Best luxury hotels and good shopping in Florence and Milan

I do not usually choose luxurious hotels when I go to Florence, but I spent a weekend in Palazzo Magnani Feroni, which was pretty awesome. The building is really beautiful and is literally covered in frescoes. The bar terrace has a 270 degrees view over Florence and  is splendid at night. It feels almost like you are spending the night at the Uffizi Gallery XD

Shopping at the Leather Market in Florence offers some great values.  As far as luxury hotels go, I my wife and I stayed at the The St. Regis Florence (St. Regis Florence) and absolutely loved it!