I am going to Italy in May 2010. It has been suggested by the agent to stay in the Hotel New York. I have read a lot of negative comments. It is close to the train station but we will be picked up and tranported to our hotel. So that is not a necessary feature. I don't think it is close to the old part pf Milan. I would appreciate any suggestions and/or comments. Thanks in advance. Gail

I have stayed in several hotels in Milan. If you want to be near the station StarHotel Anderson is nice and gets good reviews. I like Le Meridien and generally book on a Priceline bid for a great price.

The station area is a 20 or so minute walk to the Duomo area.

My favorite in Milan is the Park Hyatt but rates are VERY high.

I also had a great stay at the Melia Milano - well connected to the center and a lovely hotel. The UNA hotels are worth checking out - I stayed at the Cusani but it has been 10 years.

We stayed in a very nice triple room for about 60 Euro (booked ahead) at the Ibis that is a 15 minute walk from the Milano Centrale train station. We were just there overnight between flying into Malpensa and training to Florence, so I don't know how convenient that might be to what you want to see in Milan.

ooops sorry, not triple room- king sized bed in that one....

It would be nice if we could edit .....

agent = travel agent?
In my experience when I used travel agents many years ago, the only hotels they looked were the ones that paid commissions. They had little to do with what I wanted.

I always stay near the center of Milan by checking tripadvisor, venere, etc, to narrow selections that meet my needs - not someone else's.

greg, apparently you had a bad travel agent but not accurate to paint them all with such a broad brush.

Are you wanting to stay near the train station? Your post doesn't make that quite clear.

If you are wanting someone where close because you will be catching the train, I've stayed at Mini Hotel Aosta across the street.
http://www.minihotel.it/eng_aosta.htm

If you are planning to spend some time in Milan, then other areas will probably be better.

We will be coming back from Lake Como on the train but will be picked up and transported to the hotel. We will be picked up and taken to the airport when we leave so it is not important to be near the train station. I would like to be in a area that is safe to walk in in the evening and will be close to the center of Milan. The reviews on the Hotel New York are about 60% bad and 40% good. Gail

60/40 is not good IMO.

Have you looked at Tripadvisor? I would not stay in any hotel that less than a 4 rating on this site.

Other sites that have reviews are booking.com and venere.com.

Milan is a big city so if by the center you mean Duomo, there is not much going on there at night. Brera is a bit more interesting in the evenings for walks and dining.

mgquil-- is it 8 Euros per person to take the bus from Airport to Milano Centrale. It cannot possibly be easier; you walk out the airport baggage claim area and the bus is there. An attendant sells you a ticket, places your bag in bus undercarriage, you get in the bus. If the TA is selling you something that exceeds this prices you are wasting money away.

Just stayed at Hotel Gran Duca di York. Very lovely place and just a couple of blocks from the Duomo and most of the things you
will want to see. We also walked about 15 minutes from hotel to see the Last Supper painting. www.ducadiyork.com

My cousin has often stayed here, which is near the station and he's usually happy with it:

http://www.italiancollection.com/en/...ilan-city.html

But my favorite one was the Hotel Straf:

http://www.italiancollection.com/en/hotel-straf.html

The first one is considerably cheaper but the Hotel Straf is just sooooo cool

We've stayed at the Hotel Star a few times. It has a great location just a couple of blocks from the Duomo.

http://www.hotelstar.it/

Yes hotel straf is amazing, but its a totally different price range than hotel ny. hotel ny is kinda an affordable hotel and hotel straf is one of the most popular boutique hotels in Milan.

Check out http://www,choove.com
and http://www.choove.com/blog

they just redid their website and the hotel section is awesome. they give you recommendations based on "it" hotels, choove recommends, boutique, affordable....
And the blog gives hotel reviews as well.

hope this helps.
Have fun in Milan.

Also- i run a blog on Milan ( i am American and moved to Milan and started the blog) places to go, eat, drink, have an aperitivo....
It suggestions on where to go, updated daily. http://www.labellacitta.com

I don't know about your hotel, but in Milan I totally fell in love with this hotel: http://www.italiancollection.com/en/hotel-straf.html

As always, depends on what you're looking for, but this company does have good multi-budget range collection with English native speakers working behind the scenes. They've never steered me wrong!