A sense of place

People are at the core of everything we do:

The people from the local community can finally stand at center of our Piazza since Portrait Milano returned this monument to the city in 2022. Its grand portal is not a barrier anymore, but a warm invitation for all to experience its square and history.

The people from our team are the soul of Portrait Milano’s Manifesto.

The people that visit Portrait Milano for a stay, a meal or a walk are at the heart of our hospitality. We aim at redefining luxury hospitality with an inclusive approach where the boundaries between guests / staff / locals blur, meaningful personal connections are created and where we encourage conscious stewardship of our planet.

We’re intensifying our commitment at grounding all we do in sustainable practices to support a healthy planet and to minimise our carbon footprint.

CIRCULARITY AROUND A SQUARE

Inspired by the Seminary’s original principles of self-sufficiency, Portrait Milano has adopted an integrated approach to a circular project of Reduction, Reuse, Recycling and Recovery, anchored firmly in Responsible Sourcing.

It starts from a careful ordering process. We support local entrepreneurs and emerging businesses by acquiring their certified-sustainable products and services which are delivered with electric vehicles. We implemented a single-use plastic elimination policy.

And then we recover, recycle, reuse. To name just a few of our actions, we are proud supporters of the upcycling of kitchen leftover items (skins, seeds, grinds) that get dried, caramelised, blended or pulped to be transformed into tasty ingredients for cocktails and dishes;100% of the oil produced by our restaurants becomes biodiesel or biodetergents; cigarette butts are transformed into design items by an innovative Italian start-up; we believe in second-hand when handling uniforms.

This results today in a low waste production that gets carefully recycled but we are working towards a zero-waste objective.

ENERGY AND WATER STEWARDSHIP

Every drop counts — from all the rainwater drops collected in the restored ancient cistern of the seminary and used for irrigation, to the water investment saved each time we avoid unnecessary washing by changing bed linen and towels every third day, in line with our sustainability protocols.

CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION

We’ve partnered with Climate Partner that support us in the process of calculating, better managing and always continuously reducing our carbon emissions.

While we’re known for our warm hospitality, we’re equally committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of those most in need, in and around Milan, through meaningful charity partnerships, active community engagement, volunteering, open dialogue with universities.

SEMINARIUM

Portrait Milano intends to continue the original mission of the former seminary (from the latin “serere”, to seed) and its historical role as a social center of cultural and artistic enrichment. Through the year, we regularly offer to the local community arts and culture opportunities such as art exhibitions, under-the-stars cinema, open-air piano concerts.

MEANINGFUL PARTNERSHIPS

Among the various projects we have supported, Portrait Milano has engaged in fundraising for families in distress, homeless and marginalized people, hospitalized children, given space and voice to women survivors of violence.

VOLUNTEERING

Portrait Milano’s People are also actively committed to supporting the destination through concrete actions such as participating in the cleaning of city parks or directly involved in the service at local meal centers.