Where to Stay in Milan
On our recent trip to Northern Italy, we visited a few cities of varying sizes, ending our trip in Milan – a fashion capital! We wanted a hotel that offered breakfast, a handy location, and some character. Enter Aethos Milan – my hands down recommendation for where to stay in Milan
Where to Stay in Milan
One of the important things to consider in where to stay in Milan is location. If you look at a map of Milan, you’ll see, in essence, two concentric circles. The inner circle is where the historical and central destinations are, including the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (where the designer brands are), Teatro alla Scala, Porta Sempione, and so many more. Staying in this centro area is best. The public transportation is exquisite (trams and a metro).
The Aethos Milano sits on the edge of this inner, but its actually a fantastic location. You can walk up to the Duomo and surrounding attractions in about 20 minutes, or take the 3 tram (picks up just a block from the hotel). That tram runs every 10-15 minutes.
The hotel is also on one of the canals (designed by Leonardo da Vinci to bring stone in for construction of the Duomo). Just on the other side of the canals are a slew of restaurants. We enjoyed food at Osteria della Darsena (a favorite), Sabbia d’oro, and Le Striatelle di Nonna Mafalda Milano. Each of these is located on Via Vigevano – one street past the rowdier canal street.
Ok. So let’s get to the hotel itself. The hotel is part of a small collection of hotels. There are coworking areas, a small sitting area to order food, a restaurant, a super cute (but totally overpriced) bar, and all the rooms.
Every room has a different theme and different design. We stayed in the ski and the soccer themed rooms – each with a king bed!
Bathrooms are spacious (ours even had a tub, so Con would take a bath!). There’s room for luggage, a TV, and still and sparkling water refilled every morning. Oh. And you’ll never guess – compostable Nespresso pods in the rooms for that first coffee to get you to the breakfast coffee!
I love cooking, but I also love myself a yummy hotel breakfast. And I’m not alone. Last year, in Ireland, my 4 year old started having dreams of returning just for their banana bread (see the best place to stay in Dublin)!
Breakfast isn’t “included,” but there was a great deal to prepay and get the breakfast buffet when we made our reservations – a no brainer. They have this whole spread and then you can also pick one cooked thing off the menu, including eggs, bacon, smoothie bowl, shakshouka, and…
…avocado toast, eggs benedict with smoked salmon, and french toast!! So yum!
We loved staying in the hotel. We were initially worried that it wasn’t “close” enough to the center area, but I think it was just right. It is on the opposite side of the central area form the main train station. You could absolutely take the trams, but we did taxis each way for under €20.
And while there were certainly crowds and party-goers out and about, the hotel was like a little oasis. It’s absolutely the place to stay in Milan.
Traveling to Italy? Get my Italy packing list – perfect for 2 weeks. And stay tuned for more Italian travel guides, including Things to Do in Lake Como, Things to Do in Verona, and Things to do in Bologna, Italy!
