5 of the Best Boutique Hotels in Milan

Aethos Milan reopened in March 2026 following a complete renovation that upgraded the hotel to five-star status. Set behind an unassuming façade in the Navigli district, the 35 rooms occupy a building organised around a leafy courtyard, just steps from the Darsena waterfront. Each room references the original architectural lines.

Crossing Manzoni occupies two floors of a neoclassical palazzo on Via Gerolamo Morone, a quiet street long home to prominent Milanese families, including that of writer Alessandro Manzoni. The six suites sit between the Quadrilatero d’Oro and Teatro alla Scala, a discreet pied-à-terre in the heart of Milan.

Vico Milano opened in 2021 after a two-and-a-half-year renovation led by Sicilian architect Giuseppe Alito with founder Neri Baccheschi Berti. The seven suites sit at the back of a residential courtyard off Corso Genova, in a building that once produced Legnano racing bicycles and later housed the family’s 1990s fashion brand Bungai.

Casa Brivio occupies two 1960s and 1970s buildings between Torre Velasca and the Colonne di San Lorenzo, inspired by Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s rationalism. The hotel is a project by cousins Filippo and Alberico Brivio Sforza, with architecture by Matteo Thun & Partners and rooms by Cassina Custom Interiors.

Room Mate Giulia occupies a late 19th-century building on Via Silvio Pellico, beside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and steps from Piazza del Duomo. Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola designed the 85 rooms across five categories, with custom Cassina furniture and a Milanese palette of pink marble, terracotta and moss green.