Where to smoke in Milan?

Although I'm Italian, I don't really know Milan well. I have never lived there and to be fair, being from the centre of Italy, I much rather prefer Rome. However, I do travel to Milan a few times a year on business and therefore I did need to find out where are the good places to smoke cigars. I reported in the past about the local Casa del Habano, but where else?

The Westin Palace in Piazza della Repubblica used to have a smoking area but I think that since the new law came into force they shut it down (if any of you know whether or not this is the case, please do let me know). Fortunately, I did find another hotel, conveniently located in the city centre, with a small but fairly homely cigar lounge: the Bulgari hotel! 

The pictures below that I took with my blackberry really don't do it justice (and apologies for the bad quality!), but the space is a little heaven for the frantic traveller like me looking for an oasis of calm :) There is a little humidour with an overall acceptable selection of cigars (no surprises, but more famous brands like Cohiba tend to take most of the space), comfy leather chairs and of course a good selection of drinks. Only thing I'd warn you about is that you may hear quite some big mouths while there... but who cares :)

Yesterday night I was in Milan and smoked at the Bulgari's lounge a Partagas Serie D Especial Limited Edition I purchased in Dubai (by the way, I'm not sure if I'm being unlucky but generally find the cigars from Dubai not as well kept and therefore somewhat less enjoyable..). Since the area was full, I sat down at a table with another cigar smoker - the funny thing is that the gentleman I shared the table with is from London and literally lives 10 minutes walk away from my place. What a small world!

In the last picture you can see some images of chocolates on the wall in the background. I will do a little digression on this, as if you are going to be in MIlan this week - up until the 19th of December -  the Bulgari Hotel will be home to a unique event featuring the handmade Bulgari chocolates. From 7 pm to 9 pm it will be possible to admire the Japanese maitre chocolatier Miura Naoki while he creates the exclusive collection of Bulgari chocolates (amongst some of the chocolates available, you can have panettone or truffle!). You can also enjoy a daily chocolate tasting at 5:00 p.m. and a special sunday  brunch menu featuring the chocolates as dessert. The chocolates are not cheap but really delicious and they are also available in a special box combination with a bottle of Dom Pérignon for a luxurious Christmas gift for the real chocolates lovers amongst you!