Four Seasons Hotel Milano

Though it’s got plenty of competition, a considerable subset of our readers will likely find the Four Seasons to be hands down the finest hotel in Milan. The handiest reason is simply that the location dovetails nicely with what many consider to be the main reason to visit Milan: it’s right in the thick of the ultra-high-end Via Montenapoleone shopping district, which makes it possibly the most prestigious shopping address on Earth.

And of course the hotel itself is none too shabby. Former monasteries make the best hotels — especially when stylish and sophisticated cities have had the forethought to have sprung up around them — and this one makes the most of its cloistered atmosphere. Interior rooms overlooking the courtyard are impossibly quiet, and even the street-facing rooms are hushed by double-glazed windows.

The rooms are an eminently palatable blend of old-world luxury and high-design modernity, with the high standard of service and comfort you’d expect from an absolutely top-flight hotel. There’s a fine restaurant, a swanky bar, pretty much everything you could ask for, aside from an on-site pool and spa (for that you’ll have to walk to a nearby health club) — but for an expertly managed, personality-packed hotel, in a location like this, it’s a sacrifice we’ll gladly make.