We’re finally back from our cruise to Greece and Croatia! I have a lot of posts to catch up on, starting in Milan. We decided to go stay in Milan for a few day between Lake Como and our cruise. The train station was still closed in Varenna from the landslide, so our extremely nice Airbnb host drove us the hour and a half to Milan!
We were surprised at how much we liked Milan. I’m not sure why we thought we wouldn’t, since we love cities. Maybe it was because we compared it with Rome, known for ancient history and delicious food. Milan is known for its fashion, something we care way less about than pizza.
Compared to our amazing experience at our Airbnb in Fiumelatte, our stay in Milan at the Residence with Terrace felt very sterile and impersonal. We booked a renovated apartment that is run by a management company. Everything was new and very clean and overall, the apartment was great. But where Fiumelatte felt like a home, this felt like a rental property.
The entrance was easy to find and very secure. The apartment is on the ground floor, but up a few steps so the balcony and windows weren’t right at street level, which was nice. The balcony was small but had a pretty view of the parking lot and other buildings. As much as I loved Lake Como, it was nice to be in a city again and see other people and buildings.
The kitchen is a modern IKEA style, and perfectly functional. It has a dishwasher, washing machine, with a dryer in the bathroom. We don’t use enough dishes to use the dishwasher but it was so nice not to hang our clothes on a rack to dry.
The living room is large and relatively comfortable, although a bit formal. The glass chandelier and details on the ceiling were really pretty. The wall of books was lovely, but made me miss the library in my house in St Pete.
The bedroom is a good size and the bed was relatively comfortable. The window had electric blackout shutters, similar to hurricane shutters, and kept the room very dark. The matching dragon lamps were an interesting touch.
The bathroom was decent and had a large rainfall shower head and huge stall, which was wonderful. It was so nice to wash my hair without banging my elbows into something.
The location is great for a first visit to Milan. It is an easy walk to all the main touristic areas, and the vast amount of metro options were close by as well.
The only negative was when I requested assistance calling for a taxi to the train station when we left. Our phones don’t always work for calls so it can be difficult in places without Uber. The host/apartment manager sent me a link to schedule a ride with their car service, and it was quoted at €90! I knew it should be a €20 taxi ride, so I was pretty annoyed that he recommended it. I was able to find a cab in the Uber app, so we took that instead of the very overpriced car service.
Despite that, I would still recommend this Airbnb for a short visit in Milan. For a longer visit, I would probably find something with a comfier couch and more personable host.