Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Though they won't book a room for you, the tourist office (see “Getting
Around,” earlier in this chapter) will help you track down hotels within your
budget (and, if you go to the main office in person, will even call around for you).
Bed & Breakfasts in Milan
Milan doesn't go in much for alternative accommodations. There are only 18 reg-
istered B&Bs in the entire city, and few of them are anywhere near the historical
center, nor do they offer particularly good savings over hotels.
€€
-
€€€
There is, however, a clutch of them in the residential district just
north of the Navigli, packed with locals' restaurants and low-key bars, and within
about a 10-minute walk from a Metro stop. Closest to the Navigli are the three
€
120 rooms at
Cocoon
(Via Voghera, 7;
%
02-8322769 or 349-8606014; Metro:
Porta Genova).
A few blocks farther north you'll find the three
120
attic rooms at
Alle Dolce Vite
(Via Cola di Rienzo, 39;
%
02-4895-2808; www.la
dolcevite.net; Metro: S. Agostino),
with a lovely garden. Between Piazza Vesuvio
and Piazza Po,
Bed and Bread
(Via Vetta d'Italia, 14;
%
02-468267 or 333-
8396441; www.bedandbread.it)
offers three small but nice rooms for
€
110-to-
€
100 to
€
110 and a denlike shared living room with a DVD player and low vaulted brick
ceiling. You can always find a handful of other B&Bs, as well as apartments for
short-term let, at the official tourist office site
www.milanoinfotourist.com
and at
the private broker
www.friendly-home.org
.
Hotels near the Duomo
€€
€
(Via Speronari, 4;
%
02-86461125; hotel
speronari@inwind.it; Metro: Duomo)
is where I usually stay when I come to town:
It's a budget hotel—
€
76 for a double without private bathroom,
€
96 with bath-
room—in a deluxe location, tucked into a tiny pedestrian side street between Via
Torino and Via Mazzini near the church of Santa Maria presso S. Satiro. The staff
is earnest, and the rooms are basic but done well: cool tile floors, functional fur-
nishings, ceiling fans, and brand-new cot springs. Even those without full bath-
room have a sink and bidet, and all, save a few of those without bathrooms, have
TVs. Rooms on the third and fourth floors are brighter, and those on the court-
yard are a tad quieter than rooms facing the street (there are convenient trolleys a
half-block in either direction, but they come with a distant but noisy rumble for
rooms on the street side). Credit cards are accepted, but they'll round the room
price down if you pay cash.
55
The
Hotel Speronari
A 15-minute walk south of the Duomo, the
Hotel Aliseo
(Corso Italia, 6;
%
02-86450156 or 02-804535; Metro: Missori)
offers a lot of comfort in addition
to its good location and great rates:
€€
75 for a double room without bath-
room,
€
80 to
€
100 for one with. The management is friendly, and rooms are fur-
nished with pleasant modern pieces and decent beds (no phones, though). Rooms
without bathroom come with a tiny washroom with sink and a bidet, just no toi-
let or shower (large, spanking-clean bathrooms are in the hallway). Rooms on the
street side open to small balconies, but are noisier than those overlooking the
cor-
tile.
The Aliseo—which used to be called the Ullrich—books up quickly, so be
sure to call ahead.
€
60 to
€
