Why Casa Brera stands out among luxury hotels in Milan — with Rationalist architecture, Patricia Urquiola interiors and one of the city’s most spectacular rooftops
Milan has no shortage of beautiful five-star hotels. But Casa Brera is particularly interesting because it feels less like an international luxury hotel that happens to be in Milan, and more like a contemporary interpretation of the city itself.
Located in Piazzetta Bossi, just a few steps from La Scala and within easy walking distance of Brera, the Duomo and the Fashion District, Casa Brera occupies a 1950s Rationalist building originally designed by Italian architect Pietro Lingeri.
The interiors, completely reimagined by Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, are unmistakably contemporary, but the original architecture is never treated simply as a backdrop. Instead, the hotel’s colours, materials and geometric patterns constantly refer back to the building — and, more broadly, to Milan’s long relationship with architecture and design.
The result is sophisticated, colourful and occasionally playful, but still somehow very Milanese.
A 1950s Milanese building with a new identity
The original building was designed by Pietro Lingeri, one of the leading figures of Italian Rationalism, and its rigorous architecture provided the starting point for Urquiola’s interiors.
Rather than disguising that heritage, she plays with it.
Geometric patterns on floors, walls and ceilings echo the rhythm of the façade. Italian marble and granite appear throughout the hotel, alongside walnut, glass, leather and bronze. Furniture by names including Cassina, Poliform and Moroso reinforces the connection with Italian — and particularly Milanese — design.
There is art everywhere too, including a striking work by British fashion photographer Tim Walker in the Living lounge.
This dialogue between old and new is perhaps what makes Casa Brera feel different from many luxury hotels in Milan. It doesn’t try to recreate the grandeur of a historic palazzo, nor does it opt for the anonymous minimalism sometimes associated with contemporary five-star hotels.
Instead, it embraces the building it inherited and gives it a rather glamorous second life.
Rooms that feel more like Milanese interiors
Casa Brera has 101 rooms and 15 suites, all designed by Studio Urquiola.
Here too, the atmosphere is residential rather than overly formal. Walnut, marble, terracotta, geometric rugs and beautifully designed lighting are mixed with contemporary furniture, while the bathrooms are finished in Italian marble and feature Etro amenities.
Several rooms and suites have balconies or terraces, something particularly special in the centre of Milan.
The Brera Suite is perhaps the most striking example. Its separate bedroom and living room open onto an enormous 121-square-metre terrace overlooking the rooftops and streets of Brera — the sort of outdoor space that can make you temporarily reconsider the advantages of having an ordinary hotel room.
For an even more indulgent stay, the Milanese Suite combines generous living and dining areas with large outdoor terraces and panoramic views across the city.
A rooftop worth going upstairs for
And then there is Etereo.
Located on the eighth and top floor, Casa Brera’s rooftop restaurant and skybar has one of those views that immediately reminds you how surprisingly beautiful Milan can be from above.
From its terraces, the panorama stretches across the city’s most recognisable landmarks, including the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Castello Sforzesco and the contemporary Porta Nuova skyline.
There is also an outdoor rooftop pool — an unusual luxury in the very centre of Milan — surrounded by loungers and terraces overlooking the city.
Etereo serves Mediterranean and Italian-inspired dishes throughout the day and becomes particularly atmospheric around aperitivo time, when cocktails arrive against a backdrop of rooftops and the slowly changing evening light.
Even if you are not staying at the hotel, it is a rather lovely way to experience Casa Brera.
From Milanese aperitivo to Nusr-Et
Food and drinks are an important part of the hotel, and its restaurants and bars are designed to attract Milanese visitors as well as hotel guests.
On the ground floor, Living is an all-day lounge and bar with a large green-marble counter and an outdoor terrace overlooking Piazzetta Bossi. It works equally well for coffee during the day or an aperitivo in the evening — particularly when the weather allows you to sit outside.
Casa Brera is also home to Nusr-Et Steakhouse Milano, the restaurant created by Turkish chef and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, better known internationally as Salt Bae. The Milan restaurant brings the brand’s theatrical approach to steak to an interior redesigned by Patricia Urquiola, with a menu centred around premium cuts of meat and some of Nusr-Et’s best-known dishes.
It is certainly a rather different personality from the restrained Milanese architecture surrounding it — but perhaps that contrast is part of Casa Brera’s appeal.
Why Casa Brera feels particularly Milanese
What I find most interesting about Casa Brera is that it doesn’t interpret Milanese style as something purely minimal or austere.
Milan can certainly be discreet. But it can also be colourful, experimental, glamorous and deeply interested in beautiful objects. Casa Brera captures that more creative side of the city.
Its location helps enormously. Step outside and La Scala is around the corner, Brera’s cobbled streets are a few minutes away and the Duomo and Fashion District are both within walking distance. Yet Piazzetta Bossi itself feels surprisingly tucked away from the busiest tourist routes.
For travellers looking at luxury hotels in Milan, Casa Brera therefore offers something slightly different: not old-world grandeur, and not international five-star anonymity, but a hotel built around Milan’s particular relationship with design, architecture, fashion and social life.
And perhaps that is its greatest luxury — it actually feels like it belongs here.
Where:
Casa Brera, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Milan
Piazzetta M. Bossi 2, Milan
Tel +39 02 305430
www.casabrera.com
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This post was all about Casa Brera, one of the most interesting luxury hotels in Milan, where Rationalist architecture, contemporary Italian design and a spectacular rooftop come together in the heart of the city.