Maison Borella

"Unassuming and discreet, this hotel overlooking the canal is an intimate 30-room affair – and surprisingly quiet, considering its location in buzzy Navigli. Four years of sensitive restoration were needed to revamp the 19th-century casa di ringhiera, a typical Milanese house with a shared balcony. The result, finished in 2011, is all the more tasteful thanks to the vintage furnishings chosen by collector Raimondo Garau. The main part of the hotel wraps around an internal courtyard and each floor’s railings are covered in sweetly scented jasmine. Under a coffered ceiling on the ground floor, Ristorante Bugandè serves chef Davide Brovelli’s contemporary versions of Lombard classics, including the omnipresent cotoletta (veal cutlet) and creamy risotto."