This post was created in collaboration with Hotel Magna Pars Suites.
Last month in Milan I found a beautiful place to stay, the Magna Pars Suites. Light, bright and airy, the 39 suites wrap around a central courtyard of lush greenery. It’s both peaceful and invigorating at the same time, as your senses pick up on all the different elements that surround you. This is a particularly important aspect of the Magna Pars Suites, it is the first Hotel à Parfum. The hotel is owned by the Martone family, the first to bring perfume to Italy, and it was built on the site of their original perfume factory.
Our rather large suite (FYI, we stayed in 30, Robinia – a floral suite), like all the suites it looks onto the central courtyard. Through the huge wall to wall glass windows all you can see are the tops of green trees and bushes below and the white walls of the far building; opening up the electric blinds in the morning, it’s a beautiful, fresh sight and a lovely way to start the day. Each suite has a little kitchenette, a small bookcase and the usual mod-cons. It also has a touch screen on the wall to allow you to control the lights, blinds and air conditioning/heating. Our bathroom was fairly large, with a bath, separate shower, twin sinks and separate toilet. It’s all very white and kept immaculately clean by the housekeeping. The lovely Marvin Aqua Adornationis toiletries you find in the bathrooms were created by Giorgia Martone. Each suite is adorned with paintings by artists from the Brera Academy, inspired by scents.
One of my main concerns I have when travelling is that I get a good night’s sleep. I need the room to be dark, not too hot, not too cold, not too noisy and (most importantly) the bed and pillows must be comfortable. It will come as no surprise, given the high-spec of the rest of the suite and hotel, that I slept incredibly well. The bed was huge and super comfortable. Waking up well rested, breakfast is always on my mind, it helps set me up for a day of exploring. The hotel offer a big continental buffet plus you can request cooked dishes to order. The poached eggs I had were exceptionally good, with deep orange yolks that oozed onto the plate. So good I had them two days running.
On the site of the hotel there is still a perfume laboratory, LabSolue. It’s a beautiful space, flooded with light during the day. Here you can attend a tasting session in the early evening. The benches are divided up by fragrance category; woody, floral and fruity. Like the suites, there are 39 corresponding fragrances, including Robinia – the name of our suite. Each of the fragrances was created by a famous nose, ours by Jacques Cavallier. A beautiful modern apothecary cabinet, made of warming wood lines one wall, it was inspired by Vincenzo Martone’s original pharmaceutical laboratory.
If you’re planning a trip to Milan this is definitely one hotel you should consider. The hotel’s staff are warm and welcoming, the hotel is stunning and it’s well located, just off Via Tortona, a stone’s throw from Navigili canals.