we would gladly stay at Melia Milano again, especially at the price we paid, but only if we had a reason to stay in Milan again.

Rating
"good" Good hotel bit far from centre but good food and service. Would go again

Rating		Reviewer from : WYNYARD TEESSIDE
Fantastic Stay We have stayed in a Sol Melia before in Spain. We specifically requested for Melia Milano to be booked for us by ebookers after reading some good reviews about it . This booking was done by ebookers through Gullivers travel. Though there were problems with the booking done (it was cancelled by mistake by someone in Gullivers), this was sorted out at check-in by the hotel front desk staff. We went from Fri 28th July - Mon 31st July (to celebrate my birthday) ...had a fantastic time. We couldn't ask for more regarding the hotel location ... its located in a quiet residential area and 3- 5 mins walk to the metro which goes everywhere. If you are the sort of person that likes to be where everything is happening at the same time (I mean lots of noise), this may not be the best place for you. We were able to go to different places easily ...Duomo, Stazione Centrale, etc. The room we stayed was great (Junior Suite) ...it was cleaned everyday , beddings changed every day ... besides the cleaning done in the morning, the maid comes every evening to prepare the room for bedtime, cleans teh toilet, make the bed etc. Quite nice and posh ... we had nice fluffy immaculate white towels, bathrobes, fluffy slippers, shampoo, shower gel, after shave , comb, toothbrush/toothpate, etc. We will definitely go back there again, next time, we won't have to pack so much luggage. The staff (front desk, concierge, restaurant) were very friendly, nice, polite and very helpful. They all exceeded our expectation ...this is all about customer satisfaction. Did we tip them big time? You bet! We had a nice time in Milan altogether and we'll definitely stay in Melia Milano again.

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