Hotel Principe di Savoia

Centrally located in a Neo-classical building with 257 rooms and 44 suites on ten floors, the Hotel Principe di Savoia is this city’s ultimate grande dame, but with a subtle edge.

• The top-floor, 5000-square-foot Club 10 fitness center and spa, including a roof terrace, heated swimming pool, steam room and sauna
• That the hotel is child- and pet-friendly (astonishing considering the lavish surroundings)
• The childrens’ menu at Acanto restaurant and private swimming lessons for kids in the indoor, rooftop pool

Milan’s most prestigious European-style grand hotel is the Principe di Savoia, on Piazza della Repubblica. It’s the anti-Bulgari for those who prefer their hotels with a sense of place. Even the notoriously design savvy, such as magazine editor (and Kate Moss ex) Jefferson Hack and the Dutch design duo Studio Job book rooms here when they’re in town. Nowhere else in the city will you find such a time capsule of a bar/lounge–dripping in Baroque details and topped with an original Tiffany-glass domed ceiling. The deluxe rooms with silk textiles and ornate wood paneling are especially sumptuous, and a welcome change from today’s all-white cookie-cutter hotel rooms. The Principe underwent a large-scale renovation in 2009. Renowned New York–based designer Thierry Despont reimagined the historic hotel’s lobby (now featuring a custom-designed Murano glass chandelier by Barovier and Toso); Milan-based design company Celeste dell’Anna focused on updating the Imperial Suite; and London architect Francesca Basu created nine new suites, called the Principe Suites. Despont’s vibrant new version of the Principe Bar balances the classic and the contemporary, and it remains one of the city’s hotspots. The nine new Principe suites are sleek and contemporary, but gorgeous details including large sitting rooms, Murano glass vases, hand-painted frescoes and marble-clad bathrooms with glass mosaic-accented showers keep the sense of place intact. (Technological updates like Wi-Fi and 32” LCD flat-screen televisions don’t, but are welcome conveniences nonetheless.) Do dine at the Principe’s restaurant, Acanto, presided over by talented Executive Chef Fabrizio Cadei (if you fall in love with his dishes, you can sign up for one of his two-hour cooking classes).

And it’s the 5,400-square-foot penthouse presidential suite—with its priceless antiques, dramatic Murano chandeliers, private spa (with swimming pool, sauna and Turkish bath) and wraparound terrace boasting unsurpassed views—that makes this hotel the property of choice for visiting luminaries from Queen Elizabeth to George Clooney.

Hotel Principe will delight those traveling with children and pets, as well as fans of the grand European hotel experience.