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nhow hotel Milan Milan, the fashion and style capital. It is one of those clichés we heard so many times that we ended up taking it seriously. Nevertheless, those who travel around and have the chance to see what is going on in other big European cities, or continents, know this is not true. At least until today.

As a matter of fact, also in the dull panorama of Milan something is moving at last. We are slowly witnessing the opening of new venues and hotels of international-raging and cosmopolitan taste catering to a select clientele that will surely appreciate them.

No doubt one of the novelties of this new trend is the luxury, trendy Nhow Hotel, in via Tortona, Milan: a real "concept" hotel. If you are somehow familiar with the city you will probably know that this area, once a working-class area, has recently become the fashion centre (even if the plans, theoretically, require it to be on the opposite side of the city). Photographer's studios, model agencies, locations for fashion shows and the like are already there. But what was missing was a classy hotel that could meet the needs of those who come to Milan on business as well as of those who are looking for luxury, trendy and modern venues where to spend some time. Such clientele is rightly defined as "nomadic Bohemien luxury generation". Let us also add the adjective "rich", even though you may have already guessed it.

As it often happens when we come across such novelties we could not help mentioning it to our readers.

Nhow is one of those hotels that make a startling impression and are not easily forgotten. Nhow was converted from an old building, probably one of the many disused factories in the area, and stands out right from its entrance. A sort of tunnel leading from the street to the lobby, inside of which show rooms are to be found as well as locations for presentations and meetings bursting with activity, together with futuristic videos projected on its concrete walls.

The lobby is spectacular. A huge framed portrait of a model rests almost accidentally against one of the walls covering it almost entirely. The lifts are transparent and ultramodern. If you try and look under your feet before getting into the lobby lift you will be surprised.

The interior design is so neat that you get the impression of entering a contemporary art gallery instead of a hotel lobby in Milan... Do not be scared by the tables and the chairs. They look like they are made of very hard and painful stones but if you try them out you will be amazed.

Bars and restaurants surround the lobby forming a well-devised line of rooms. There is no actual division but adjoining rooms blending into one another. You can enter one of the show rooms in the building also from the lobby. Fashion and design, creativity and elegance is the recurring theme which is taken up in every single detail.

The clientele. Professionals, that is, models, photographers, buyers, press officers, anyone who gravitates around the fashion world. And then tourists of a certain kind. During our visit we noticed a huge number of Asian tourists - a very good sign - as well as businessmen.

The rooms. Very neat, almost hidden, and original. You enter them through corridors lighted by little spots; walls are lead-grey and unexpected lighted corners house art objects. Inside the rooms also the traditional spaces of a traditional hotel (but what is traditional in this hotel anyway?) are not what they should be. They seem studio flats rather than rooms. There are few doors but many curtains, and booths for the bathrooms as well.

This research into new ways to arrange the traditional spaces of a hotel room has actually shaped one of the concepts of the hotel. The design is so far-fetched that, as they themselves say, nhow is a hotel of no-design. A paradox that explains the idea very well. What is new lies side by side with what is old; contrasts complement each other, opposites blend...

Luxury, design, art and creativity, fashion, trendy people and a bit of snobbery. Shake well and enjoy it fully, because it is worth it.

nhow hotel, milan via tortona 35
phone:+39024898861
info.nhow@nh-hotels.com
www.nhow-hotels.com