The building of Best Western Plus Hotel Galles was built in the late 19th century by the Engineers Angelo Molinari and Oliviero Garuti. Mr. Molinari decided to call the hotel “Galles” because he spent many years in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which is called Galles in Italian, a beloved place by the engineer.
In 1903 the building was acquired by the Aristocratic Mr. Girolamo Seccamani Mazzoli, grandfather of the present owner.
In the lobby there are the original drawings of the building ordered by the present owner and the portraits of Girolamo and his wife, the Countess Corinna Melegari.
In honor of Girolamo and Corinna, passionate about Italian classical music and especially the musician Giuseppe Verdi, all the hotel suites have been named after the greatest Italian musicians Verdi, Puccini and Paganini as well as the main operas of the “Gran Maestro” Verdi: Aida, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Othello, Don Carlos, Il Trovatore. Each suite has been decorated with a feature that reminds the musician and/or opera.
Since its founding, the hotel’s strategic location, its proximity to the oldest crossing road of Corso Buenos Aires street, became the perfect connection of commerce, hospitality and prestigious area for buying houses.
When it was built, the hotel was only partly used as homes, while the rest was used for tea rooms and shops, including one of the most famous tailor shop of that century that dressed aristocrats of Milan.