First insights into the hip luxury hotel in the middle of Milan's city centre. Highly exclusive, a South American hotel group combines art and service in one of the most unusual locations in the world.

No other hotel group combines the theme of art with unique locations as perfectly as VIK Retreats.

A touch of South America wafts through the Italian fashion metropolis of Milan. Our editor-in-chief paid a visit to the recently opened hotel of the Uruguayan-born luxury hotel group and found a place of tranquillity alongside old memories - and in the midst of the hectic hustle and bustle of the Lombard capital.

Once I had to walk through Italy's finest department store La Rinascente in Piazza Duomo on this long holiday weekend, it provides the perfect inspiration for the most amazing and personal gifts. Compare this hustle and bustle to a stroll down London's Oxford Street at absolute rush hour. Grabbing a quick Milanese aperitivo near Piazza Duomo at this hour? An impossibility, I thought to myself, and headed back to my home for the night. VIK Retreats is the name of the small selection of now five fine hotels, consisting of three properties on Uruguay's Atlantic coast, a hotel with winery in Chile, and the first European offshoot in Milan. It takes a bit of courage to set foot in Italy (the country with its own great design hotels and concepts) in a property owned by a South American hotel group. But I have to admit that it was not the first overnight stay for me in one of the VIK retreats: already in Chile I was lucky enough to spend three days as a guest of founder Alexander Vik to get to know the concept of this hotel group. The generous number of staff in relation to the number of guests is one of the trademarks of the group, as well as the unique and always coherent collection of art of all kinds. The comfortable beds and extremely fancy bathrooms are just two of the many highlights - the list could go on and on. However, the somewhat unusual location of the Galleria VIK should also be mentioned at this point: As the name suggests, this VIK hotel is located in the world-famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele III with a direct view of Piazza del Duomo, luxury boutiques and the imposing architecture of the gallery.

To get back to the beginning of my story: After I had already written off the aperitif, to my astonishment I found a spacious bar on the first floor of the hotel, which was just sparsely frequented. Unexpectedly, I ended up having a well-deserved glass of wine - and not just any wine, of course. In general, I tend never to order the house wine, as the selection of renowned wines from all over the world is too good. It's different at Viña VIK: In addition to the entry-level wine Milla Cala, the group produces La Piu Belle, a drinkable objet d'art, and VIK, an absolute top product that can put even French legends in the shade. One glass became two and the personal concierge, who is provided to every guest in the Galleria VIK, postponed my table reservation in the Langosteria by one hour for safety's sake.

Time enough to relax, with plenty of space, from the first floor to watch the massive crowds that squeezed through one of the most beautiful sights in the world every minute. For the special wow-effect, as a guest of this hotel, one has special access to areas of the Galleria that are not accessible to the public. For example, in fair weather you can see all the way to the snow-capped mountains of the southern Alps from the top floor. Even if you even have the same room scent here in Milan and the service is almost a little better than in the resorts in South America, the cool infinity pool is sadly missing here, as are the views of the vastness of the Chilean and Uruguayan landscapes. But, what the heck: Portofino is only an hour's drive away and in general Italy is hard to beat for different landscapes. For me, one thing is certain: an absolutely great insider tip in the fashion metropolis! Ci vediamo!

Picture credits: Galleria VIK