I said I wasn’t going to review the Park Hyatt Milan because it’s already been reviewed so many times, but it was so good I couldn’t help myself.

If you google “Park Hyatt Milan points and miles globalist boardingarea,” you’ll see a vicious SEO battle between One Mile at a Time and Live & Let’s Fly, although both results lead to comprehensive reviews with tons of photos that you should read if you’re interested in this hotel. (As an aside, let’s give Matthew from L&LF props for his use of header descriptions, since I’m guessing that’s what’s propelling him to the top spot in the search results.) In fact, the PH Milan has been reviewed so many times that I didn’t plan to write a review of it after my trip to Italy this month, since I figured no one would really care about another post with eight hundred pictures of Italian marble.

Then a funny thing happened… I loved the Park Hyatt Milan, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write about why I thought it was so great. Especially after I’ve been somewhat…ahem…unkind in my assessment of the Park Hyatt Paris, I felt like fairness would dictate I at least say a few nice things about it. Problem is, I didn’t come to this decision until after I got home, so I don’t have a bunch of photos to show you… just a handful of photos from the bathroom, which was magical.

Let’s start with the bathroom. At least 50% of the floor space in the room was taken up by the bathroom, which included the closet space, minibar, and safe. The main part of the room was pretty small (although still decent by European standards), although it didn’t seem that way, since all our luggage and stuff was out of sight in the bathroom. This is an interesting concept that I’d love to see at more hotels.

Of course there were also dual sinks, as well as enough mirrors to remind you to hate your body from many more angles than most hotels. There’s also a deep soaking tub as well as an octagonal shower with a rainforest shower head, a handheld shower wand, and room for you and six of your closest/dirtiest friends.

Finally, there’s a separate closet with a toilet and a bidet, and don’t worry, there’s a mirror so you can look yourself in the eyes while you take a crap and then clean out your b-hole.

Okay, so there’s a detailed review of the bathroom… what about the rest of the hotel? While it definitely has that standard Park Hyatt monastic look (especially with all the marble), the light color of the stone plus the abundant placement of mirrors in the elevators and hallways make it feel much brighter than the Park Hyatt Paris. Here are my thoughts on other aspects of the hotel:

Check in: It was fine, but I think Park Hyatts in general could kick their check-in game up a notch. Since the ground floor of the hotel is pretty small, the check-in desks are kind of tucked in a little corner, and it was crowded in there when we arrived. I guess I’m still spoiled by the separate little reception room at the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam.

Service: Most definitely warmer than the Park Hyatt Paris. During check-in, the guest relations manager came out to welcome me personally to the hotel, and the check-in agent offered to escort us to our room. At breakfast the next day, Justine was really interested in who made the salt and pepper shakers, and the woman who seated us went out of her way to find out not only who made them but where we could buy them in Milan.

Room: Excluding the bathroom, I really liked the room. The king-size bed was bigger than the so-called king beds at the last two hotels we had stayed in, and the air conditioning vent directly over the bed kept us cool in the late October Milanese heat. It wasn’t that big, but they use the space efficiently by having the desk and couch attached to the wall. And as I mentioned, having so much space in the bathroom frees the room up to be very cozy. One nitpick: the carpet is super slippery for some reason. Both Justine and I slipped and fell at one point (in bare feet), and Justine skinned her knee in the fall. I want to know what Hyatt is going to do to compensate us for this horrible injury!

Location: I can’t imagine a better location for Milan newbies who only have a couple days in town. It’s right around the corner from the Duomo, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is basically right outside the door. Despite being in such a touristy location, however, the entrance to the hotel is tucked away on a little side street, so it still feels very cozy and intimate. I’m sure those familiar with the city would prefer to be based in other areas, but for us it was perfect.

Breakfast: Not cheap if you aren’t a Globalist, but it’s a very elegant spread. As an Explorist member, I got 30% off the cost of breakfast, but that still came out to around $60 for the two of us. We only had breakfast one of the days of our stay as a result, but it was a nice treat at the end of our trip. Still, I preferred the breakfast at the Park Hyatt Paris and Waldorf Amsterdam to this one.

Elite recognition: Aside from the breakfast discount, I don’t think we got anything from me being an Explorist member. Our room looked like all the pictures of a standard room on Hyatt’s website, although maybe the bathroom was bigger than normal? They didn’t mention anything about an upgrade at check-in or anything. We would have been able to check out at 2PM, although our flight was earlier than that, though, so we were out at the normal time.

Final thoughts: What a great use of the sign-up bonus on the World of Hyatt credit card this would be. I was really mad when IHG canceled my stay at the Indigo Milan right before our trip, but I’m happy in retrospect that we made the change despite having to burn 60,000 Chase points to do it.

We also enjoyed Milan quite a bit, although the main reason we were there was to position us for our flight home on Emirates. I was lucky enough to schedule a last-minute studio visit with my #1 favorite artist (Luigi Serafini, author of the famed Codex Seraphinianus) as well, so that probably colors my overall thoughts on the city. We both want to go back the next time we’re in Europe, though, since I feel like we have a lot more to discover there.

Oh and since it’s an insanely jaw-dropping building, here’s a picture of the cathedral. Having spent a good amount of time in Europe, I can definitely understand people having cathedral fatigue, although the Duomo is worth seeing no matter how many other famous cathedrals you’ve seen. It’s one of the most impressive structures I’ve ever seen.

So that’s my reluctant review of the Park Hyatt Milan… I’m not sure if there will be a next time, since I’m pretty much out of Chase points now, but maybe I’ll get over my fear of being shut down by Chase and apply for the World of Hyatt card by the time we go back. Plus, I never tried the restaurant, which is supposed to be fantastic.