The Place - Manzoni

This place is within walking distance of the Duomo (Milan Catheral) on a busy pedestrian mall. It is one of several rented apartments in the old city run by Norma, your hostess. The accommodation is excellent. A parking garage is nearby - just make sure you add that to your room cost. We would stay if we return to Milan. Stayed one night at the Via Passarella location.

Stayed here in August a few nights, were aware of the need to reconfirm which of their various locations we were going to stay. We had the Manzoni Suite but do always check in advance. Contact person "Norma" seems to be working around the clock and was a great contact to have by phone and mail, she booked a taxi limo pick up for us from the airport. Italy will always be Italy so "check in" did not go without some chaos. There is a reception in this building but it is not a hotel and little english was spoken. You need to wait for Norma or one of her colleagues, they will come up from another location nearby. The lady in reception however called a completely different hotel operator who did not have us on his guest list, I was surprised with myself how calm I stayed, it did take a while before I figures out what had happened. Can laugh about it now. A call from my own phone to Norma and some waving of the hands solved it all. Finally up in room 1 we settled in nicely, basically an elegant room with a kitchen area as well. Nespresso machine in the room. Free WiFi worked well. Norma is always close by phone or mail. Location is good, just around the corner from La Scala and the fashion district. The Domo is not far away either. We got breakfast coupons to a small coffee shop around the corner, basically one gets a coffee and a croissant so do not expext too much. It is however a nice little place to observe some of the special Italian routines. Having a tiny cup of coffee in elegant clothes with family, friends or colleagues. We would return to the facilities itself without any problems were it not for the fact we found Milano a bit of a boring place. Soulless. Not the great shopping paradise one might expect. Great food of course.

The location was great but reception was a little "off"...did not speak English and seemed slightly annoyed by my arrival. Anyway, I eventually got key and found that the room or apartment is very sweet. Breakfast at a little place next door okay but nothing special. The Place is not for anyone looking for any concierge services.