8. Hotel Straf, Milan
If industrial-chic is your bag, then Milan's minimal Hotel Straf should be right up your street. In a jaw-droppingly prime location just doors from the Duomo, this hip 64-room hideaway is beloved of fashion and design folk in the know. The unassuming façade masks a bold modern interior, where raw concrete, scuffed-satiny walls and tactile floors rule, care of Italian architect and fashion talent Vincenzo De Cotiis. Corridors are adorned with distressed fabric under glass and a moody palette of chocolate-brown, greys, rust tones and metallics adds luxe to spacious rooms. Breakfast and lunch are served in bijou Bar Straf, which has a happy hour come evening for those in party mode. Dress up for fashion week or when the Milan Furniture Fair takes over town.