360guy

Thank you for the translation. I am looking forward to my stay next July.

Quasiconvexity

Can anyone compare this to the PH Milan, both in terms of the property as well as location etc? Trying to decide between the two for an upcoming trip.

Forstbetrieb

The Park Hyatt is located near Duomo and directly to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II ( across a small street ) while the Excelsior Gallia is located at the Piazza Duca d'Aosta near Stazione Centrale ( Central Station ).

From the Stazione Centrale you have four stops with the metro to the Duomo. Costs roundabout 1 € per person and way.

The Excelsior Gallia is brand new reopened, everything inside is new. It will have also a nice swimming pool, a rooftop bar and a rooftop restaurant. If I remember correctly within the next few weeks / months the hotel will be opened completely.

To be fair I should say I don't like the Park Hyatt at all, but I was there the last time in 2010...

So it is your decision but I would go for the Excelsior Gallia.

missmelon437

Thanks for your notes. Just booked! PH was not available so back to SPG for now

canon5dfan

Similar situation, I was planning on booking a night stay at the PH milan but they were unavailable so switched to this.

Has anyone had any experience with using the SNAs? Am also looking for upgrade experiences for Plats. If they're easy to come by I may save my SNA

UrbanDweller

I just stayed at this this hotel for four nights in March. It was fantastic! The location is not 5 star but the hotel certainly is. All of the public areas are drop dead gorgeous. Our Excelsior room was so beautiful and spacious, windows that open, a leather sofa, leather side chair, super comfortable bed, and a large well appointed bath with two basins, tub, and shower. The buffet breakfast was wonderful too. Mini fridge with no minibar insert so you can store your own foods/drinks. Nespresso and electric kettle. Excellent bath amenities too. The only thing I didn't like was the lighting in the room, preset combos of lights and an obnoxious night light system which can be defeated by shoving the decorative bed pillows into the nightstand openings. Can't say enough good about this property, I would definitely stay there again. If any of you stay there, I'd be interested to know about the other room types.

hillrider

Weird. Almost booked there, but all rates on days between today and 10 May are nonrefundable (checked one-night stays). After that (from 11 May on) they have the now-standard one-day cancellation. Incidentally, EUR 390 all in is the lowest public rate during that period.

MarkedMan

It's the start of the Expo 2015. Busy times for the city.

UrbanDweller

We were fortunate to take our trip when we did, still low season (but the weather was beautiful!), hotel still "new", and pre-Expo. Our Excelsior room is the best non-suite room, we booked it with the 4th night free promo and it included free buffet breakfast. The effective rate including all taxes was 302€ per night. It looks like the 4th night free promo is gone and now the lowest rate for the room exceeds 500€. The Expo ends in October, I wonder if the rates will remain high because by that time they will have their fully-established customer base which they did not have in the first few months post-renovation. One thing is for sure, Excelsior will always be less expensive than the Park Hyatt if only because of the location. I liked the proximity to the Centrale train station but it's not very upmarket there.

UrbanDweller

I just posted some pictures on tinypic, including the floor plan of the 4th floor. We were in room 414. Some of the rooms have balconies. I wish I had taken pictures of the main floor spaces, they were so amazing!

http://i62.tinypic.com/xmtqpv.jpg floorplan
http://i57.tinypic.com/25ox507.jpg room
http://i62.tinypic.com/2s6amgp.jpg room
http://i57.tinypic.com/2wf3a5x.jpg bath
http://i62.tinypic.com/swv950.jpg view from room
http://i58.tinypic.com/351ftdc.jpg hall
http://i57.tinypic.com/2l6jwx.jpg elevator lobby
http://i60.tinypic.com/im72td.jpg stair lobby
http://i57.tinypic.com/29v0184.jpg stairwell

canon5dfan

Can anyone comment on the breakfast buffet and amenity here for plats? Is it worth it or should I just take my 500 points

hillrider

Thanks!

It looks like any modern hotel that could be anywhere in the world. I've lost interest; too bad they took away all the European/Italian charm from its interior (and rebuilt the extension to the South to look even uglier than it was before).

dingo

From the pictures I've seen, I couldn't agree more. I've got a trip coming up and am most likely going to go with Hyatt. Yes modern as well, but it just looks like the Excelsior is trying a bit too hard to not be classical luxury to me.

UrbanDweller

I find it odd that anyone would bypass the Excelsior because the rooms are modern ... and then choose the Park Hyatt. I think if you are choosing between these two hotels you can make your decision based on location and price. The Excelsior was particularly convenient for us as we arrived by train and I also liked that we weren't right in the middle of the most crowded part of the city. As I mentioned in my prior post, we paid a really great price. Being nearly brand new the entire hotel, including our room's furnishings, towels, and bed linens, were in pristine condition. The leather sofa and chair in our room was a nice luxe touch. The buffet breakfast was top notch with eggs made to order and the expected wonderful assortment of meats, cheeses, breads, fruits, and other foods any respectable 5 star hotel would offer. Service was impeccable. Excelsior is definitely the Park Hyatt's direct competitor.

missmelon437

We stayed here last month for only one night, and it was awesome. Booked on points. Upgraded to a suite because either because 1) low season 2) plat 3) bleeding out on their lobby desk ... had a nasty cut on my hand.

We chose this property because PH wasn't available and this was located right next to the train station.

We agreed that this was the nicest hotel we've stayed in, to date...best prior to that is the suite at the Andaz Maui.

We did not take the breakfast as they said was a continental breakfast (i'm not sure about this, sorry). Our suite was gorgeous - it was 3 rooms (living room, bedroom, bathroom) in that order. The closets were ridiculous. I found it a bit odd that the bedroom didn't have a door, but a heavy velvet (?) curtain. I liked how functional everything was and enjoyed the bed - really comfortable. The steam room in the bathroom and the jacuzzi tub was also very welcomed after our very long journey. Black Car service to Duomo was also very appreciated...we did have to wait 20 minutes. Not a big deal. We took metro back and it was a breeze. During our visit, the hotel seemed empty though everyone was very kind.

I really enjoyed the library - lots of coffee table books on fashion & art. Had we stayed longer, I would have loved to check out the cigar room.