Milan

Concierge.com's insider take:

Perfectly located right by the Duomo, La Scala, and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the 117-room Park Hyatt went straight onto the essential hotel map of Milan when it opened in October 2003. The second Hyatt (after Paris Place Vendôme) to have been designed by Ed Tuttle, famous for his many Amanresorts, it has spacious proportions and understated richness. Tuttle signatures are natural, autumnal colors and subtly luxe materials (here, travertine with black marble edging, Murano glass, Venetian stucco, silk and velvet upholstery), vast bathrooms (almost as big as the bedrooms), and flattering, calming light effects. It all feels a bit like a modern Roman imperial palace. Add high ceilings, Bang & Olufsen electronics, exclusive Laura Tonatto bath and beauty products, and the biggest standard rooms in town, and you get why this is going down very well with the punters. It doesn't hurt that former Villa d'Este GM Claudio Ceccherelli is in charge. Naturally there's a spa and a gym, the latter open 24 hours a day. The gourmet Park Restaurant is a hot ticket during fashion week, while the buffet lunch offered by the more casual Park Bar next door is popular with less-exalted mortals the rest of the year. But the real place to see and be seen is La Cupola, the lobby lounge bar, magnificently crowned by a 30-foot glass cupola: it's second only to the Bulgari Hotel as the place for Sunday brunch in Milan.