Hotel near Milano Centrale Station

I think you will have to raise your budget a bit. I just searched the map on booking.com for hotels close to Milano for 1 night in late April (a weeknight). There was nothing for $100. The two least expensive that are actually hotels ( not guest rooms in a building with no reception office) were Hotel Canova ($144) and Smart Hotel Central ($167 for a refundable rate). Some have lower prices for a non-refundable booking, but I wouldn’t do that.

Of course other dates could bring up other options. You can do your own search on booking.com and see what comes up, then go to the hotel’s own website to book—-some may offer a discount for booking direct.

You will probably get lots of recommendations for hotel Berna, which is very popular here, but the lowest price I could find in late April for you is €202 for a refundable reservation, on a Monday night. Friday night had only rooms for €394! Must be something going on.

Milan hotel prices do vary by date, so hopefully your date is not one of the ones with elevated prices.

Just saw the Hotel Garda for $107 for April 25. A decent hotel, more or less across the street from the Berna.

Our one and only night in Milan was spent here:

https://www.starhotels.com/en/our-hotels/anderson-milan/rooms/chambre-deluxe.html

Lola,
Wow, Hotel Berna has really gone up in price. We stayed there and were very happy with the service, and the breakfast was great!

We stayed at the Hotel Garda in late May 2022 and were quite pleased. Our room was comfortable, we felt quite safe, liked the staff and breakfast was good. Emerging from jet lagged from Milano Centrale having taken the Malpensa Express, it was wonderful to see the hotel, and even better that they let us check in early!

We stayed in Ibis Milano Centrale, which is close but not right by Milano Centrale - it is 1 stop away on the Subway. $160/night in May. Like big cities everywhere, Milano is more expensive than smaller towns. We spent more there than any other stop in 2022.

I was pleased with my stay at the Doria Grand Hotel last month, which I booked for just a hair more than your budget. It's just a few blocks from the station, but far enough to feel removed from the hotels/businesses that exist solely for the station's traffic. I just looked, and prices are 3-4x in late April—there must be something going on in town?

Try the Spice Hotel. It's very close to station and very affordable. It's modern and minimalistic. However, after a quick search, I see that it's probably going to be close to $200/night to do one night this close in.