Grand Hotel et de Milan - The Leading Hotels of the World

Subpar hotel with a premium price. We booked this hotel and paid a premium based on a “5 Star” rating, full-service hotel with air conditioning. It offers a great location to shopping, Duomo and the front door/desk staff are friendly but that’s about it. Our first night we had issues sleeping because the room was incredibly stuffy, the thermostat indicated 19 degrees yet the air was not cool. The following day we addressed it with hotel staff with one staff member looking at the control panel stating everything looks fine and then a follow up call to front desk a short time later and they said they would adjust it on their end. We were informed the front desk controls your room temperature and it will cool down…so we went to sleep. My partner and I both woke up in the middle of the night sweating as the room was warm and stuffy, still readying 19 and still blowing warm air. We tried opening the window however it was already loud due to the night club close by with loud music thumping that was already coming through the windows of our top floor unit, so close in fact you can hear club guests speaking. We called front desk again and it was then we were told that the system is not a true air conditioning system. Tow hours later at 3:30am they offered another room to sleep in for the remainder of the night and front desk said they could not guarantee it will be cooler, we declined as we now had to leave in 2 hours and instead stayed up to pack so we could leave. Already exhausted from our first night of no sleep and now a second night having the same issue we decided to check out a day early and change our travel plans at an additional cost to us both for new accommodations and the refusal of Hotel Grand Et De Milan to reimburse the cost of one night that we prepaid and did not stay because we checked out early. Yes, prepaid through Expedia who has made 3 attempts to get the night stay reimbursed but the hotel is refusing to do so. In liew of the reimbursement for the night we did not stay Grand Hotel et de Milan offered 1 nights stay in a "suite" at another time we visit, however we have no desire to stay at this hotel ever again and would not even recommend it to friends or family. Cleanliness of the room was questionable, large spider web in the top corner of the shower and a layer of thick dust on the vents. The restaurant offerings are sub-par, there is morning buffet for breakfast or you can order off the slim a la carte offerings. While having breakfast we observed questionable people scheming outside and eyeballing every person that looked like a tourist outside the hotel, two of them even tried conversing with us through the glass windows of the restaurant. Room access is not with a digital card system, rather a key on a heavy keychain which most guests leave at the front desk with staff so each time you leave/arrive at the hotel you go to the front desk for your key and no accountability of who enters/leaves your room while you are away. You could keep it with you however the keychain it is on is quite weighted and most guests leave it with front desk. Being an Italian myself with family throughout Northern Italy I have travelled extensively in Europe with great hotel experiences, this hotel has been the opposite. For the cost of this hotel you can find better value elsewhere with better restaurant offerings both in the hotel and neighbourhood along with a safer feel and an air conditioning system that actually works.