Milan Hotel Affordable, Refundable, A/C

You might want to check booking.com since they will have current prices. But I and others recommend that you book directly thru the hotel.

Milan Hotels vary in price depending on the date and what is going on. And having “A/C” can mean various things in Italy. Your best option is to use the filters on booking.com to find hotels with A/C within your price range, and then read reviews very carefully. There are quite a few that I saw, but not many near Milano Centrale.

As for “refundable”, most hotels will have a reasonable cancellation/refund option, but it will cost more than a “non-refundable” booking (which we sould not choose either).

If you filter results by Type and Date you’ll get all the more recent posts

https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/cardano-al-campo/hotel-rooms/best-western-hotel-cavalieri-della-corona/propertyCode.98235.html?hotelRoomType=Queen#

Where we stayed when we had early flight out. Would do so again

When you are finished with your day in Milan, you can go spend the night and be close to and have easy access to the airport.

Fits the budget, has a/c and friendly cancellation policy

We have stayed at Hotel Windsor, which is about a 15 min walk from Milano Centrale. The night before our flight, however, for convenience we stay at the Sheraton Malpensa, which is located in the airport.

www.hotelwindsormilan.com/en/

www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/milmp-sheraton-milan-malpensa-airport-hotel-and-conference-centre/overview/

Thanks to all of you for your replies!

I've not stayed at the Sheraton across the Terminal T1, but I would imagine it is nice and super-convenient, albeit expensive.
I've always stayed at the BW Hotel Cavalieri della Corona in Cardano (suggested above) and I liked it. They also have an outdoor pool and a spa, as well as a decent restaurant (not very cheap by Italian standards but certainly cheaper than here in California). They have a shuttle, although if your flight is super early it may not be operating early enough (I had to take taxicabs for super early flights).
I heard some people liked to stay at the Hotel Villa Malpensa, but I have no direct experience yet.

You mentioned that you prefer something near the Milano Centrale train station. I have seen Hotel Berna recommended on this forum and others many times but have not stayed there myself. In the same block there is now a new Smart Hotel that was just renovated and has everything you specified (A/C, refundable, under $200). It is getting excellent reviews. We have booked there next month. We preferred a place near the station since we are day-tripping to Varenna and then moving on to Bologna.