The best hotel breakfasts in Milan. Here are 8 addresses chosen by Gambero Rosso

Milan is a cosmopolitan city, and having breakfast in hotels has become a pleasant habit for many. The reasons? Impeccable service, quality offerings, comfort, and the elegance of the surroundings.

Initially, it was only the traditional Italian breakfast, but nowadays the choice of foods has expanded significantly to cater to all needs, cravings, and desires of people with diverse cultures. Besides the health corner, offerings for celiacs, vegetarians, or vegans, dishes from the oriental and Arab traditions make an appearance—an experience worth trying. Note: For greater tranquility, especially during the high season when hotels easily reach full capacity, it is advisable to book in advance.

Where to have breakfast in hotels in Milan

Excelsior Hotel Gallia

A historic and prestigious hotel, it also boasts a very convenient location, practically at the exit of Central Station. Let's not delve into describing the charm of common areas or the elegance of rooms and suites (the Katara Royal, with a thousand square meters, is mind-blowing), or the completeness of services available. Instead, let's talk about Vincenzo and Antonio Lebano, Campanian chefs trained by the Cerea brothers, who not only manage the kitchen of the excellent La Terrazza restaurant open to external guests but also oversee all other food proposals, starting with the fabulous breakfast. On weekdays from 7 to 10:30 am, on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 11 am, a rich buffet is set up in the Gallia Restaurant space, which can be enjoyed without limits for 45 euros per person. It's dizzying, considering the variety of delicacies on display: a wide range of pastries, farm yogurt, various types of bread (signed by Longoni), spreads, jams, and preserves, cold cuts, cheeses, smoked fish, fresh juices, and smoothies. There is also the Healthy breakfast for 35 euros and the Katara for 30 euros.

Excelsior Hotel Gallia – piazza Duca d’Aosta, 9 – 02 67851 – www.marriott.com

Mandarin Hotel Milan

Near Teatro alla Scala, it is an exclusive hotel with a unique charm, housed in several ancient buildings expertly renovated. The Seta by Antonio Guida restaurant is worth a visit, open to outsiders, awarded Three Forks in the Ristoranti d'Italia 2024 guide. For an aperitif, a quick lunch, a sweet afternoon break, an "easy" dinner, and a fantastic breakfast, there's a stop at Mandarin Garden, overlooking a suggestive and green inner courtyard, open from morning to late at night. From 7 to 10:30 am, breakfast opens the day. Three available formulas: a selection from the rich buffet for 48 euros per person (including a fresh juice or smoothie, plus tea, coffee, or other hot beverage), the "complete" breakfast for 58 euros, and the Oriental breakfast, also for 58 euros, which includes Wonton soup and baozi. Alternatively, you can choose from a rich menu, with a section dedicated to eggs, a wide selection of sweets, and refined teas and coffees.

Mandarin Hotel Milan – via Andegari, 9 – 02 87318898 – www.mandarinoriental.com

ODSweet Duomo Milano Hotel

A centrally located 4-star hotel that stands out because it is themed "sweet." First of all, as soon as you cross the threshold, you are immediately struck by the aroma of chocolate and vanilla in the surroundings. The rooms - 17 themed dark chocolate and 17 themed marshmallow - also have a Sweet Corner available to satisfy a sweet craving at any time of the day. On the seventh floor of the building is The Dome Rooftop adorned with an abundance of plants and flowers, with a view and atmosphere that almost makes you feel like you're not in Milan. And it is precisely here that every day, from 8:30 to 11 am, you can have breakfast in four different ways. There is the Buongiorno Duomo for 20 euros, which offers coffee (or tea), "baker's basket," orange juice, and fruit. Then the Buongiorno Italia for 28 euros, with the addition of bread with butter and jam, bread and Nutella, milk and cereal, and moka coffee. And again, the Goodmorning for 32 euros, which also includes eggs, yogurt, muesli, and pancakes. The last option is a la carte breakfast, so everyone can customize their choice.

ODSweet Duomo Milano Hotel – via G. Mazzini, 2 (angolo piazza Duomo) – 02 26600449 – www.odsweethotel.com

Park Hyatt Milano

A few steps from the Cathedral, facing the entrance of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, in a nineteenth-century building formerly a bank's headquarters, Park Hyatt is the ideal starting point to enjoy the city. Designed by Ed Tuttle, an American architect with a Parisian education, who combined modern design with the elegance of the Baroque school, the hotel has retained the original facade; the interiors are sumptuous, with spacious rooms adorned with precious materials. The food side boasts a high-level restaurant, Pellico3 Milano, in the hands of the talented young chef Guido Paternollo, and La Cupola, a space characterized by a huge glass dome supported by travertine columns, offering a refined backdrop for various moments of the day. For breakfast, every day from 7 to 11 am, there is an excellent rich buffet (60 euros per person) that satisfies every sweet and savory craving, from a selection of fragrant bread to Echiré butter, from eggs to fresh juices. If desired, there is also a menu.

Park Hyatt Milano – via T. Grossi, 1 – 02 88211236 – www.hyatt.com

Portrait Milano

Four possibilities for those who want to start the day in this luxurious and unique hotel of the Lungarno Collection, starting from the "simple" Italian breakfast for 26 euros per person, which includes a croissant, a pain au chocolat, a slice of cake, a hot drink (tea, coffee, cappuccino, chocolate...), and a juice. Then there is the buffet breakfast for 45 euros, with unlimited choice and including a hot drink, juice, or smoothie. And again, the Portrait breakfast for 55 euros, with free choice from the buffet, hot drink, juice or smoothie, a hot dish of eggs or crepes (chocolate or blueberry jam) or pancakes or porridge. Finally, the fourth option, the tailor-made breakfast from the menu, which also includes "special" eggs, waffles, french toast, smoked salmon bagels, hash browns, avocado toast, and other delicacies. The schedule is from 7 to 10:30 am. You can sit at 10_11 (Ten Eleven), which indicates the two entrances, from Via Sant'Andrea 10 and from Corso Venezia 11), and in the good season, the outdoor area is great.

Portrait Milano – via Sant’Andrea, 10 – 02 367995850 – www.lungarnocollection.com  

Principe di Savoia

A prestigious internationally renowned hotel, whose opening dates back to 1927, over time, it has been the preferred destination for thousands of illustrious personalities and is still the favorite place for a high-class clientele from all over the world. The rooms and suites are elegantly furnished and represent the quintessence of comfort, the fine dining restaurant Acanto is also frequented by external guests, the Principe Bar is the ideal location for an aperitif and after-dinner, marked by tailor-made cocktails and drinks prepared by expert bartenders. At the Lobby Lounge, designed by Thierry Despont, every day from 7 to 11, you can have a fixed-price buffet breakfast (40 euros), or à la carte, comfortably seated in enveloping armchairs, pampered by the discreet attentions of impeccable staff. A choice of coffee, fine teas, infusions, juices, smoothies, and various drinks to pair with eggs cooked in every way, French toast, pancakes, waffles... in short, everything and more.

Principe di Savoia – piazza della Repubblica, 17 – 02 62302081 – www.dorchestercollection.com  

Starhotel Rosa Grand Milano

A stone's throw from the Cathedral, it is a 4-star hotel that perfectly combines large capacity (considering it has 330 rooms and 8 meeting rooms) and spacious areas with a high level of comfort and services. The dining options are varied. There are the Sfizio and Roses Pizza & More restaurants, both led by expert executive chef Paolo Scaccabarozzi, the Grand Lounge & Bar for quick and quality stops, and finally, but not least, the Roses, divided into various comfortable spaces (we are talking about 180 seats!) where every morning, from 7 to 10:30 am, the diverse buffet for breakfast is set up, at the almost competitive price of 30 euros per person. To give you an idea, here, in rotation, there are about a hundred proposals, between sweet and savory, accompanied by teas, coffees, cappuccinos, juices, and various beverages. The display is so vast – bread, pastries, leavened products, jams, pancakes, traditional cakes, sandwiches, cold cuts, cheeses, and much more – that the only real worry will be having to necessarily give up something so heavenly.

Starhotel Rosa Grand Milano – piazza Fontana, 3 – 02 88311 – www.starhotels.com

The Westin Palace Milan

In the Porta Nuova area, in a 1950s building with an Aswan marble facade, it is a prestigious hotel in step with the times, attentive to sustainability and environmental protection. In addition to rooms, suites, and the residence, it has a Lounge Bar and a splendid panoramic terrace on the eighth floor, open seasonally. The talented chef Moris La Greca, in addition to taking care of the PanEVO restaurant menu, open to external customers, also oversees the breakfast offering, which is also available to those not staying in the hotel, served from 7 to 10:30 am (on weekends until 12) in the PanEVO premises. It is advisable to opt for the rich and varied buffet with sweet and savory delights at a cost of 37 euros per person, which includes a gluten-free corner and choices for vegetarians. Alternatively, there is always the à la carte option, with additional toast, pancakes, waffles with chocolate sauce, porridge, yogurt in various combinations, avocado toast, juices, smoothies, and even proposals designed specifically for the little ones.

The Westin Palace Milan – piazza della Repubblica, 20 – 02 63364001 – www.westinpalacemilan.com