STRAF Milan Review: Design Over Service?

Milan has no shortage of expensive hotels, particularly around the Duomo. For our October 2026 visit, I had a Marriott Bonvoy 85,000-point Free Night Certificate available and found a redemption at STRAF, a design-focused hotel immediately beside the cathedral.

The location was excellent, and I liked the room. STRAF's concrete walls, unusual furniture and metallic finishes made a change from the more conventional Marriott hotels I've stayed in.

The service was less convincing. As a Marriott Platinum Elite member, I expected some recognition of my status, particularly when requesting late checkout. Instead, the hotel declined the request beyond 1 p.m. and then appeared willing to sell the additional time.

Our stay also coincided with protests around the Duomo, which disrupted shops, restaurants and the hotel's own bar. It made for an unusual weekend, although that was hardly something STRAF could control.

We stayed at STRAF on October 17, 2026, using an 85,000-point Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificate. The equivalent cash rate for our room was $636. A smaller room was available for $575, but the award reservation secured the higher-priced room.

The 0.75-cent figure is useful for comparison, although it isn't equivalent to redeeming 85,000 Marriott points. An FNC is less flexible than points, has an expiration date and can only be used for an eligible night within its redemption ceiling. Its practical value therefore depends on the alternative redemptions available before it expires.

That said, it did provide an opportunity to experience a property I probably wouldn't have chosen at its full cash rate.

STRAF's location is difficult to improve upon for anyone visiting central Milan. The hotel sits on Via San Raffaele, only steps from Piazza del Duomo. The cathedral is effectively at the end of the street.

Despite the hotel's proximity to one of Milan's busiest tourist attractions, its entrance is relatively understated. The historic facade gives little indication of the industrial, minimalist interiors behind it.

Our room overlooked the street. From the window, we could catch a narrow glimpse of the cathedral, but this was emphatically not a room with a panoramic Duomo view. The photograph below gives a better sense of that arrangement.

The room had concrete-textured walls, recessed lighting, a long dark work surface and a large yellow-and-pink artwork leaning against the wall.

The bed occupied much of the available floor space, with a low profile and a long console running alongside it. It wasn't a particularly large room, but the long desk and low furniture made good use of the space.

The furniture was integrated into the architecture, storage was relatively discreet, and the hard surfaces gave the space an industrial character. The concrete walls and hard surfaces won't appeal to everyone, particularly anyone expecting the softer furnishings of a traditional luxury hotel. I enjoyed the change.

The bathroom had bronze-colored walls and reflective surfaces. The shower was enclosed by glass, with dark, mottled metallic panels that gave it an unusual appearance.

The bathroom included a separate bidet alongside the toilet. The finishes were consistent with the rest of the room, with a warm metallic palette rather than the white marble found in many upscale hotels.

The open wardrobe housed the minibar, safe, shelves and hanging space.

The unusual design isn't confined to the bedrooms. Downstairs, the reception desk has a reflective metallic finish, with contemporary artwork and industrial materials. The effect is closer to a design gallery than a conventional hotel lobby. The corridors are dark, with concrete walls and very little decoration.

The lounge is more colorful, with green and purple seating beneath an illuminated ceiling.

The breakfast room has rows of tables, gray walls and a large artwork at the far end. We didn't have breakfast at the hotel, so I can't comment on the food or service. Breakfast wasn't included in our stay as a Marriott Platinum benefit.

My main disappointment concerned the treatment of Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status. STRAF participates through Design Hotels, where the benefits are more limited than at most Marriott brands. Complimentary breakfast isn't included for Platinum members, and late checkout is subject to availability rather than guaranteed until 4 p.m.

I knew those limitations applied, but the stay still offered little practical recognition of Platinum status. The late-checkout conversation was the clearest example. I requested a late checkout. We were initially told that the hotel would check availability. The answer came back that nothing later than 1 p.m. was available. Yet, in essentially the same conversation, we were offered the possibility of purchasing a later checkout for what I recall was over €100.

I couldn’t reconcile those two answers. Perhaps there was a distinction in the hotel’s room-allocation process, but none was explained. I didn't challenge the matter further at reception. Nevertheless, it left me questioning how seriously the property approached Marriott elite benefits.

The overall service also felt a little detached. The reception staff were professional enough, but there was a certain coolness to the interaction that didn't translate into particularly attentive hospitality. My wife was more conscious of it than I was, particularly in the context of our award booking.

I wouldn't claim that the hotel treated us differently because we had used an award booking. There was no way to establish that. But neither did the stay leave us feeling that Platinum status had improved the experience.

For a property selling rooms at more than $600 on our date, that was disappointing.

During the weekend, protests developed around the Duomo, immediately beside the hotel. We heard shouting and what sounded like firework-style explosions from the surrounding streets. At one point, my wife was shopping in Zara when the store was closed during the disturbance. Customers were eventually ushered out through a rear exit to avoid the heightened tensions out front.

By the time we went looking for dinner, there were burned placards and broken glass in the streets around the cathedral. STRAF had closed its bar early, apparently because of the disturbances, so we had to look elsewhere. When we returned, the bar remained closed. A member of the front desk team explained that the situation was highly unusual and suggested that the authorities were having difficulty managing the protesters, many of whom were reportedly minors.

The disruption continued the following day. We had lunch at Signorvino, a wine bar and restaurant near the Duomo, enjoying a selection of starters and a Barbaresco. While waiting for our food, we signed up for Signorvino Club, its free loyalty program, and received a 10% discount on the bill. The program also awards points on purchases, so it's worth knowing about if you're visiting Italy.

Later, after leaving our luggage at STRAF, we went out separately. I was sitting at a cafe near the cathedral when riot police appeared again and several young people in black hoodies ran across the square. Nearby restaurants began closing, either voluntarily or under instruction.

We made our way back toward STRAF, stopping at Park Hyatt Milan to look around the lobby and bar. That also provided an opportunity for a separate credit-card coding experiment, which I'll cover elsewhere. Eventually, we returned to STRAF, collected our luggage and asked reception to arrange a taxi to our next hotel, NH Linate. That request was handled without difficulty.

Probably not at anywhere near the $636 cash rate, and I wouldn't prioritize STRAF for another Marriott FNC redemption. I enjoyed the room and its unusual interiors, and the location beside the Duomo was excellent. But the limited Platinum recognition, particularly the late-checkout exchange, made the Marriott booking less appealing than I'd hoped.

I wouldn't rule out returning if an unusually attractive rate came along, perhaps through American Express's The Hotel Collection with its additional benefits on a two-night stay. Otherwise, I'd be inclined to try somewhere else in Milan. STRAF was an interesting hotel to experience once, but I came away with little reason to make it a repeat booking.

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