Hotel San Francisco

Hotel San Francisco is housed in a four-story building situated on a tree-lined street in the quiet Casoretto District. Rooms and public spaces were renovated in 2015 and 2016, and they sport a crisp, contemporary look. Bright red chairs add a pop of color to the lobby, which also features exposed brick walls, hanging lights, and a hardwood floor. The breakfast room is done in muted grays and beiges, and features a big photomural of Golden Gate Bridge in orange. In warm weather, guests can enjoy their breakfast on the pleasant garden patio with a large tree, shrubs, and vines. The San Francisco attracts mostly leisure travelers and couples who like the low rates and proximity to Corso Buenos Aires shopping street. 

Hotel San Francisco is in a quiet residential area in the Casoretto District on the eastern outskirts of Milan, just around the corner from the Via Porpora V.le Lombardia bus stop. The hotel is a little more than a five-minute walk from the Piola metro (which goes to Milan Centrale train station) and a little less than 10 minutes on foot from Loreto station (which goes to most of Milan’s main tourist sights). The Polytechnic Institute of Milan (the largest technical university in Italy) and Corso Buenos Aires street (billed as the highest concentration of clothing stores in Europe) are also within a 10-minute walk from the hotel. 

However, the Hotel San Francisco is not in a great spot for walking access to central Milan’s dining and main sights. The area with Teatro alla Scala opera house, Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele glass-covered shopping mall, and Milan Cathedral (Il Duomo) is 15 minutes away by metro. The 15th-century Santa Maria delle Grazie with Da Vinci’s Last Supper is 25 minutes away. Milan Lambrate train and tram station is five minutes by bus or a 15-minute walk. Milan Centrale train and tram station is 15 minutes by metro. Linate Airport is a little more than a 10-minute drive or 40 minutes by bus from the hotel. Malpensa Airport is a 45-minute drive in good traffic, or a little more than an hour by a combination of metro and train. 

Hotel San Francisco offers 28 guest rooms in Single, Double, and Triple configurations, but the Single Rooms are tiny. Rooms were renovated in 2016 to give them a minimalist, contemporary look, with stark white furniture and trim. The color palette is a neutral white, gray, beige, and black, with some rooms featuring headboards in a vivid purple or orange color; some beds also have canopies. Note that some beds are two singles pushed together. The rooms lack kettles for instant tea and coffee, but all come with air-conditioning, desks, flat-screen TVs, safes, minibars (with room for cold storage), and free Wi-Fi. Bathrooms are clean and well lighted but have a more bland look than the bedrooms, with dull gray tile and slate floors. All come with bidets, hairdryers, and singular showers or shower/tub combos. Some rooms have balconies overlooking the hotel’s garden patio.

The features at Hotel San Francisco are typical for a lower-middle-range European tourist property. The hotel serves buffet breakfast (for a fee) that has gotten high marks from previous guests for the quality and variety which features hot eggs, bacon, pancakes, and a wide range of cold items. In warm weather, guests can take their breakfast outdoors on the garden patio. A snack bar and cocktail bar are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additional features include a public computer and TV, meeting rooms, free nearby parking, airport and train station transfer (for a fee), and a 24-hour front desk with multilingual staff and tourist assistance. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.