Inside the world’s 7 star milan Hotel: Seven Stars Galleria

Aug

Inside the world’s 7 star milan Hotel: Seven Stars Galleria

Seven Stars Galleria is a Milan luxury hotel in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II near Piazza del Duomo, and what will bring to Milan? Uniqueness and prestigious hospitality service for those we are looking for an “Where to go in Milan” experience! Dubai’s Burj Al Arab made headlines as the world’s first seven star hotel, but wasn’t actually rated as such by an authorized body. Alessandro Rosso is the founder of Hotel Seven Stars Galleria, hidden inside Milan’s 19th century Vittorio Emanuele II structure. The chairman of the Alessandro Rosso Group, was the world’s first to receive an official seven-star status for his hotel, and so far he’s the only one.

“We wanted to be more than just a hotel that was being referred to as a seven star hotel; we wanted to be certified as one,” Alessandro tells me when we meet at the bar area of his seven star gem, which faces the city’s Duomo. He reached out to Geneva-based certification company SGS, which established a series of requirements in order for a hotel to be seven star-qualified. “There are many rules involved in order for a hotel to be officially rated as a seven star hotel.

The most important one however, is location. If you don’t get that part right, you’re not in the running for seven stars anymore.” He goes on adding, “The hotel must be located inside an iconic structure that is of great value to the city. It can’t just be a nice building. Furthermore, a seven star hotel must have more suites than rooms. At a five star hotel it’s usually the other way around.”

Inside the hotel which opened its doors in 2007 – designed by architect Ettore Mocchetti – one will find a total of seven suites. There’s the penthouse suite, where Italy’s King Vittorio Emanuele III would stay, whenever visiting Milan. The 580 m2 suit goes for €15.000 per night, and comes with a personal chef and butler. Then there are the remaining six suits, which are available from €1500 per night and upward.

World’s only seven star hotel is big on privacy as well, as you either get a suite, or get denied access. The hotel’s easy-to-miss narrow entrance on Via Silvio Pellico (around the corner of the Galleria), that leads to the hotel’s elevator, is guarded 24/7 by two security guards. “A seven star hotel is like a house, so it’s closed to the public. Many of the guests that stay here are heads of state, celebrities, and billionaire entrepreneurs – they need a certain level of privacy. Imagine a sultan staying here, and somebody taking a picture of him in the hotel lobby,” Rosso says.

But Hotel Seven Stars Galleria’s USP doesn’t stop at location and privacy. “When you go to your typical luxury hotel, you pretty much have to live by their rules, as oppose to them living by yours. That means, breakfast is served till a certain hour, and you’ll only be able to order whatever is mentioned on the hotel menu. At a seven star hotel it’s the client that makes the rules. If a guest is limited in his choices – even the slightest bit – it’s not a seven star hotel,” the Alessandro Rosso Group chairman explains.

To make sure hotel guests don’t come anything short, they’ll get paired with a personal butler whose sole purpose is to get them whatever they need. This includes shopping sprees with famous fashion designers, fuel for their private jet, viewing Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper in private (amongst the hotel’s most common requests), dinner on the Galleria’s roof, or meeting the mayor.

Milan is the city around which the majority of Alessandro Rosso’s businesses are concentrated, but he’s currently scouting for other locations to introduce the seven star concept. Both inside, as well as outside of Italy. “There will be another opening in a space that’s iconic like the Galleria in Milan. In Venice we’re currently looking at a space on Piazza San Marco; we’re just trying to figure out how to make everything work at the moment. Then also Florence, Rome, Istanbul and Shanghai are cities in which I’ve found potential locations for a new seven star hotel,” Rosso says. In order for Alessandro to secure a location, it takes five to six years averagely, plus an additional three years to realize the hotel.

“It’s a lot of talking with the government, since we basically occupy one of the most historical spaces in the city. The thing is, that luxury hotels come and go, and often become less relevant as time goes by. In our case however, as long as the Galleria is here, we’ll be here as well. The more time goes by, the more interesting this hotel becomes.”

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