Milan hotel aiming for ultra-deluxe seven-star rating

Apr 10, 07 | 7:57 am

If you can't live without a personal butler, a chaffeur-driven Bentley to take you out shopping and a pianist to entertain you in your suite - and you don't mind spending up to 4,000 euros (5,300 dollars) per night - then Milan's Town House Galleria is the right hotel for you.

Located in a 19th-century palazzo in the heart of Italy's financial capital, near the La Scala opera house and the city's main cathedral, the hotel is the world's first to have applied for the ultra-luxury seven-star classification provided by Swiss-based certification company SGS.

'Milan has lots of beautiful hotels, but none of them provide adequate services to the rich,' Alessandro Rosso, the hotel's chief, said in a recent interview to daily La Stampa.

In order to be classified as ultra-luxurious, a hotel must provide a series of exclusive services to their clients, says SGS spokesman Matteo Aiolfi.

'These include a chauffeur who collects the guest from the airport with a luxury car playing his or her favourite music during the transfer; check in directly in his suite where his luggage awaits and a private butler for every superior suite,' Aiolfi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The hotel should also offer a full range of amenities, such as exclusive furniture, flat screen, satellite TV, PC, cordless telephone, fridge, a selection of the best wines and liquors and tailor-made slippers and bathrobe.

'Nothing should be left to chance,' Aiolfi added.

At the Town House Galleria, clients can order a chaffeur-driven Bentley to take them out shopping around Milan's fashion district or have a pair of tailor-made crocodile shoes delivered to their room prior to arrival. A butler will unpack their luggage while room-service champagne and caviar will be available 24 hours a day.

Currently, there is only one hotel in the world that claims to offer seven-star facilities: Dubai's lavish Burj Al Arab Hotel. But Burj's status has not been officially certified by SGS.

Milan's Town House Galleria has undergone a 10-million-euro renovation process and hopes to obtain the seven-star certification in about a year's time.

Prices for the hotel's 25 suites range from 800 to 4,000 euros per night.

Further information is available at www.fivestaralliance.com.