Urban Hive Milano

High-end luxury travelers have always been well served by the Milanese hotel market; less common in Italy’s most fashionable city are hotels that appeal to a younger and more diverse crowd. Urban Hive Milano, in the Brera district, just to the north of the city center, aims to fill this gap.

Among its 97 units are some genuinely tiny ones, the La Mini rooms, which fit just one guest into a hyper-efficient 14 square meters; the La Cosy rooms have space for two, but only just. By the time you’re in La Grande, of course, you’ve got space to spread out, and the punningly named La Junior Sweet is more than twice La Mini’s size.

The design, both in the accommodations and in the public spaces, is a colorful and eclectic blend of contemporary, mid-century modern, and antique elements. Multiple flexible spaces are available for co-working or for private meetings, and the lounge and the Portico84 Café & Bar add coffee, tea, cocktails, and light bites to the equation. From here all of central Milan is at your feet, from various artistic and cultural destinations to the legendary retailers of the Golden Quadrilateral.