trover

I am going to a conference at MiCo Milano Congressi. My wife is going with me. She will not be going to the conference. Anyone have a recommendation for a hotel or area to stay that will meet the needs of near (convenient) to the conference and near (convenient) to sightseeing/shopping?

Southam

I stayed at Hotel Charly last month. It's handy for the central rail station and a couple of blocks from the subway. The area is not chic but comfortable. The main shopping street for brand-name chain stores is at the subway stop and she can follow it towards the centre where the jet-set boutiques are located. Charly is cheap, renovated, and handy for local restaurants. House dog is called Snoopy. Don't miss the downtown Duomo basilica where it is possible to walk on the roof among the gargoyles and statues. http://www.hotelcharly.com/en/

Jean

I'm assuming the location of your conference is in/on Piazzale Carlo Magno. If that's correct, I would look for a hotel in the area near or just west of the Milano Nord Cadorna train station. There are very frequent trains to Milano Nord Domodossolo that take about 4 minutes. From the MND station, it's about 700 meters to the conference center. Your wife could take the metro to travel around the city. The walk from the Cadorna station to the Duomo is about a mile, and about half of the route is along the pedestrian-only shopping street Via Dante. From the Duomo, it would be another 0.5-1 mile walk to the high-end, designer shopping streets.

If you want to view the Last Supper, make timed reservations as soon as you know the dates you'll be in Milan.

trover

Thanks for the information.

trover

So we picked ADI Hotel Poliziano Fiera Via Poliziano 11
Sempione. It seems to be close to the conference center and is on the list of hotels for the conference. Can anyone tell me what kind of an area it is like? I live in NYC (Manhattan), so if you could give me an equivalent neighborhood as an example I would greatly appreciate it.

Ozgirl07

I recently stayed the Hotel Gran Duca di York. Cant say enough good things. Location perfect. Rooms very comfortable. The staff friendly & helpful.

trover

Thanks for the reply; unfortunately that hotel is booked up.

kawh

if it's not too late, i would have picked something closer to the duomo area and very close to the metro... my theory being that you will be all day at the conference, so can just take the metro to your conference... but she will be a tourist all day and would want to have easy access to the room during her sightseeing throughout the day. i could be way off here... don't know the logistics of your conference days.

WeisserTee

When we were in Milan in May of this year, we stayed at the recently renovated NH President and were very pleased with it. Large rooms with balconies, comfortable beds, WiFi included, right by taxi stand, a short (5 mins) walk to the Duomo/galerias -- just far enough to be away from the crowds. The side of the hotel we stayed on overlooked interesting buildings in the courtroom/legal district and there was an attractive traditional cafe right popular with lawyers, judges, court personnel, but not frequented much by tourists.

sandralist

The Milan tram and metro system is very easy and very speedy for accessing the typical tourist sights plus any shopping and you are in a very popular area for bars and restaurants. The hotel is also well situated for several day trips out of town. Having been to many conferences as a spouse, it is sometimes important for the conference participant to meet with colleagues for breakfast and dinner and other outside the agenda events, so if your hotel is well situated for being in contact with your other conferees, that might work out best. Your spouse who has all the time in the world to move about town.

Unfortunately I have never spent enough time in the exact area of your hotel to give you any useful comparisons to Manhattan neighborhoods, but you are right that Milan has a similar construct to Manhattan in that public transport gives you full access to the metropolitan area while being 1,000 times safer. Taxis are not king's ransom in Milan and they can be used to fill in.