What the Hotel Portrait is like in Milan

After passing the splendid baroque portal by Francesco Maria Richini, the majestic Piazza del Quadrilatero opens up Portrait Milano, the hotel of the Lungarno Collection group (Ferragamo family) opened last year. The Portrait is one step away San Babila, it is accessed from Corso Venezia 11 through a large portal. Inside there is an immense colonnade, overlooked by restaurants, bars, boutiques and a spa.

Born as Archbishop’s Seminary in the sixteenth century at the behest of Saint Charles Borromeo , was transformed over the years into barracks, hospital, library, and finally remained closed for over 20 years. Since last year, the portal has been open again both for tourists and hotel guests and for citizens, thanks to a conservative renovation project by architect Michele De Lucchi.

On the so-called Quadrilatero Squarea colonnaded space of 2,800 square meters – which connects Corso Venezia to Via Sant’Andrea – is overlooked by the restaurants, bars and boutiques of the Lungarno Collection partners, such as Antonia, SO-LE STUDIO, Beefbar, The Longevity Suite and Verde Idea.

The rooms of Portrait Milano

There are 73 rooms and suites in the hotel, divided between the first and fourth floors of the building. Extremely quiet, elegant and contemporary, the rooms bear the signature of the architect Michele Bönan, who has already managed all the Lungarno Collection properties and who has inspired by the living rooms of Milan in the 1950s. The classic style recalls the tradition of Milanese homes but with contemporary details inspired by Tuscan craftsmanship, such as leather handles and rattan boiserie, in a tribute to the historical places of the Ferragamo family.

The dimensions of the rooms range from 32 to 165 square meters and are of different types: there are 53 rooms Studio and Deluxe for 2 or 3 guests and 20 le Suite (in the Junior Suite, Suite, Portrait Suite and Borromeo Suite categories) ideal for 3-4 guests. The Family Suites are reserved for larger families, solutions of different sizes that allow you to connect multiple rooms up to an entire wing of the building, for a maximum of 21 guests.

The 27 rooms and suites on the second floor have sitting areas in the bright glassed-in loggia; other rooms instead have a view of the palace’s secret garden. A splendid terrace completes some of the solutions.

Portrait Milano’s gastronomic offer

In the heart of the Quadrilatero, overlooking its largest square, it is located 10_11 (Ten Eleven): bar, restaurant, garden and porticowhich in this place combine almost to the point of merging, enhancing the imposing architecture of the former Archbishop’s Seminary.

10_11 proposes one cuisine inspired by the Lombard tradition (but not only), with strong and recognizable flavours, which “evoke a memory”. There are mondeghili, sautéed rice with ossobuco ragout in gremolada, veal with tuna sauce, beef fillet in a crust and baked pumpkin and the white pasta. And then the desserts, in their most classic version, such as apple pie and vanilla sauce or polenta amor. Great space is also given to the bar part which has made the evolution of the Italian – and Milanese – ritual ofaperitif, its DNA.

What makes the difference is not just the formulas that invite you to sharing, but it is the human factor, a value that has always distinguished the Brand Portrait and which finds a new form of expression in 10_11. The very name of this restaurant is an indication of the meeting point between two souls of the city, represented by the two numbers of via Sant’Andrea 10 (intimate and intimate, exclusive and elegant) e Corso Venezia 11 (open, inclusive and projected directly into the heart of Milan).

We like it because

It is an example of how well-studied hotel projects can be good for cities, enhancing their artistic and cultural heritage. We like it for its incomparable beauty and value, and for the concept of hospitality that extends beyond simply sleeping. And for the breakfast, also open to the public outside the hotel.