An old lady in need of a facelift, review Marriott Milan

Marriott in the city of Milan offers 8 facilities, plus three in the immediate vicinity. This is the only one to bear the chain's name, while Sheraton, AC Hotels, Westin, Design Hotels and the only Category 8 namely the Bvlgari are also present.

Located in the western part of Milan, on Giorgio Wahsington Street, just a few minutes from the new citylife district and its skyscrapers, it is easily accessible for those arriving by car from Milan's ring roads and is conveniently located for those who need to travel to the western part of Milan, for example, to go to San Siro Stadium.

In this new normal it is obviously all but crowded and with all the dining closed, the front desk is quiet and strangely calm for a hotel of this size

Check-in

I booked through the app a deluxe room. The inclusive cost including breakfast was 102€ or 20k Bonvoy points. Obviously I preferred to pay so as to take advantage of the existing promotion that gave 2,500 extra points as a gift for each reservation.

Thanks to the gold level included in the benefits of my American Express Platinum I took advantage of an offer that included a 25% discount on the cost of the room and free breakfast, so roughly a Saving of more than 50€ compared to public price.

At the front desk there was only one receptionist and I was the only customer, having dealt with the paperwork I was offered a room with a queen bed, slightly larger than the one I had booked, but I don't think this can be categorized as an upgrade.

The impression one gets of the facility, from the moment one walks through the door, is of A beautiful elderly lady, well kept but nevertheless showing her years.

The room

This facility is set up to do large numbers, with its 300 rooms it has six elevators available, and seeing it so deserted and quiet has something ghostly about it. My room 3043 overlooked the outer perimeter of the facility.

As can be clearly seen from the carpeting, furnishings, wallpaper, and draperies, it is an opulence far removed from the minimalist design found in the family's other structures.

In the room, due to Covid-19, no minibar or even coffee maker or anything else, just two bottles of water offered to guests. No special call for sanitation in the room other than a washcloth left on the bedside table near the telephone.

Impossible to eat or have a drink at the bar, everything closed. This is not a big problem, rather a fact that unfortunately marks this phase of life we are all facing.

Gold and platinum guests also enjoy the best-performing wifi connection, or rather they should, since the speed test reports little more than adequate speeds.

The mattress, like everything else in the room starting with the television set, shows the years and the need for a facelift to again make the Marriott a competitive facility on the Milan scene and not a tourist bus destination for hit-and-run guests.

Food and beverage

As mentioned all closed, the hotel bar and brasserie are not in service, and I do not blame the management's choice.

Therefore, breakfast is not served in the dining room but directly in the two small lounges on either side of the reception area, to read the menu one has to use the QR, and the one person in charge takes care, excellently, to satisfy the customers' requests.

I had breakfast around 8:45 a.m. with only four other people, in a facility that at full capacity could accommodate no less than 200 in the covid-free world.

This stay earned me a total of 4,565 bonvoy points: 1,252 basis points, 313 bonus elites and 3000 extra. In practice. 4 stays = 1 a free stay

• Bonvoy

The verdict

The covid era does not help the assessment of this property; with its L-shape and 300 rooms it is certainly a hotel for large numbers, however, the age is all felt. If in many hotels of the same category you now find a minimum 50-inch TV here was the most striking example of how a total facelift is needed to return to the glories of the past.

6

Pro

• Convenient location to the citylife district
• Underground parking with access to reception

Against

• It needs a sprucing up, not just a whitewash