Seven Star Galleria in Milan
Until some time ago, staying at a 5-star hotel meant that you were getting the best of the best in terms of comfort and luxury. Well, not many will know, but 5-star hotel amenities and services are surpassed now; scattered around the world – to be exact three in Dubai, one on a private island off the coasts of Iran, one in Beijing, one in Islamabad, two in Abu Dhabi, one in India, one on the Fiji Islands – are hotels that, thanks to their location, amenities, and services can boast a whopping 7 stars as their rating.
And guess where else? In Milan, and right inside “Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II”, the central and historical shopping arcade, one of the chicest spots in the city home to some of the city’s most prestigious boutiques and restaurants, where the Milanese (and non) will go shopping and go see and be seen. Seven Stars Galleria opened for business on March 2007 and received its seven-star rating from the SocieteGenerale de Surveillance, or SGS, a renowned private inspection company.
The entrance to the hotel – unlike others – is almost understated but this should not fool you; for a start, only the guests of the hotel are allowed to enter and the VIP treatment starts from here. Actually from the airport, where a chauffeured Bentley awaits you to whisk you away and transport you to your destination; there you will live your next few days as an ultra-privileged, supremely pampered individual. Your personal butler will greet you and take immediate note of your desires: What kind of cuisine do you prefer? He will also ask you what choice of bed cover fabrics you wish to sleep in: maybe cotton? linen..? satin..? And how about your pillow? You can choose between neck roll, hypoallergenic, memory foam, eco-lathes, goose down, feathers, polyester, siliconized fiber, anatomic, and orthopedic. What a shame if you actually liked to sleep without one.
There is no spa in the hotel, but think about it: anyone can go to a spa anywhere, but how many can actually tell their neighbor back home that their bathroom had golden taps and a hard-to-spell-chromotherapy spa bathtub?
Reserved exclusively for guests of the hotel, the Hotel Restaurant offers a gastronomic menu, which changes daily, and the finest wines in Italy, to be slowly sipped while contemplating the magnificent 19th-century dome. That’s life!
Nicoletta Lucia Paganucci
