Galleria Vik Milano

It’s rare that we find ourselves as interested in a renovated and rebranded hotel as we are in a brand-new creation — but it’s not every day that hoteliers like Alex and Carrie Vik, famous for their luxurious, art-packed South American hotels, are given a blank canvas like Milan’s Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II. Here they’ve replaced the ornate Townhouse Galleria — itself a longtime Tablet hotel — with something much more modern, and much more personal, while still managing to do justice to one of the most prestigious addresses in Milan.

The five-story glass-enclosed shopping arcade that is the Galleria may technically be a mall, but it’s a 19th-century landmark, second in grandeur only to the Duomo next door — a long way from Sherman Oaks. Rather than imitate its ornate setting, the hotel opts for a postmodern mélange of disparate styles and eras in both art and design. There’s a bronze cast of Rodin’s Thinker in the lobby, and in the rooms, parquet floors and antique cabinetry are mixed with graphic murals and works from nearly a hundred different contemporary artists.

Visual appeal is only half the story; these are seasoned luxury hoteliers, and even if the Galleria is as large as all their other projects put together, they haven’t compromised on quality. Visual fireworks notwithstanding, these rooms are as luxe as any in Milan, which, Milan being what it is, is saying something. Vikissimo, the hotel’s main restaurant, is similarly high-end, and just as full of art as the rest of the hotel. It’s a worthy addition to Milan’s scene, to be sure — but spare a meal for I Dodici Gatti, the tiny Neapolitan-style pizzeria, tucked up under the building’s eaves, and named for the Galleria’s famous feline residents.