Magna Pars, l’ Hotel à Parfum

Character and identity

Built on the bones of an old perfume factory in Milan's Tortona design district, Magna Pars styles itself as the world's first "hotel à parfum," and scent genuinely shapes the experience, from the suites to the cocktail list. The architecture, by Luciano Maria Colombo, Paola Benelli and Roberto Murgia, marries original factory walls with polished steel, aluminium and glass. Sixty suites wrap around an inner garden of magnolia, azalea, rose and three golden liquidambars. There is an intimate two-person spa with Ayurvedic and aromatherapy treatments, a Library Hall of 18th to 20th century volumes, and LabSolue, where you can commission a bespoke fragrance.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you are really booking is a concept hotel where fragrance is the organising principle, executed with unusual conviction, from the garden to the LabSolue perfumery. Come if that idea excites you; skip it if you want a conventional luxury checklist. Book a garden-facing suite, reserve the spa well before arrival, and pair the stay with a LabSolue fragrance session.