There’s been much hype surrounding the opening of the new Excelsior Hotel Gallia and it seems it was all well deserved. The hotel officially threw open its doors to the public on 12 May to welcome a feast of fashionable celebrities.
Thanks to a multi-million euro renovation project, the old, iconic Milanese hotel in piazza Duca d’Aosta has been given a new look. Now owned by Katara Hospitality, an affiliate of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which recently acquired the property in Porta Nuova, it will join The Luxury Collection® portfolio, part of the exclusive Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Helmed by General Manager Marco Olivieri, a second wing has been annexed to the original building which now features 235 rooms, including 53 suites belonging to 7 different categories, culminating in one of the largest presidential suites in Italy: extending over a surface area of around one thousand square metres, the Katara Suite will be the ‘Milanese’ home of the Emir but also available to other guests (at a rate of approximately €20,000 per night).
Designed and supervised by multi-awarding architectural firm Studio Marco Piva of Milan, the hotel boasts the collaboration of several of the world’s most prestigious names: its restaurant is run by none other than the Cerea brothers, the very same who, with their famed Da Vittorio restaurant, are a part of the Olympus of eight of Italy’s most renowned, 3-star Michelin restaurants. No less impressive is its exclusive Spa designed to stimulate your senses with fabulous Shisheido treatments and products.
An important project whose inauguration was attended by local and international celebrities invited to a double celebration involving a conference in the morning and a glitzy grand gala the following evening- “The relaunch of this marvelous hotel represents one of the real gems of our international investments”, commented Sheik Nawaf Al-Thani, while the President of the Regione Lombardia, Roberto Maroni, lauded “Milan’s attraction factor”.
And, on the subject of attraction, hotel manager, Olivieri, surrounded by a team comprised mainly of Gallia’s former iconic staff members, stated that he wants the hotel to once again become a reference point for the city: “This hotel”, reminisces its manager, “has a longstanding tradition in terms of the events that it has hosted, from business lunches to product launches, from fashion shows to Calciomercato”. “Its new rooms have been designed to better satisfy the most diverse requirements, in the hopes of also attracting a large number of Milanese guests.”
Hospitality manager Claudio Ticozzi is unable to hide his emotion while showing us the marvels of the hotel: from its impressive lobby dominated by a 30-metre cascading chandelier, made entirely from Murano glass, right up to its stunning rooftop terrace with a panoramic view on the 7th floor. Other jaw-dropping feats of architecture include a futuristic ‘Cupola’ for events, comprising a mega-screen, light prisms and small armchairs which, when the need arises, disappear into the floor. Additionally, all the communal spaces and rooms are characterized by a mix of luxury and technology, comfort and spectacular aesthetic details: a triumph of marble and Led lights slated to become, as the website’s slogan dictates “the scintillating essence of Milan.”
Elena Binda
