Milan

Concierge.com's insider take:

If you can get a room at the Four Seasons during fashion week without booking a year in advance, you're either very rich, very well connected, or, more likely, both. Right in the middle of the Quadrilatero d'Oro fashion district, on a quiet road between the boutique arteries of Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, this former 15th-century convent, which opened as a hotel in 1993, is the last word in discreet luxury, with the impeccable service that one expects of the brand. The style is no-expenses-spared without vulgar excess: rich silks and velvets (including Fortuny fabrics), highly polished pear-wood and cherrywood furniture, Murano chandeliers, and back-heated bathroom mirrors (which won't steam up). The 118 rooms and suites vary a great deal in size and view, and price is not always the best guide: For example, we prefer the charming, light-filled courtyard-view deluxe doubles on the second floor over the more expensive first-floor split-level suites, which are roomy but gloomy. If you really want to splurge, the Brioni Suite is a one-of-a-kind Wunderkammer filled with fabrics, antiques, and artwork selected and styled by former Brioni CEO Umberto Angeloni. The opulent Il Teatro restaurant cooks up a haute mix of traditional and new Italian cuisine; La Veranda, upstairs, is more informal, though still pretty fancy by most people's standards. The only thing missing is a spa, though in-room massages, manicures and pedicures are available.