Hi everyone...

Will be going to Milan for 1 night, and 2 nights in Zermat next April 2006. Any recommendations for hotels or B&B's would be greatly appreciated. Would love a fantastic view of the matterhorn. Thanks,
Phyllis

http://www.zermatt.com/

I'm booked into the Hotel Alfa (***) for next weekend:
"one twin-bedded room with balcony to the south side and a fantastic view of
the Matterhorn"
for CHF180 (approx $140)/night

http://www.reconline.ch/metropol/alfa/gesamt.htm

Hi,
stayed last week in the melia hotel in Milan...about 15 minutes by underground from the center of town but a very nice hotel where good rates can often be obtained by booking over the web.

http://www.solmelia.com/sol/hoteles/...?idSolRes=6401

You have not given a budget, so my suggestions may not be what you are looking for. Click on "hotels" above to get Frommer's choices in Zermatt and Milan and to read some reviews. Other good sources for hotels are frommers.com and tripadvisor.com

1. Zermatt

There are many good hotels in Zermatt. Some to consider, in my order of preference, are:

Rifflealp 2222m (go to www.zermatt.ch/riffelalp or http://www.seilerhotels.ch)
Romantik Hotel Julen (go to www.zermatt.ch/julen)
Riffleberg (www.matterhorn-group.ch.

The Rifflealp and Riffleberg are great if you want to spend all your time IN the mountains, (whichi is my preference, and really better if you want to hike/walk as opposed to just shop in town) as they are not in town but is up on the Gornegrat, you need to take the little train up the hill, the price is bout US$30 each way without any discount card (the Rifflealp hotel includes your arrival trip up and down as part of the room price). Stunning Matterhorn views from both. The Riffllealp is 5 star, lovely luxury hotel, great food and great walks from there. The Riffleberg is a 3 star, I have only seen the restaurant (which is good), but I sure it would be fine. If you want to be in town, then the Julen is the better choice. We stayed in one of their top-floor junior suites (Room 404) with two balconies which each had great Matterhorn views, but their double rooms looked nice as well if a bit smaller. They have a nice spa/wellness area with indoor pool (as does the Rifflealp) and a good restaurant. The Rifflealp and Julen have a copious and good breakfast buffet included in the room rate.

Other luxury hotels to consider in town are the
Hotel Monta Rosa (go to http://www.seilerhotels.ch) or
Mount Cervin (go to http://www.seilerhotels.ch)

2. Milan

In Milan, some suggestions would be:

Grand Hotel et De Milan
29 Via Manzoni
Milan 20121
Tel 39-02723141
Fax: 39-0286460861
http://www.grandhoteletdemilan.it/

A lovely hotel in more typical charming Italian style. Quite famous. Verdi lived here at one point. Walkable to Duomo, etc. Great staff. Rooms start at about €400

The Gray Hotel
Via San Raffaele
20121 Milano
Tel. 39-027208951
Fax. 39-02866526
www.hotelthegray.com

Fashion-forward hotel about 50 feet from the Duomo. Small but very cool bar, small and good restaurant. Rooms have flat screen TVS and other modern techno stuff. My room had its own small gym. Room size varies a lot. It is part of Design Hotels.

Spadari al Duomo
Via Spadari, 11
Milan 20123
tel.: +39-0272002371
ax: +39- 02-861-184
http://www.spadarihotel.com

This hotel gets great reccos on tripadvisor.com. Next door to Peck's Deli, which is worth a trip in itself. Near Duomo. Note that there are some comments on tripadvisor.com about "older" rooms.


Antica Locando Leonardo
78 Corso Magenta,20123
Tel: 39-02-463317
Fax: .39-02-48019012
http://www.leoloc.com/indexen.htm

Good review on Frommers.com. This is near Last Supper and short walk to Duomo.

I highly recommend Romantik Hotel Julen in Zermatt, where we've stayed twice. The first time we arrived in a heavy fog and it was beginning to get dark. We went to bed with me grumbling that we seemed to be surrounded by buildings and we were only on the first floor, so obviously we wouldn't have a view of the Matterhorn. When I awoke in the morning and opened the draperies, I nearly fell over. The view was spectacular and I felt it was practically on top of us.

The food is good there too, and although they may require half pension, you have the option of eating in two restaurants.

We stayed in Romantik Hotel Julen a couple of years ago and loved it. They have a gorgeous spa beautiful grotto like aromatherapy room/steam room/rain shower and pool that you can use without charge as well as massage for an extra charge. The rooms were very cute also. I remember it was not expensive at all. However, we did find the restaurants in Zermatt a tiny bit more expensive than general in relation to quality of food, choice and ambiance around there, so Patrick's advice about taking half board may be an idea!

WOW!!! Thanks everyone for the wonderful suggestions for our trip to Milan and Zermatt. The information is very valuable to us. I am going to check out all of your suggestions. Many thanks again.
Phyllis

Hi everyone,
I just want to thank you all again for all your suggestions. I was able to make reservations at Romantik Hotel Julen for next April. There will be 4 of us and we are promised a superior double room, with a full view of the Matterhorn. We are really excited and cannot wait for our trip. Now I have to make reservations in Milan.

Phyllis

If the 4 of you are planning to stay in one room, just so you are not disappointed, please have the hotel confirm the size of the room in square meters or square feet and the types of beds. You rarely find rooms in Europe that have two double beds as you may be used to in US hotel rooms. Room size in Europe tends to be quite small, and bends tend to be a European double, which is smaller than a US double (more like what you might call a "full size" bed), which is a bit tight for two people who are not married or like each a lot. If the room size is less than 35 square meters (350 square feet), IMO, 4 people are going to be quite tightly packed in with luggage. The room may also be set up so that there is one double/king/queen bed and 2 roll away cots, which is also going to be a bit tight if the room is small. You may want 2 rooms.

Phyllis that sounds wonderful. I loved Romantic Hotel Julen. Make sure to bring your swimsuits - the pool is gorgeous. Also, if you bring your own little spa products, scrubs, face masks etc. you can really make good use of their beautiful spa/sauna area - its amazing!

hi,
in regard to 4 of us going to Zermatt, we have 2 doublerooms reserved for us. We are not all staying in the same room.We did make reservations for half board. Included in the price is a full buffett breakfast, and a 5 course dinner each evening. The price was great for all that. Thanks again to everyone. Now it is on to Milan for one night, and 2 nights in Stresa. Any recommendations would be great.
Phyllis