The hotel is located in the fashion district of Milan. I have been here several times and I have noticed a consistency in the size and cleanses of the room. The breakfast is pretty good and the room price is quite ok for a 4 stars hotel in Milan.
This hotel is modern with a fashion design. The breakfast is varied and with high quality. However, in my opinion, the hotel is not well situated, it is far from city centre. It is necessary to take a taxi to anywhere.The area is not very quiet and, even too much noisy at night. In addition, the standard room price is very high with respect to its size, it is a bit small.
We stayed at the Nhow for business during early January 2013. First they gave us a double room after we several times asked for a twin room which they had confirmed in our booking, but after 3 try's we finally got the right room. The room was very big and the standard good, but we had no hot water what so ever for over 24hrs. When the hot water started working it was so hot it was almost impossible to shower in. The internet is so slow so it's impossible to use, which is a bit of a hassle especially when you are there for work. The breakfast is very nice, the decor of the hotel is also very nice and it's located in a great area. The service is so-so, and in the bar it's very slow.
My usual hotel in Milan was fully booked to I chose to stay at the NHOW Hotel for three reasons - first, a friend recommended it; second, I was told that the buffet breakfast (my favourite meal) was excellent; and third, I found a special rate of just 76 euros a night (with breakfast!), which is a bargain for a decent hotel in the city. The location is a little farther from the historic centre (the Duomo area and La Scala) than I usually prefer, but I thought that access would be easy by the metro. I try to take public transportation and avoid taxis whenever I can - not just when traveling but wherever I am. Judging by the map on the hotel website, I thought it would be a good idea to take the metro from Milano Centrale (the main train station) to Milano Porta Genova, which was supposed to be close to the NHOW. Big mistake if you have luggage. I discovered that to get from Porta Genova to Via Tortona, the street where the NHOW is located, you have to walk up and down a bridge over the railway tracks. If you have bags this can be very tedious. Once over the bridge, you then still have about a 10-15 minute walk to the hotel. If you want to take public transport from Centrale, then it is better to take the tram, but you will need to change lines at the Duomo. From the Via Stendhal tram (line #14) stop, the hotel is just two blocks away. (During my two-night stay at the NHOW, I ended up using the tram a great deal. It's about a 15-minute ride from Via Stendhal to the Duomo area. I bought a 48-hour travel card that provided unlimited trips on the local transport network over that period.) Anyhow, by the time I got to the hotel, I was drenched with perspiration from the effort of dragging my bags over the bridge and then down the long stretch of Via Tortona. To make matters worse, I received no assistance from any staff on arrival at the front door and no sympathy from the front desk staff when I complained that the hotel website does not inform guests of the best way to get to the hotel via public transport. He went on about how it was up to the hotel company's head office in Spain and that it would be difficult to include such instructions for one hotel and not for the 300+ other hotels in the chain. That reaction was wholly inappropriate. It got worse later in the evening. I went out to the opera soon after settling into my room. I took pains to check when room service ended (10 pm) and when the restaurant closed (11 pm). The performance ended about 9.45 pm. As I was tired, I decided to just go back to the hotel and have dinner in the restaurant. I passed several open restaurants on the way back, but figured I would just eat in. Much to my dismay, however, the restaurant was closed for lunch and dinner because of the holidays. There was a notice on the front desk, but it was to one side and not easily visible. The staff on duty never alerted me to the closure and was most unsympathetic. I could just go to the bar and have a snack there. So I went over to the bar to see what it had to offer. To my surprise, I was just presented with the room service menu! The barman was equally unsympathetic, but he did agree to prepare a tray for me with a dish of pasta that I could bring up to my room. The pasta was TERRIBLE! The menu warned that the item I was ordering was frozen, i.e. it will be microwaved for serving. What I got was overcooked, hard and as awful tasting pasta as one can imagine - it is truly sacrilegious that such a dish could be served in Italy! But beggars can't be choosers. In retrospect, I should have just gone out to the pizzeria about a block away. Indeed, there are a number of good restaurants in the neighbourhood, though I wasn't so sure how many would be open after 10 pm. After that episode, I was quite down on the hotel. But redemption was at hand. In my first morning and the next, I had breakfast in the restaurant. It was EXCELLENT! Probably the best breakfast buffet I have had in a European hotel. There was a lot of choice, including several healthy options. And you could get eggs to order, including nice omelettes with prosciutto and mozzarella. The service was good too. As for the room, it was fairly nice and spacious, as was the bathroom (big shower). I'm not a fan of these designer establishments that do too many quirky things e.g. using sheer curtains instead of a closet and dispensing with a proper work desk. The NHOW decor may be a bit over the top, but I kinda liked the whimsy. I also get the attempt to make guests feel like they are living in a Tribeca loft or converted warehouse. I think it works, but others may be put off. One negative note: the dinner tray that I brought up from the bar on my first night remained on the floor outside my door for more than 24 hours. That nobody picked it up and took it away was somewhat odd if not alarming to me. Conclusion: Now that I know about the location, I would probably stay at the NHOW again, especially if I can get the excellent rate I got (through Tablethotels). The sassy service my first night was not too bad. Chalk it up to poor training. The breakfast is clearly the hotel's big selling point - a real bargain if included in a decent nightly rate. BTW, On my way out of Milan (to LInate airport), I relented and took a taxi!
Strategic position in one of the coolest area of Milano (zona Tortona).
Design is the key word: shapes, volumes, colour and temporary installations all around the floores.
Each room is a bon-bon with a contemporary twist, perfect for couples.
The staff is young and kind; there is a big parking spot on the backyard.
I was looking forward to it after reading reviews and newspaper articles about this place. I knew it was a bit difficult to get there, as I had checked out the area before, so I was prepared and did not mind. But I suggest if you stay there get a cab as the Metro station is too far and not convenient if you carry luggage.
Is is a bit hidden and a weird but cool entry through the parking deck sort of. The decoration is as I heard different, but a bit too much and at the same time sort of just thrown into some corners of the huge lobby and outside of the lobby, which takes from its appearance. Also before you walk into the hotel, the parts you see from the road, rather look like a old and empty warehouse with some furniture left.
Towards the rooms, corridors are designed well and the room was nice as well, as far as design, amenities (except that flip flop slippers are cool, but not in winter) and even size was decent. The view was not nice, but in that area one is not staying for the view, so it was ok.
At a second glance I realized that the room, corridor and even lobby was pretty run down, and in many areas could use a bit paint or clean-up.
It was not really dirty, but not super clean as well and the many damaged spots on walls and so on made it look run down.
Breakfast was in a nice bright room, also decorated pretty cool and with a decent offer and ok service (just ok, as asking multiple times for a capuchin, the waitress was making faces, plus communication in English, even basics was not possible). Not the best products offered, but the variety was ok, aside from hot food, which was sitting there too long, but one could order fresh made omelets and others as well.
On a side not I need to say I asked to check out a bit later and that was ok and handled fast, plus internet as a surprise was offered for free now and working for most part.
All in all I would say it is an ok place to stay, especially to explore the Zona Tortuna, but overrated and too expensive for what you get.
