Inside Casa Baglioni, a plush hotel in Milan that boasts beautiful bedrooms, a stunning rooftop bar and a Michelin-starred restaurant

Carlton Reid checks in, describing the hotel as a ‘sophisticated bijou bolthole’ with ‘design-focussed rooms’
The location? It’s in Brera, Milan’s design district, stuffed with fashion stores and art studios
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I have previously stayed at the plush Baglioni hotels in Rome and London and recently completed my hat-trick by staying a night in the chain’s recently opened discreet property in the style capital of Milan.

Billed as Casa Baglioni — ‘casa’ is Italian for ‘house’ — this one is smaller than others in the group and is definitely more intimate, but no less plush. It has 30 design-focussed suites and rooms. I was in a deluxe suite with curvy chestnut wood furniture and views down to Via Fatebenefratelli.

Crane your neck, and at the end of this leafy street, you can see the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan’s historic fine art gallery.

Casa Baglioni is something of an art gallery itself with paintings and sculptures from noted 20th-century Italian and international artists such as Carla Accardi and Hans Hartung. The aesthetic is inspired by Milan’s arty resurgence in the 1960s and 1970s, but there are also modern ceramic and blown glass vases — in the rooms, suites and restaurant — by Gala Rotelli, a young Milanese artist.

A neon lamp in reception was inspired by Lucio Fontana’s chandelier-sculpture in the Museo del Novecento, a 15-minute stroll away.

Carlton Reid checks in to Casa Baglioni in Milan, where he stays in a deluxe suite (above)

A neon lamp in reception (above) was inspired by Lucio Fontana’s chandelier-sculpture in the Museo del Novecento, a 15-minute stroll away, reveals Carlton

Carlton writes of the hotel: ‘It’s a sophisticated bijou bolthole with modern, understated luxury and super-friendly staff’

Baglioni is a small chain, the firm specialises in historic properties. Casa Baglioni was built in 1913 as a townhouse. It’s in Brera, Milan’s design district, stuffed with fashion stores and art studios.

The building was previously the showroom for the German Phillip Plein fashion brand before reopening earlier this year after an extensive and clearly expensive renovation.

The hotel no longer feels or looks anything like a clothing store. Instead, it’s a sophisticated bijou bolthole with modern, understated luxury and super-friendly staff.

The hotel’s Sadler Restaurant, named for chef Claudio Sadler, holds a coveted Michelin star

Chef Claudio Sadler relocated to Casa Baglioni from the canal-side Restaurant Sadler nearby

Baglioni Hotels is a group founded in Tuscany 49 years ago by Roberto Polito and film producer Carlo Ponti, husband of Sophia Loren. Pictured above is Casa Baglioni’s rooftop bar

Breakfast is a delight: it’s delicious, of course, but it’s in a bright, backlit wine cellar, so quite the pick-me-up. (There are no tipples on offer from the 850-label cellar – unless you ask, of course.)

The wine cellar is part of the in-house, 36-cover Sadler Restaurant, named for chef Claudio Sadler, who relocated to Casa Baglioni from the canal-side Restaurant Sadler nearby.

A Michelin-starred establishment that fits right in at this stellar hotel.

TRAVEL FACTS

Carlton was hosted by Casa Baglioni, where rooms start at around £700. A deluxe suite for two in Casa Baglioni Milan costs £1,000 per night in the low season to £1,600 at peak times.

Visit www.baglionihotels.com/branches/casa-baglioni-milan.

PROS: Beautiful, designer rooms throughout. There’s no reception desk — you check in and out while seated on a designer sofa as friendly staff tap on an iPad. Rooftop bar with views over to the Duomo.

CONS: Casa Baglioni is an upscale boutique hotel rather than a grand one in the style of others in the chain. Consequently, it’s more homely than the others – this might not appeal to all. It does not yet have the caché of the Armani, Bulgari, or Mandarin Oriental hotels elsewhere in Milan.

Rating out of five: *****

Baglioni Hotels is a group founded in Tuscany 49 years ago by Roberto Polito and film producer Carlo Ponti, husband of Sophia Loren.

Polito’s son Guido has been Baglioni’s CEO since 2011, although the chain was acquired last year by Mexico’s Palace Resorts, owned by the Chapur family.

As well as London and Milan, there are Baglioni properties in Rome, Venice, the Maldives, and Sardinia, many of them in buildings of historical, cultural, or artistic merit.

Casa Baglioni’s 30 rooms and suites are fitted out by the internationally renowned Milanese architect Francesco Spagnulo.

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