Armani Hotels & Resorts in two destinations

In two destinations, one hotel in each. In Dubai, Armani Hotel Dubai is inside the Burj Khalifa, in Downtown, DIFC & Business Bay, with Dubai Mall connected to the tower, the Dubai Fountain and Burj Lake at the door and Dubai Opera a few minutes' walk. In Milan, Armani Hotel Milano stands on Via Manzoni, in the Quadrilatero della Moda & Brera, with Via Montenapoleone at the corner, La Scala five minutes down Via Manzoni and Brera across the street.

Each was admitted on its own merits, one hotel at a time, never by brand. The two are the hotels the designer built and designed himself, and what they share is his hand rather than a template: in Dubai, the rooms, Armani/Ristorante and the spa inside the tallest building in the world, with the fountain at the door; in Milan, a 1937 palazzo at the corner of the Quadrilatero with the interiors his own. Armani Hotel Dubai holds five-star standing; Armani Hotel Milano holds four-star standing, and we list it at exactly that tier.

It depends on the destination. Dubai belongs to the winter, from late October to April — days in the mid-twenties and the fountain playing in the cool of the evening — with the weeks from mid-December through the New Year's Eve fireworks at the Burj Khalifa, the tower the hotel sits in, taken months ahead, and the Dubai Shopping Festival in January, the tennis in February and the Dubai World Cup at Meydan at the end of March filling next; from June to September the heat is the fact of the day, afternoons past forty degrees and life indoors, and the houses are at their quietest. Milan fills by the calendar rather than the weather: Fashion Week in late February and again in late September and the Salone del Mobile in April take every room in the city months ahead, and a house at the corner of the Quadrilatero goes first; April to June and September to October are otherwise the pleasant months, July and August hot and humid with the city emptying around Ferragosto, and the opera season opens at La Scala on 7 December. Each destination page carries its note on the months, and the concierge advises on dates for a specific hotel.

Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.