Since I booked last minute, I was able to get a better deal for my second night in Milan and I moved to the Hilton Milan which is just a 5 minute walk from the Four Points where I stayed the night before. The Hilton is located facing the main street and closer to the Milano Centrale train station. It is also a much larger hotel than the Four Points and more prominent for first time visitors to this city.
Reaching the hotel on foot in the morning, I was able to check-in at around 11am. Noting that I had booked from a 3rd party website, with no elite status in Hilton and was booked into the most basic room, it was certainly nice to know they had a room for me before the official check-in time.
The front desk agent acknowledged my one night stay including the breakfast that would be served in the restaurant. In addition, I provided them with my Hilton Honors membership but as this was booked through a 3rd party, I would not obtain any points or miles as I discovered later after my check-out.
Room No: 365 Category: Queen Guest Room
From the lobby it was easy to find the elevators and proceed to my room. However some of the rooms here can be a bit of a trek from the elevators since this is a large city hotel. While the exterior of the hotel appears to be a bit old, I was glad to see thick carpeting in the corridors and fresh furnitures. This made it a comfortable walk to my room.
Without any upgrades I did not have high hopes, but the room turned out alright since I was travelling alone. The size of the room is smaller but it was very nicely furnished. There is a wardrobe on the left upon entering and the work desk and wall mounted TV was immediately visible from the door.
On the end of the desk, there is a minibar hidden by the wooden door, making the space very aesthetically pleasant. Warm wood finishings and cool touches made the room comfortable and cozy even for its small size.
The bed itself was much more comfortable and plush than the one at the Four Points and still a good size for 2 persons if sharing the room. On both sides of the table there is a bedside table with power outlets conveniently located.
Across from the bed is a small cantilevered table with a minibar inside the cabinet on the right and a luggage stand by the only window that does not offer much of a view at all. Due to the low level of the room, it was not that bright.
The bathroom is as small as the bedroom but they were able to fit in both a bidet and toilet. The bidet does seem to indicate the older nature of this bathroom since the modern boutique hotels have chosen to leave this bathroom feature.
The countertop of the bathroom was still a good size and features modern faucets. With the lighting around the mirrors, the bathroom was brighter as well, making it more comfortable even if it was smaller.
Due to the limited space, the shower was in the bathtub itself, which is acceptable but not preferred. Amenities provided were Hilton standard by Peter Thomas Roth and I am generally ambivalent to them.
For my one night stay, breakfast was included in the rate and it was served at the Pacific Milano Restaurant from 6:30-10:30am in the morning on weekdays and 7-11am on weekends.
Unlike the breakfast in the Alpine Resorts, the buffet breakfast here caters to a more diverse crowd with a much larger selection. The restaurant was crowded as well thus do not expect any sort of ambience here.
For a start, the buffet has a small corner with special dishes for vegans, and dishes that are gluten-free. Not applicable for myself but might be useful for prospective guests to know.
There was a section dedicated to the ingredient of the month which was oranges.
The restaurant caters heavily to Chinese guests with a special welcome sign over the Asian corner with dishes like fried rice, fried noodle and congee.
The basic breakfast buffet items were available from an egg station with omelettes and plenty of toppings to choose from to bacon, sausages, potatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and tomatoes.
Continental specialties includes a good variety of cold cuts, cheese and yogurt. Guests could even get fresh honey from the honeycomb to add to their yogurts or choose from the selection of fruits.
Even the milk selection was varied with soy milk, skimmed milk and rice milk. The last one was the first time I saw it offered in any breakfast buffet.
Pastries and toast was standard offering placed in one section, though with that much choices, I will leave them for another time.
The choice in drinks was excellent as well since they have a orange juice squeezing machine, meaning guests can get fresh orange juice. There was also thick Italian hot chocolate beside the pastries that is creamy and rich.
Aside from the restaurant, I checked out the fitness centre located in the basement. The space here is larger and thus have a wider range of equipments and more treadmills. By the entrance doorway, there is a resting area with plenty of fresh towels and a water dispenser. Two armchairs are placed here to allow time for a rest in between workouts.
While the fitness centre is not as complete or nice as other city hotels, it was adequate for a nice workout and there was plenty of treadmills for use, along with a good selection of weights and training equipments.
For this stay, I booked the room via amoma.com, which seems to be a lesser known hotel reservation website. The reason I booked with this website was due to a low price of EUR115 (EUR130 after city taxes) which includes breakfast for one person. At this price, it was a very good value and even quite the steal I would say considering the modern furnishings and the great variety in the breakfast buffet.
