ARMANI HOTEL MILANO

Located on the western end of Milan’s Via Montenapoleone, this fashion designer hotel boasts minimalist décor: light sandy hues and beige dominate the rooms, while the modish lounge bar and restaurant have a backlit onyx wall complimented by black marble.  The hotel is set in a building that dates back to the 1930s, a time when rationalist architecture thrived in Italy. A lift takes guests from the main entrance up to the seventh floor, where the hotel lobby is located; from here two separate lifts serve floors two to six, which house the rooms. Designed entirely by Giorgio Armani, interiors feature a minimalist, sophisticated style, in which shades of sand, cream and beige prevail. Via Montenapoleone is the city’s most exclusive shopping street, lined with designer boutiques and major fashion houses. Milan’s La Scala theatre is a stone’s throw away, while Piazza del Duomo and the Pinacoteca di Brera, home to an extensive collection of Italian art, are both a 10-minute walk from the hotel.