Mandarin Oriental, Milan

"Of all the swish hotels in Italy’s fashion capital, this is one of the fanciest: sober, stylish rooms with plum furnishings and wood floors; east-meets-west treatments at the spa; and two-Michelin-starred restaurants. There's Seta, where chef Antonio Guida peps up sometimes stodgy northern Italian cuisine with scents of the south, but the beating heart is the Mandarin Bar & Bistrot. Inside, it’s a glam '70s feel, with monochrome-checked walls, marble-streaked floor and dogtooth chairs; outside is an altogether cooler cloistered courtyard. Aperitivo hour sees cocktails accompanied by gourmet finger food, while later in the evening there’s an after-dinner menu of grappa and amari—the perfect digestivo before you turn in."