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The contemporary rooms may be simple and spare, but they are comfortable. Best of all, those facing the pedestrianized street have a view (or rather, half a view) of the Duomo façade half a block away. Its restaurant and pizzeria are reasonable.

The top hotel in town was converted in 1993 from a 15th-century convent, complete with some frescoes. Superior rooms are on the street side, deluxe ones open on to the cloisters. Milan’s best shops are nearby, and one of the area’s best restaurants, Il Teatro, is in the hotel’s basement (see Il Teatro del Four Seasons, Milan).

A resort chain bought this modern hotel on a quiet street in 2002 and renovated it with bright, thick carpets, new furnishings and orthopaedic beds, and largish baths. There is an entire non-smoking floor.

The most modernized of the hotels on Via Rovello sports sleek new baths and contemporary furnishings lit by elegantly tall windows. Amenities, however, are a notch below those of its neighbours, with gruff staff and no laundry or concierge service.

In the 19th century, this palazzo was used by the nearby cathedral to house visiting cardinals. Today, rooms are marred by ugly 1970s furnishings, yet it is comfortable, some bedrooms have terraces and the location is great.

One of Italy’s top hotels (with a starring role in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms ), this is as sumptuous as you’d expect at the prices.

The popularity of this five-star hotel isn’t simply due to its topnotch appointments, new wing of suites themed on films and modern artists, or the fact that the Beatles called this their “home in Milan”. Above all this, the main draw is that the suites, along with a few enviable doubles, overlook the spires of the cathedral right next-door.