Milan hotel suggestion near airport
 

Hi - We will be ending our vacation by coming to Milan by train from Stresa. Then we have a 10am flight the next morning to the US. Looking for a hotel for our last night, easily accessible by train. Two options:
1) Was looking at the Sheraton at Milan Malpensa Airport. Can we walk from this hotel to the airport terminal that leaves for US? From reviews it looks very big and sounds like you still need to take a shuttle.
2) Could someone suggest a hotel on a train line to the airport (about 30 min train ride)where we can get up that morning and catch a train to MXP for our flight? Perhaps in an area where we can walk around to a restaurant for a nice dinner for our last night of vacation.
Thanks in advance!

You should just stay in Stresa and take the 50 minute bus ride to Malpensa. The buses start running at 5am, plenty of time to get you to the airport to make it through security. Ask your hotel to reserve a seat for you 24 hours in advance.

Enjoy your last night in Stresa.

Villa Malpensa, right next to the airport, is one of the nicest airport hotels in the world! http://www.hotelvillamalpensa.it

Thanks. I will research both options. Is there info or a website on the bus line from Stresa to Malpensa, i.e where to pick it up in Stresa? Would there be traffic to delay the ride? Flight leaves at 10:20 am. What time would we need to be on the bus?

We have been a couple of times when the airline for a European flight to USA advised us to check in three hours prior to departure. Check with your airline to be sure.We have a trip soon and I need to do the same thing. Also, we have stayed at the First Hotel,www.firsthotel.it/ near Malpensa a few times and were pleased. A very modern, minimalist hotel and good for a night before a flight.

We also stayed at the First Hotel, on the recommendation of Bob the Navigator, and found it very very satisfactory!

We like the First Hotel too. With a 10 am flight I would probably spend the night closer to the airport, especially without a car.

We've stayed at Villa Malpensa a few times over the years, but I notice recent reviews are decidedly mixed.

If you stayed at the Sheraton inside Malpensa Terminal 1, you could take the train into Milan for dinner and a stroll. It's about 30 minutes each way to/from the Cadorna station and about 45-50 minutes to/from the Centrale station. The Sheraton's website says it's within walking distance of Terminal 1, but there is shuttle service (5 mins.) to Terminal 2. If you're flying direct to the U.S., your flight will almost certainly depart from Terminal 1. If you're connecting somewhere in Europe, it may depart from Terminal 2.

http://www.sheratonmilanmalpensa.com/

Here is the link to the Stresa bus timetable, and detailed info about using the bus. The bus leaves at 6.30 am from Stresa and will drop you at the door of your departure terminal with an hour:

http://www.safduemila.com/files/alib...2013.1.28-.pdf

http://stresasights.blogspot.it/2011...ttle-from.html

The chances of a traffic delay are next to non-existent coming from that direction to the airport, and you have plenty of wiggle room arriving that early to the airport.

Up to you, but if you stay any airport hotel other the Sheraton, you will need to take that same bus from Stresa to Malpensa the day before and then either take the hotel shuttle bus to the hotel or a taxi . Only the Sheraton is within walking distance of anything. You really will not get any more convenience or reliability staying "closer" to the airport at an airport hotel and you will have a headache getting to the hotel the day before. On the morning of your flight, you will save you 20 minutes at most, since hotel shuttles run at fixed times and make milk runs. Plus, you will be stuck in an unattractive area of Italy eating mediocre food.

If you stay in Milan itself to get a better dinner, you will need to take the train into Milano Centrale and, unless you stay at the pricey UNA across the street from Cadorna station (which will mean a taxi or subway ride from Centrale Station) it will actually take you longer to get to the airport than if you stayed in Stresa.

People take the bus from Stresa to Malpensa airport all the time. It takes no longer than most trips to a major airport. But instead of going from the center of the city to the airport outside the city, you are going from a beautiful lakeside to the airport that is near the lake.

If you were driving a car and touring some other part of Italy, it might make sense to drive to the airport the night before your flight and drive yourself to the airport the next morning to drop off your car before flying home. But since you are already in Stresa, and there is an airport shuttle bus that can get you to the airport in time, making a difficult shift, dragging your luggage to another hotel for one night -- well, up to you.