This months-old design hotel is already one of Milan’s hottest addresses, complete with a spa and three sophisticated restaurants. Located in a former bank of the 1920s in the city’s fashion district, the interior is all about elegant Italian style with a few futuristic features.

Thanks to large windows, the common areas are bright and inviting, although it’s the luxurious spa that can truly be described as a dream. If you find yourself in Milan this summer this spa is a perfect escape from the heat outside, with a swimming pool, sauna, and Turkish bath. When you do step away from the hotel, you’ll find the city’s most exclusive shopping streets like Via Montenapoleone nearby, as well as the landmark Duomo. The Duomo can in fact be seen from the hotel, from inside its conference rooms. Although “conference rooms” is usually synonymous with “business hotel,” this is not the case here. The Exedra is perfect for all kinds of travelers, with its 154 rooms and nine thematic suites featuring a stylish design.

Complete details and booking information here: Exedra Milan Hotel

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If you’ll be in Milan this month for the city’s design fair, here’s a stylish new place to check out. It’s the Maison Moschino Hotel which took over a 19th century neoclassical railway station. As the name indicates, this is a hotel from the Moschino fashion house and naturally, its creative team is responsible for everything you see.
Covering four floors, the hotel offers 65 rooms (63 guestrooms and 2 junior suites), a bar, restaurant, gym, and spa, all with a fantasy ambience relating to the fashion world. There are lampshades in the shape of dresses and gowns draping down from bedboards, with the looks varying from room to room, in a rather “Alice in Wonderland” atmosphere as illustrated in the photos below.
All of this added to the Moschino showroom at the entrance and the fact that you can hire personal shoppers and personalized tours (fashionable Corso Como Street is just a short walk away), give this hotel 2 U_Stars.
Complete hotel information and booking details: Maison Moschino Hotel, Milan

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Milan has long been known as a fashion capital, so it’s a fitting home for an exhibition of the work of one of the world’s top fashion photographers. Born in England, Tim Walker has been a regular photographer for Vogue magazine (the British, American, and Italian editions), and has his works on display in the permanent collections of London’s National Portrait Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum. Now, this current exhibition in Milan’s Galleria Carla Sozzani shows the artist’s most famous works together with those previously unseen.
His work is often described as evoking a high sense of drama and beauty in stunning sets. He is also described as a “fantasist,” capturing dream-like images. You can see many of them in his book titled “Pictures” published in 2008, just around the time of his first major exhibition in the Design Museum in London.
Now you can get up close to some of his best work at the design mecca of Milan until March 7th.

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Abercrombie & Fitch has just opened its doors in Milan today. It’s the first store of the American “casual luxury” fashion brand in mainland Europe (it had already crossed the Atlantic to London in 2007), but this is the second attempt to open a new store in the continent. It previously requested a space in Paris‘ Champs-Elysèes but was denied, only to finally be given the go-ahead by the French government earlier this year. French law only allows valuable retailers (read: “luxury”) to open in Paris’ historical boulevard, so any new spaces must meet the approval of the national government. The French store is now scheduled to open in 2011, but before that, there will be yet another A&F store in Europe. That will be in Copenhagen in 2010 in a century-old neoclassical building.
In Milan, the shop that opened today is found on Corso Matteotti 12, just around the corner from the city’s chic Via Monte Napoleone. It’s found behind a modern stone façade at an intersection, and opened along with the world’s first Abercrombie Kids flagship.

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Milan’s Triennale is showing a special exhibition of Frank Gehry’s work curated by the architect himself. It presents a selection of Gehry’s building projects since 1997, that is, after designing Bilbao’s landmark Guggenheim Museum. Bilbao’s project inspired the architect (and so many others) to adopt different technologies and a town-planning approach to future constructions, and the projects on display in this exhibition show how they interact with their surroundings. That includes Chicago’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the DZ Bank Building in Berlin, the Interactive Corporation Headquarters in New York, and Abu Dhabi’s Guggenheim Museum branch.
Each project is illustrated through photographs, drawings, films, and models, in a way that explains the different stages of Gehry’s creative process.
It can all be seen now until January 10, 2010, every day except Mondays.

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The multiple-award-winning Hotel di Principe Di Savoia in Milan was recently renovated but has kept its regal, opulent look filled with belle époque glamour. It’s one of Milan’s most attractive hotels throughout the year, but especially in the sunnier summer months, with its cool garden which can be admired from your dining table at the five-star Acanto restaurant. The Lobby Lounge also serves meals and cocktails, and guests may also relax at the beauty spa which is one of the best in the city. It’s found on the top floor, offering an indoor swimming pool, a Turkish bath, and a sauna, as well as a fitness center.
The 404 rooms are all soundproof and with a decor made up of elegant wood panelling, Maggiolini-inspired furniture, and exclusively-designed curtains and carpeting.
The location is quite convenient, between Milan’s main train station and the historic center, making it within walking distance to the city’s designer shops and historic landmarks such as the Duomo and La Scala.
Complete booking information here: Hotel di Principe Di Savoia

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You can add this to our recent Milan design guide: The just-opened Design Supermarket. It’s found in the upscale La Rinascente department store, in a minimalist space designed by Claudio Silvestrin. It presents Italian design and well-known brands like Nespresso and Kartell, but not necessarily at prices that most can’t afford, with many pieces going for less than 10 euros. That means the shop may have a look similar to a MoMA Design Store, but the prices compete with those found at regular shops in your typical shopping mall. Sophisticated housewares, luggage, and lighting are now all available under one roof in central Milan, right next to the Duomo, meaning it’s a stop that will not be missed by design lovers and shopaholics in Italy’s most stylish city.

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Start your day at the DESIGN LIBRARY CAFÉ, winner of this years’ Uward for “Best New Café.” It opens at 7AM, so its minimalist space is the perfect spot for breakfast before a browse through the Design Library. You may consult hundreds of major design magazines (current and past editions), over 2000 books and catalogues, and may also catch a design exhibition or product and publication presentation.
If that’s not enough, head to L’Archivolto, a bookstore specializing in architecture, town planning, landscaping, design, and decorative arts. It also has its own publishing division and a gallery where exhibitions, debates, and book presentations related to design and architecture take place.

Another design resource is the Studio-Museum Achille Castiglioni, accessed on a tour using the Triennale Design Museum ticket. That museum presents the best of Italian design, while at the Achille Castiglioni Studio visitors get to see the legacy of one of Italy’s top designers — after his death in 2002, Castiglioni left behind a collection of everyday objects, photographs, and prototypes which can now be seen on the tour.

After admiring so much Italian design, you may end up wishing to get some for yourself, and the place for that is the Tingo Design Gallery. It offers rare, collectable furniture no longer in production, as well as special objects and lighting by Mangiarotti. Also worth checking out is Spazio Rossana Orlandi, a space dedicated to interior design and fashion offering a fine selection of exclusive brands and designer collections.

During your design shopping spree you must also not miss 10 Corso Como, a sophisticated concept store that’s also a gallery and café-restaurant. Worth a special look are the design books and homeware selections.

When it comes to choosing the ideal accommodation, design-conscious travelers can choose between The Gray, Chedi, or the Straf Hotel. You may stay at one of them and dine at the restaurants of the other two. The restaurant at The Gray is a good choice for brunch or a business lunch, the one at the Straf Hotel is perfect for a light lunch, while at the Chedi you’ll be served an innovative mix of Italian and Asian flavors. Chedi’s restaurant also has an extensive wine list, and its space opening out to a garden courtyard allows you to dine outdoors on warmer days.

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For all of that, UCityGuides.com has created the Uwards, the travel awards highlighting the best of what’s new in the urban world. There are 15 categories this year, which are:

-Best airport
-Best airport magazine
-Best in-flight magazine
-Best hotel group
-Best new building
-Best new body & soul experience
-Best new rooftop bar
-Best new members’ club
-Best new concept
-Best new cafe
-Best new restaurant
-Most welcomed new opening
-Best new business hotel
-Best new boutique hotel
-Best new hotel

To find out what won these Uwards, see UCityGuides’ Uwards – Urban Travel Awards page.