A Milan Grande Dame Hotel Is Reborn—Just in Time for Italy’s Olympics

The Afar take

Originally opened in 1963, during Italy’s postwar boom when Milan became the country’s industrial and financial engine, the Carlton long held a place among the city’s most prestigious hotel addresses. In recent years, however, the hotel had lost some of its sheen—that is, until Rocco Forte, the respected British-Italian hotel brand led by London-based hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, took it over in 2020 and embarked on a five-year renovation, reopening the property in November 2025.

Now reborn, the Carlton is leading Milan’s current wave of high-profile hotel openings, which includes Casa Brera, a Luxury Collection Hotel, and forthcoming openings by Six Senses, Rosewood, and Soho House. With the 2026 Winter Olympics approaching in northern Italy, Milan is in the spotlight, but the reinvented Carlton feels built to outlast the moment.

The redesign, led by Olga Polizzi, the brand’s design director and sister of Sir Rocco Forte, in collaboration with Philip Vergeylen and Paolo Moschino, leans into the hotel’s midcentury roots. References to Milanese design giants, including Gio Ponti, sit alongside the strict geometry of 1930s rationalist architecture. Burgundy and chartreuse accents punctuate a beige and ochre palette, while tactile materials recall the city’s Villa Necchi Campiglio house museum, the ne plus ultra of Milanese art deco design.

Arriving on a rainy December evening, the Carlton initially struck me as notably restrained—almost to a fault. Compared with other Rocco Forte Hotels, such as the Hotel de la Ville in Rome and Villa Igiea in Palermo, the beige lobby underplays the brand’s usual confidence. That restraint dissolves inside the rooms, where geometric wall treatments and pops of color introduce a welcome sense of whimsy. That restrained use of color and geometry feels emblematic of Milan, a city that prizes substance over flash.

Photo by Mattia Aquila/the Carlton

Who’s the Carlton Milan for?

The Carlton works best for travelers who want a central Milan base. Business travelers will appreciate the discreet efficiency and walkable location, while leisure guests will find entry-level rooms comfortable and thoughtfully laid out. Suites and connecting rooms offer added flexibility for families or longer stays.

Like other Rocco Forte properties, such as the Hotel de Russie in Rome and Brown’s in London, the Carlton is also likely to attract a well-heeled, international crowd. During Fashion Week and Design Week, it’s poised to become a low-key gathering place for industry insiders and visiting VIPs.

The location: Milan’s fashion district

Set in the heart of Milan’s Quadrilatero della Moda, the city’s fashion district, the Carlton occupies a discreet corner of a high-energy neighborhood. Its main entrance opens onto the bustling Via Senato, while a secondary entrance leads through Vincenzo Dascanio’s flower shop on the pedestrian Via della Spiga, perfumed with fresh blooms and lined with flagship boutiques from Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren.

The address puts guests just steps from Via Montenapoleone and within a 15-minute walk of the Duomo and Teatro alla Scala. Milan is an eminently walkable city, and from here, most major sights, restaurants, and museums fall within a 20-minute radius. Public transit and taxis are easy to navigate; bringing a car would be more hindrance than help.

The rooms at the Carlton

During the renovation, the room count was reduced from 87 to 71 to create larger suites. The Presidential Suite, for example, can be combined with two additional rooms to form a three-bedroom layout with connecting terraces.

Across categories, beds are outfitted with custom leather headboards and fine Italian linens, while furnishings have the same measured playfulness seen elsewhere in the hotel, including geometric wall treatments, a dark tangerine sofa, and a mustard yellow headboard.

Smart TVs, USB charging ports, Illy espresso machines, minibars stocked with Negroni ingredients, and forest green and white marble bathrooms outfitted with organic Irene Forte bath products—made with ingredients from the family’s property in Sicily—are welcome essentials.

During my stay in a Deluxe Room, I spent most of my time lounging in a plush bathrobe by Pedersoli and slippers left next to the bed during turndown. If you want a street view, be sure to ask for one; I longed to see the comings and goings of the city’s chic denizens, but my room had an internal view of Café Floretta.

Courtesy of the Carlton

The food and drink

Three dining outlets, with menus created by Fulvio Pierangelini, Rocco Forte Hotels’ creative director of food, provide a range of options throughout the day. Café Floretta serves breakfast and all-day dining beneath a glass ceiling in a plant-filled space that feels like a winter garden. (Try the baked rice pudding with vanilla cream and cherries as a delicious alternative to the typical cornetto.)

Carlton Bar draws a polished, well-dressed crowd for cocktails, some by renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese, paired with light bites like the must-order riso al salto (crispy saffron rice) topped with red shrimp crudo and tuna tartare. It’s all served beneath the soft glow of vintage Murano glass lamps repurposed from the old guest rooms. I especially enjoyed Calabrese’s Breakfast Martini, made with Ginarte gin, Cointreau, lemon, and orange marmalade.

The signature restaurant, Spiga, focuses on refined interpretations of Italian classics, such as osso buco reimagined as ravioli with lemon and candied tomatoes, although it had not yet opened during my stay. The Carlton Garden, set to debut in spring 2026, will introduce outdoor dining.

Staff and service

The Rocco Forte brand is known for high standards of service, with attentive staff who anticipate guests’ needs, as I’ve experienced during stays at Hotel de Russie, the Savoy in Florence, and Villa Igiea in Palermo. Though the team is still settling into the rhythms of a newly opened hotel, I was impressed to see that things were running well only a month in.

Photo by francesco dolfo

Accessibility

The hotel has four wheelchair-accessible guest rooms and all the public spaces were redesigned to be fully accessible. There are wheelchair-accessible bathrooms on the ground floor. Guests with specific needs should email [email protected] or call +39 02811221.

Spa and wellness

The subterranean spa is small but well designed: a gym with Technogym equipment, a wet area with a Finnish sauna, steam bath, and experience shower, three treatment rooms, and a dedicated nail salon. The Forte Vita Bar offers express treatments, including facials and blow outs designed for the city’s busy pace. Massages and facials incorporate Irene Forte’s organic skincare line, which is B Corp certified.

Make a trip of it

Afar’s four-day Milan itinerary offers a multifaceted way to see the city, from canonical sights to neighborhoods where design, food, and everyday life intersect.

Afar was a guest of the Carlton Milan. Our coverage is independent; the hotel did not review or approve this story.