We found this the perfect stopover in Milan while driving though Italy. It came recommended by Milanese friends. You can park right outside (with luck) The rooms are well designed and furnished for a city center hotel, the staff friendly and with a small bar, breakfast room.

It is easy to find; a turning off the Corso Lodi just before the Porta Romana; near the Metro, a couple of stops to the Duomo and a nice area.

Like the other reviewer, we were also fooled by the description on the hotel's website that it is just a short stroll from Bocconi University. (Were there for a conference.) It is at least a 25-minute walk.

This hotel is not close to any other attractions either. On Fridays, there is an outdoor market in front of the hotel - vendors sell fruits and vegetables, but also a lot of junk. The street is left filthy afterward.

The rooms are on the 1st floor, and one has to walk up a steep narrow staircase - not the best if you have heavy luggage. For what they charge, our room was tiny (even by Italian standard), and breakfast was the bare minimum, offered in a little sitting area next to the front desk. There are no other facilities at this hotel. On top of that, there is little hospitality to speak off on the part of the staff.

This place is honestly a youth hostel, not a three-star hotel. There is no way I would stay here again.

When we arrived at Hotel Piacenza, the desk clerk told us he did not have a reservation for us and was full. After fussing a few minutes, he located our reservation and said that it was made through Unitravel.com, but Hotel Piacenza no longer works with this agency. After I insisted that I booked through the Hotel Piacenza website and received a confirmation from unitravel, the clerk argued. Eventually, he said he would let me use the internet to show him how I booked, but when I arrived at hotelpiacenza.com website, suddenly, the computer lost its power supply. He telephoned a nearby hotel and made a reservation for that night for us. I later checked the unitravel.com website and found that they do book Hotel Piacenza. I could not confirm whether unitravel.com is the booking agency used when one books through the hotelpizcena.com website without making another reservation.

However, we ended up better off than if our reservation had been honored. We had chosen Piacenza because it is described as a "short stroll from Bocconi" where my husband had a conference. Piacenza is about half an hour's walk; many of the hotels on the periphery of the Duomo district are a shorter walk to Bocconi, and at least the two I stayed in offer much better value (in terms of a much more upscale experience as far as at least the lobby presented.

Hotel Piacenza in a quiet and safe part of Milan and close to the Porta Romana Metro station which is only three stops from the Duomo. The hotel is very clean and comfortable and management are friendly and helpful. Breakfast is fairly normal for Italy, pastries and delicious cappuccino and it was nice to have that included. The doors of the rooms are quite heavy so I found that even with your best efforts to close the door quietly, it still slammed quite loudly. It really didn't bother me too much, you have to expect things like that from old buildings. I would definitely stay here again the next time I'm in Milano.