Suggestions for a hotel close to the main train station in Milan?

In Milan, I and others on this forum have used Hotel Garda, just one block in front of Milano Centrale station. But if your flight is not scheduled to arrive too late, the train to Varenna-Esino only takes one hour from that station and runs about hourly; see www.trenitalia.com.

Thanks so much. We will be in Varenna 2 nights, 3 if we go directly from Malpensa. is 3 days more than we would need?

Carleen, in 2015 we flew into Milan and took the train right away to Varenna. (We didn't pre-purchase train tickets because we of course had no idea if our flight would be late.) Varenna was a great place to get over jet lag; we didn't rush around but just took it easy. Three nights with 2 full days was perfect for us and we were able to take Chef Moreno's cooking class on the second day.

Three nights only gives you two full days which would be nice in Varenna. You do not need to pre-book those train tix as it is a Regionale train, very inexpensive and no discounts for advance purchase. I highly recommend you go straight to Varenna instead of spending a night in a hotel near the train station. In the next morning you will wake up in Varenna and you will be very happy to be there.

We also took Chef Moreno's cooking class and absolutely loved it. I was unsure about spending time indoors in the middle of the day when I usually want to be outside, but it was a hazy day and fine to spend part of it indoors. We went to the old castle afterwards---they drove us and dropped us off there. We walked back to Varenna on the trail.

My husband and I HIGHLY recommend Hotel Berna in Milan. It has a very high rating on Trip Advisor and it is close to the train station and the subway. The staff was wonderful: friendly and helpful. We took their advice for two restaurants for dinner a short walking distance from the hotel. They made the reservations for us and both places were excellent. We were treated exceptionally well, especially after mentioning we were staying at the Hotel Berna. The room had many amenities: plush robes and slippers, a well-stocked mini-fridge with complementary beverages, snacks and drinks in the foyer, a coffee pot with coffee, teas, and cookies in the room. They even put the breakfast pastries out by the coffee pot in the foyer for a snack in the afternoon. As we checked out, they gave us bottles of water and Italian chocolate bars for our ride on the train. Every single staff member treated us with patience and respect. We look forward to staying there again on our next trip to Milan.