Mandarin Oriental hotel - Milan, Italy

The Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental hotel group continues to strengthen its toehold in the European market. Its latest salvo in Milan – a hundred and four rooms carved out of three 19th-century piles – is just around the corner of La Scala, and within easy walking distance of the city’s smart Brera quarter.

Design honours have gone to Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Interiors who have cleaved close to the Mandarin’s tried and tested low-keyed mood-board of muted hues and Asia-lite decorate touches alongside timber floors, customised Egyptian cotton bed linen, organic Panpuri bathroom products and, just in case the luxury quotient still needs a bit of ratcheting up, Brazilian marble in the presidential suite.

No surprises, either, that the spa headlines the hotel’s sybaritic offerings – an indoor swimming pool jostles for attention with a nail studio, Thai-based therapies, and a hair salon fronted by local celebrity stylist Massimo Serini.