Sant'Ambroeus - Milano, Italy 

This is a great little hotel about a 20 minute walk from the centre, its in a great food district, is very accessible by car and is a perfect place to relax for a night or two before heading away. Free breakfast too.

We stayed here on the first night and the last night of a three week trip to Italy, as we were flying in and out of Malpensa airport. When we booked, we were given great information on how to locate the hotel. After landing at Malpensa, we took the Malpensa Express to the Station de la Nord. From there, it was a short walk to the green line metro. In two short stops we were off and on our way to the hotel. The street is wide and not particularly atmospheric. The good news is that it is quiet at night. The man on the front desk was friendly and check-in was easy. Our room was on the second floor overlooking the street. They had metal shades to protect us from the hot afternoon sun. The airconditioning worked well. We had a decent sized bathroom with a shower over tub. There were plenty of toiletries, a toilet and bidet. The towels were more than adequate. The only thing I didn't like was the pocket door, which wobbled a bit. The room was rather plain and did not have a lot of charm. It was spotless, however, and there was plenty of space for our bags and clothes. The linens were very nice and the beds extremely comfortable. We slept perfectly well, but agreed that for a longer stay, we would prefer a room with more charm and closer to the historic center. The breakfast was great. There were lots of choices. The setting was a very pretty breakfast room staffed by a very pleasant woman. We were again able to take the metro about 7 stops to the Central Train station. Since Italy is now very expensive, it was great to only have to pay 1 Euro each to get there instead of paying for an expensive taxi. The metro station is about a five minute-or less-walk from the hotel. We paid $130.00 for the night, which is reasonable by Milan standards. At the end of our trip we were given a room that only had a shower. That bathroom was tiny. The shower was so small that it was hard to use it without soaking the floor. I kept hitting different body parts as I used the facilities. This time the room faced onto a courtyard, and so there was no view whatsoever. It also meant that it was very quiet. In neither room did we hear other hotel guests. This time we paid $115.00. I would say it was worth it to pay $15.00 more for a room with a bathtub. We were given correct information from the front desk about taking a cab in the early morning to the Station de la Nord to pick up the Malpensa Express. The man at the front desk arranged for the taxi, which came promptly. I would recommend the hotel for anyone just using Milan as a stopover.