BAGLIONI HOTEL CARLTON,
MILAN WAS once lined with canals. Who knew? My own source, was Paolo Marroni, a manager at the city’s Hotel Baglioni Carlton, who also revealed that this hotel once sat canal-side, under the name Hotel Senato.
With the watery channels long gone, it now sits on Via della Spiga, one of the most fashionable streets in a city dedicated to fashion — and food. Travelling there with schoolfriend, V, to celebrate our 50th birthdays, it’s the perfect city for a girlie mini break and this was an ideal base.
Neither of us are particular fashionistas — she loves a shoe, but for me food always trumps fashion. In Milan though, with couture eye candy on every corner, even I was won over by the parade of designer dresses, blingy boots and gorgeous garments.
The Baglioni group is a mini chain of nine hotels owned by the Politi family, and this hotel (acquired in 1982) has a charming, old-fashioned feel. Marble floors, uniformed barmen and a collection of wooden desks in the reception conjured up memories of childhood holidays on the Adriatic coast. The emphasis is on all things Italian — it’s their USP. Décor is provided by Italian designers and bathroom products by Italian perfume house, Ortigia.
When couture is queen, staff could have been chicly aloof but instead were smily, charming and helpful. A welcome relief after flying into Milan’s Malpensa Airport and taking a train straight to the city’s beautiful main station during Friday rush hour.
Breakfast foods — from sourdough bread to cute jars of yoghurt — are supplied by local artisan producers. Art all over the hotel is supplied by Milanese gallery, Alidem, and is for sale.
After a quick tour of our slightly bijoux, fifth floor bedroom and admiring the terrace — possibly larger than the room itself — we hotfooted it back down to the bar for a reviving aperitivo.
Not just a drink, but an Italian institution, it could have been invented by Jews, with a buffet of nibbles accompanying your drink. Our waiter made approving noises in reply to V’s choice of a (very Italian) Negroni but was less enamoured of my Apple Martini. I wasn’t convinced either, but V loved hers and made it her weekend tipple.
Although it is said to be a Milanese institution, we didn’t eat in the hotel’s restaurant, Il Baretto. Decorated in almost Scottish-looking plaid and wood, it seemed full each night of smartly clad diners. Nor did we have time to chill in the stylish Spiga 8 spa, which also uses Italian products, alongside a smattering of Israeli ones too.
Instead we explored what Milan had to offer. The hotel is in walking distance of most of the city’s main tourist attractions — the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Duomo, clad, as it is in intricate marble carving; the stunning Sforza castle — a huge 15th century red brick building, packed with artefacts. We took in a huge number of designer boutiques, several museums and the huge temple to Italian food that is Eataly. It’s a chain of department stores dedicated to their own cuisine. I could have browsed and fressed all day. We pretty well did — discovering tasty tramezzini (open sliced of pizza-like sandwiches); gorgeous gelato (the best I’ve ever eaten) and cosy wine bars in which to drink more Negronis and shelter from the Milanese rain.
I would return to the Baglioni Carlton in a heartbeat. Unlike some of its showy, glam neighbours, the hotel’s friendly, authentic and warm welcome is a winning recipe.
RATES: Rooms cost from around £310 per night B&B. baglionihotels. com
VICTORIA PREVER