Forstbetrieb

Some pictures of the grand opening:

http://www.glitteringnight.com/app/

remymartin

Looks nice! Which pictures are you in, Forstbetrieb??

hirohito888

I stayed here and took the breakfast. The voucher says "continental breakfast" but it's the same buffet breakfast for everyone, located on the ground floor. Includes hot and cold buffet spread and made to order eggs.

Forstbetrieb

No one. I am more south for the moment.

360guy

Nice photos.
Did you use the parking garage?and what was the cost/day?

canon5dfan

I read in a few SPG reviews there is a Mercedes courtesy car? Can anyone share if all guests can request a drop off anywhere in the city?

canon5dfan

Popping back in to post my review of the property.

This hotel is fantastic. My SNA confirmed me for an executive suite but upon check in the hotel had upgraded me again to a Signature suite! Room was fantastic with a steam room, a huge living room, and nespresso maker.

For my plat amenity I chose breakfast and I was not disappointed. They have a huge selection of food, meats, cereal, hot food AND a custom juicer.

There is a maserati and mercedes with a driver that will drive guests to the Duomo. Unfortunately both days the driver was either out or unavailable. The concierge did tell me the normal wait was around 20 minutes since they're only allowed to drive to the Duomo.

This is one of my favorite starwood properties now... would definitely come back

360guy

I echo these comments.Excellent Platinum treatment. We just arrived for a five night stay. Upgraded to a outstanding 3 room suite using SNA. Outstanding staff. Full Breakfast buffet with custom eggs in main dining room. The car service to the Galleria is a convenient. The concierge service is outstanding.. He walked with us to the train station to get train and Expo tickets .
Three hours at the Expo in the evening is enough
...I repeat again, the staff is outstanding.

dingo

I have two reservations right now. One at the Excelsior and one at the Westin. Both for two nights mostly to see Last Supper and position for our flight back home out of MXP. Me, my wife, and our five year old daughter.

SNA cleared at Westin for a deluxe suite. The description says the room can range in size between 550 and 1000 sqaure feet. Says it has a wine cellar...?

SNA cleared at Excelsior to an executive suite. Size ranges from 538 to 592 square feet.

I'm leaning toward the Excelsior based on newness, proximity to the train station, the Luxury Collection branding, and the reviews here.

What is the butler service useful for , considering this is a leisure trip and I won't need pressing, unpacking, or shoe shines?

Any considerations I should take into account aside from those I mention here?

dlerner

To see the Last Supper you should be certain to book in advance. We used weekendinitaly.com years ago.

Forstbetrieb

First, if you have an early flight I would stay the last night at the Sheraton Malpensa or take one of the cars with driver at the Gallia.

At the Westin is only one suite with a private vine cellar and that's the presidential. The " wine cellar " there is a special fridge with a transparent door near the dining table at the 8th floor, so nothing special at all. And even the presidential suite is not that special. The big terrace with the outdoor whirlpool is nice if you can use it.

Was your SNA only usable for their basic suites at the Gallia? I don't use butlers so I can't help.

dingo

I had a two night award stay at this hotel in early August. I was with my wife and 5 year old daughter. I cancelled reservations at the Westin and the Sheraton based on location (walking distance from the train station...like right across the street) and the desire to splurge. The deciding factor was that two of my SNA's went through while I was on the trip and we were upgraded from a Premium room to a Jr. Suite.

I contacted the hotel via e-mail to inquire about a roll away bed for my daughter. I was told that the cost was 90EU per night for the rollaway. I was also offered an additional confirmed upgrade to an Atelia Suite for an additional 90EU. I decided to take the upgrade, thinking it would have more room for the rollaway. In the end, I was only charged one 90EU fee per night, so I don't know if it was for the roll away or the next level up suite. Shortly after I replied back accepting the upgrade offer, my two suite night awards were cancelled and returned to my account. So either I got the roll away for free, or I got the upgrade to a suite for free (both in terms of dollars and SNA's); either way, I'm happy about how it went down.

The room was great. It had modern furnishings and technology. One annoying part of the technology though, was that there were sensors in the bedroom. When they were tripped, some low level lighting would come on automatically in the bedroom and bathroom. A nice touch, but the lights woke my wife and I up when the other would get up to check on our daughter or use the restroom. I ended up covering the sensors with pillows the second night (they are beneath the night stands on either side of the bed.

The room featured a steam shower. I had no idea what that was. Now I want one. There is a unit in the shower that produces, well, steam. It is amazing!

The location is unbeatable as far as the train station is concerned. It is literally a five minute walk from the tracks to the hotel, and two minutes from the door of the train station to the door of the hotel. It is even closer than the Le Meridien in Frankfurt in terms of proximity to the train station.

Check in was handled smoothly. I opted for the breakfast and was told it was good for two people so we would have to pay for one person.

We were escorted to our room (622) which overlooked the front of the hotel and the train station across the street. It had one bedroom, very large bathroom (tub and steam shower), sitting room with a couch (and my daughter's bed already delivered and made up...a rarity for most hotels to have this there and made upon arrival), a hallway and tons of closet space. There were modern TV's, which we did not use.

We called down for room service one night. How can you resist bottles of Brunello for 45EU?! Even with the currency exchange rate, I can't find a decent bottle in the US for the price they charged for it via room service, and it was beyond decent. It was delivered to us along with the bottle of water and bucket of ice that I had ordered; it was within 15 minutes. It also came with a dinner plate filled with bread, cheese, and meats which I had not ordered and for which I was not charged. Unfortunately, we had just eaten a big dinner and didn't partake of it.

Because of our very early departure out of Milan and the need to pad the schedule for the train, we only ate breakfast at the hotel one time. All three of us were comped. It was a great spread and a mix of buffet and cooked to order. I went to the chef counter to ask for an omelet and was told that I could order it from the waitress. How nice to not have to queue up and wait in line! They had cereals, tons of fruit, smoothies, several hots...great breakfast.

They advertise a butler service. I didn't use it and don't know what it entails.

We ate one late dinner in the bar. We had another 45EU bottle of Brunello, a hamburger, some pasta for my daughter, and I had two servings of a small bites ravioli...it was that good! When one of the servers came over to ask if we wanted desert, my daughter asked if they had anything chocolate. She had meant chocolate gelato but it wasn't properly phrased or understood. The server left and returned shortly with a plate of 8 chocolate truffle candies...no charge. We ate those, and then all ordered gelato as well. Our total tab at the end of that, including the wine, was 86EU.

The location is not that convenient to the center of the city...not at all. So we decided to take the subway. But on the way out, we asked if one of their two cars were available (Mercedes and a Maserati). The Mercedes was so we piled in and were taken to the Galleria and dropped off. The only go to the center of the city, and either drop at the Galleria or the Duomo, which is a short walk from the Galleria. It was complimentary, but we tipped well. We used the car again to get back to the Galleria on another day. On another trip from the hotel, we hopped in a cab and went to Santa Maria della Grazie to see The Last Supper. The cab fare struck me as incredibly cheap given similar journeys of similar length in Paris, London, and Rome this summer. We also commented to each other that we never felt we were taken for a ride in Milan on our three cab rides like what we frequently encounter in Paris and Rome...no scenic route, just straight shots.

At checkout, we hauled our stuff downstairs because we didn't want to wait for a bellman to come up; we felt we were running a few minutes behind our schedule. In the lobby, we were asked if we wanted help with the luggage to the train station. I was shocked! And we accepted. A bellman got a luggage cart, loaded everything up, and escorted us to and into the train station. He took us as far as he could go without having a ticket (in Milan, you can't enter the area with the tracks unless you have a ticket). This was absolutely amazing! I don't know if it is a standard service, but it was well worth the 20EU I tipped him to not have to lug the huge suitcase plus our purchases across the street and the square, and then into the elevators. How awesome!

In all, this hotel is a splurge in terms of points to be sure. But my wife let me know it is the nicest hotel she has ever stayed in (better in her opinion than the Gritti, St. Regis in Florence, Danieli, and a couple Ritz properties). I don't see us returning to Milan unless flights require it (as was the case here), but if we do and if I've got the points this is our choice.

360guy

I echo "dingo's" comment. We had a five night award stay there in July, and were also upgraded to the Atelia suite. Excellent staff and hotel.Well worth the points.

monitor

dingo and 360guy are right on. We are in a Signature Suite at the Gallia right now getting ready for our evening at La Scala and our experience here has mirrored theirs.

We had a three night award stay and used SNAs. We were put in a Signature Suite which is easily among the top half-dozen hotel rooms in which we ever have stayed. Everything has been excellent including dinner the night that we just had arrived on our drive up from Florence. The food was truly excellent and not frightfully expensive.

The Avis return facility was just a three or four minute walk from the hotel and we were nicely driven to our next morning appointment not far from the Duomo in the Mercedes. Perhaps this evening we can get the Mas over to Piazza della Scala but reservations cannot be made in advance for those cars. If we are unlucky, we will take the local taxicab which, as mentioned earlier in this thread, are rather better than in most other cities. We were contemplating calling up an Uber for our ride out to MXP tomorrow morning but now are thinking that a regular cab, at the fixed rate of 90 Euros, may be a very good bet.

Report on our checkout from this excellent hotel along with our ride to the airport will follow in a few days.

Forstbetrieb

http://www.worldtravelawards.com/pro...-hotel-gallia-

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