Park Life

Milan already has a healthy acquaintance with the high life, so the opening of the Park Hyatt, just steps away from the Piazza del Duomo, will probably raise few eyebrows among the well-heeled residents of Italy's fashion capital. Everyone else, though, will be pleasantly gobsmacked by this 117-room property.

Set in a palatial, late 19th century building, Milan's latest hotel was designed by Ed Tuttle of Amanresorts fame. Visitors will pass through a lobby covered by a 9-m-high glass dome — enabling natural daylight to flood inside — before encountering an environment with enough untrammeled opulence to embarrass...