Hotel De La Ville by The TI Review Team

With a fabulous location between Piazza del Duomo, La Scala and Via Montenapoleone, Hotel de la Ville is an exceptionally charming place to stay. Looking back across the centuries, guest rooms are decked out with Italian marble and sumptuous English Regency fabrics, and many have enormous private terraces overlooking the historic centre of Milan. Despite the period styling, facilities are thoroughly modern, with wi-fi and Internet access points (payment required) throughout the hotel.

The hotel's most striking feature is the heated rooftop swimming pool, with a sundeck surrounded by climbing vines and a solarium looking across to the Madonnina on top of the Duomo. Guests at the Hotel de la Ville (and its sister hotel, The Gray) have free use of the hotel fitness centre, with its Jacuzzi, Turkish baths and massage rooms. Other amenities include the Il Visconteo cocktail bar, a popular meeting place, and the cosy L’Opera restaurant, a favourite for local business meetings. Above L'Opera is the Oyster Bar, which seats about 20 and can be rented privately for guests who desire a more intimate setting.