Bilbao hotels
Mar 6, 2016, 9:58 am
#1
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Bilbao hotels
Currently holding reservations at Ercilla López de Haro and Hotel Abando both at around €270 for three weekend nights in May and just wondered if any Fters have had any experience of either and could make a choice.
Mar 6, 2016, 12:12 pm
#2
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I was in the Holiday Inn and I found it excellent. It is close to a metro station, but there is a bus stop just outside and once you work the buses out that is the best way to go. Lonely Planet guide has got some nice suggestions too. Sorry I can't help with the specific properties mentioned.
PS Might this not be better in the Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar forum?
PS Might this not be better in the Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar forum?
Mar 6, 2016, 11:12 pm
#4
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Mar 7, 2016, 2:48 am
#5
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Haven't stayed at the hotels you mentioned, but the location is good and close enough to the old center. Definitely have lunch at Kafe Antzokia if you want some great Basque food (it's close to both of those hotels)
May 7, 2016, 11:32 am
#8
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Ah, you can't go wrong there. The place is amazing for food. Avoid breakfast at the hotel (the Holiday Inn breakfast filled me up for the day) and get a lunch menu in any of many places on offer. Then in the evening, after siesta time, dive into pintxos in one, or several, of the endless bars. That's a treat you won't forget in a hurry!
May 17, 2016, 4:48 pm
#9
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Ah, you can't go wrong there. The place is amazing for food. Avoid breakfast at the hotel (the Holiday Inn breakfast filled me up for the day) and get a lunch menu in any of many places on offer. Then in the evening, after siesta time, dive into pintxos in one, or several, of the endless bars. That's a treat you won't forget in a hurry!
Never has so much Rioja been drunk in such a short space of time ...
May 19, 2016, 11:01 am
#10
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Posts: 1,471
Bilbao is a beautiful city, we would recommend the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, it's a design-led upscale hotel located beside the Nervión river, superb walking access to the Guggenheim Bilbao, nearby to the Zubizuri bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava. In regards to the hotel, we enjoyed the value proposition, we had a suite with river views, breakfast and dinner @ Ibaizabal Restaurant in the hotel are memorable, service was pretty good/friendly/fast and as mentioned the design of the hotel, especially in the lobby was a "looker" with lots of places to sit, they offer also a well stocked Bar in the lobby area. The hotel can get busy, especially during breakfast and check-out.
We enjoyed Bilbao as a whole and the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, highly recommended. Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
We enjoyed Bilbao as a whole and the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, highly recommended. Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
Last edited by uggboy; May 19, 2016 at 5:55 pm Reason: Added more/clearer info
May 19, 2016, 3:28 pm
#11
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Bilbao is a beautiful city, we would recommend the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, it's a design-let upscale hotel located beside the Nervión river, superb walking access to the Guggenheim Bilbao, nearby to the Zubizuri bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava. In regards to the hotel, we enjoyed the value proposition, we had a suite with river views, breakfast and dinner @ Ibaizabal Restaurant in the hotel are memorable, service was pretty good/friendly/fast and as mentioned the design of the hotel, especially in the lobby was a "looker" with lots of places to sit, they offer also a well stocked Bar in the lobby area. The hotel can get busy, especially during breakfast and check-out.
We enjoyed Bilbao as a whole and the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, highly recommended. Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
We enjoyed Bilbao as a whole and the Barceló Bilbao Nervión, highly recommended. Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
We found the room cramped and actually not very well designed with the wash basin and shower in the bedroom overlooking the bed and the toilet separated off.So in the morning you go into the toilet,then come back out into the bedroom to use the wash basin or then go into the shower to come back into the bedroom to get dried.Not great if your partner wants to sleep in.
Tiled floors and not a single rug made the rooms noisy - you could hear every step of the guests above.
Plus the A/C wasn't great.
Other than that a good hotel for the price we got and superbly located.
Aug 9, 2016, 4:21 am
#12
Join Date: Apr 2011
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We've recently [August 2016] stayed during our 2nd visit to Bilbao at the Gran Hotel Domine, this particular hotel is rated 5* stars and it feels wonderful to have experienced such design driven luxury hotel located opposite the Guggenheim Museum.
We stayed for 1 night in a Deluxe Room with Guggenheim Museum views and breakfast on the 7th floor terrace was also included in our rate as was WIFI. Overall, a gorgeous hotel, superb friendly and pro-active staff.
During our evening we've enjoyed our dinner at Le Cafe Metropol in the hotel, beautiful local offerings and again superb service in a memorable design driven environment. Tasty sharing dishes and half portions are offered. Inviting IMHO.
Highly recommended when in Bilbao, we equally thought this hotel represents good value for the quality, design, setting and service offered. By now we've stayed at two hotels in Bilbao, incl. the Barcelo Nervion and the Gran Hotel Domine, all both are beautiful in their own ways and we would want to stay in all both again in our future when visiting Bilbao, btw. it's a beautiful city.
Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
We stayed for 1 night in a Deluxe Room with Guggenheim Museum views and breakfast on the 7th floor terrace was also included in our rate as was WIFI. Overall, a gorgeous hotel, superb friendly and pro-active staff.
During our evening we've enjoyed our dinner at Le Cafe Metropol in the hotel, beautiful local offerings and again superb service in a memorable design driven environment. Tasty sharing dishes and half portions are offered. Inviting IMHO.
Highly recommended when in Bilbao, we equally thought this hotel represents good value for the quality, design, setting and service offered. By now we've stayed at two hotels in Bilbao, incl. the Barcelo Nervion and the Gran Hotel Domine, all both are beautiful in their own ways and we would want to stay in all both again in our future when visiting Bilbao, btw. it's a beautiful city.
Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
Last edited by uggboy; Aug 9, 2016 at 4:28 am
Nov 17, 2016, 10:18 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Barcelo Bilbao Nervion [REVIEW]
May 2016, 1 night/2 days, our experiences
Having not stayed before at a Barcelo hotel, but having very good experiences during a visit of the Barcelo complex in Caleta de Fuste in Fuerteventura we decided to book the Barcelo Bilbao Nervion during a one night weekend break in May 2016.
Checking the hotel out online we liked the modern design, colorful lobby and fascinating artwork.
After an eventless flight with Aer Lingus we took a taxi from Bilbao Airport to the hotel. It cost 26.50 Euro / ca. 29 USD and travel time was ca. 20 minutes.
The Barcelo Nervion was very well integrated with the surroundings.
The entrance was to the left, while to the right was the hotel's parking garage. The hotel's logo included the Nervion Estuary.
The open plan lobby was bright and had lots of seating space, a colorful wooden art piece on one wall, a beautifully decorated cow, which had been part of "Cow Parade", and a small gym to the right.
There was also a modern fire place and a post box.
The reception was straight ahead and when turning left there was the bar and cafe, the restaurant Ibaizabal and the vinoteca.
We had our dinner and breakfast - the latter was included in our overnight rate - at Ibaizabal. Review will follow.
Check in was done quick and friendly. We were given a map of Bilbao and the receptionist explained where all the important sights and shopping areas were located.
Our one-bedroom suite with a view overlooked the Nervion and main street.
The room concept was interesting. When entering there was the living room with two tables pushed together, a dark upholstered sofa for two, a credenza with mini bar, coffee/tea making facilities and a flat screen TV.
The art work was depicting a forest with trees painted in rainbow colors. There were also some coffee table books "Cow Parade", where the cow in the lobby could be also found, and one about Mallorca.
The mini bar contained sparkling wine, beer, still and sparkling water, Coca Cola and Toblerone.
The bath room was in the middle and could be closed off with sliding doors on either side leading to the bed room or living room.
In the middle was the sink, while the Japanese set up bath tub and shower were to the left and the toilet to the right in a separate room.
The wardrobe was located also in the bath room and there were Pure Herbs Amenities with Rosemary, Melissa and Thyme, including body scrub and bath salts.
Other materials used were porcelain tiles and light wooden furniture.
We liked the Pure Herbs amenities and thought it was interesting that there were a few more products than the usual line-up available.
The bedroom was large with a wooden floor, a big, comfortable bed, a seating area with a green carpet, a flat screen TV and a writing desk with wooden chair, which wasn't that comfortable. I can't imagine working there for hours on end. There were also stylish lightning features.
The TV channels included as expected a lot of Spanish channels, some German, Italian and French and CCTV, Bloomberg, BBC World and CNBC.
Room service was available from 11.00 hours to 24 hours. There was also a pillow menu.
The free WIFI internet was very fast.
We spent most time in the light filled bed room with floor to ceiling windows, but used the living room too.
Artwork was similar to the one in the lobby, only on a smaller scale, and a print of the Zubizuri Bridge was over the bed.
We liked the location, which was just around ten minutes from Santiago Calatrava's Zubizuri Bridge and around twenty minutes to the Guggenheim Museum by foot.
A supermarket, called Eroski, is also nearby (just across the Zubizuri Bridge).
We enjoyed our short stay, the location, friendliness of the staff, the design and the comfort. For those reasons we would return again.
For more incl. our photos/videos on Flickr, please click/see:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/uggboy...57668199300621
Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? YES! ^
Would we want to stay in our future at this hotel again? YES! ^
Thank you and safe travels.
May 2016, 1 night/2 days, our experiences
Having not stayed before at a Barcelo hotel, but having very good experiences during a visit of the Barcelo complex in Caleta de Fuste in Fuerteventura we decided to book the Barcelo Bilbao Nervion during a one night weekend break in May 2016.
Checking the hotel out online we liked the modern design, colorful lobby and fascinating artwork.
After an eventless flight with Aer Lingus we took a taxi from Bilbao Airport to the hotel. It cost 26.50 Euro / ca. 29 USD and travel time was ca. 20 minutes.
The Barcelo Nervion was very well integrated with the surroundings.
The entrance was to the left, while to the right was the hotel's parking garage. The hotel's logo included the Nervion Estuary.
The open plan lobby was bright and had lots of seating space, a colorful wooden art piece on one wall, a beautifully decorated cow, which had been part of "Cow Parade", and a small gym to the right.
There was also a modern fire place and a post box.
The reception was straight ahead and when turning left there was the bar and cafe, the restaurant Ibaizabal and the vinoteca.
We had our dinner and breakfast - the latter was included in our overnight rate - at Ibaizabal. Review will follow.
Check in was done quick and friendly. We were given a map of Bilbao and the receptionist explained where all the important sights and shopping areas were located.
Our one-bedroom suite with a view overlooked the Nervion and main street.
The room concept was interesting. When entering there was the living room with two tables pushed together, a dark upholstered sofa for two, a credenza with mini bar, coffee/tea making facilities and a flat screen TV.
The art work was depicting a forest with trees painted in rainbow colors. There were also some coffee table books "Cow Parade", where the cow in the lobby could be also found, and one about Mallorca.
The mini bar contained sparkling wine, beer, still and sparkling water, Coca Cola and Toblerone.
The bath room was in the middle and could be closed off with sliding doors on either side leading to the bed room or living room.
In the middle was the sink, while the Japanese set up bath tub and shower were to the left and the toilet to the right in a separate room.
The wardrobe was located also in the bath room and there were Pure Herbs Amenities with Rosemary, Melissa and Thyme, including body scrub and bath salts.
Other materials used were porcelain tiles and light wooden furniture.
We liked the Pure Herbs amenities and thought it was interesting that there were a few more products than the usual line-up available.
The bedroom was large with a wooden floor, a big, comfortable bed, a seating area with a green carpet, a flat screen TV and a writing desk with wooden chair, which wasn't that comfortable. I can't imagine working there for hours on end. There were also stylish lightning features.
The TV channels included as expected a lot of Spanish channels, some German, Italian and French and CCTV, Bloomberg, BBC World and CNBC.
Room service was available from 11.00 hours to 24 hours. There was also a pillow menu.
The free WIFI internet was very fast.
We spent most time in the light filled bed room with floor to ceiling windows, but used the living room too.
Artwork was similar to the one in the lobby, only on a smaller scale, and a print of the Zubizuri Bridge was over the bed.
We liked the location, which was just around ten minutes from Santiago Calatrava's Zubizuri Bridge and around twenty minutes to the Guggenheim Museum by foot.
A supermarket, called Eroski, is also nearby (just across the Zubizuri Bridge).
We enjoyed our short stay, the location, friendliness of the staff, the design and the comfort. For those reasons we would return again.
For more incl. our photos/videos on Flickr, please click/see:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/uggboy...57668199300621
Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? YES! ^
Would we want to stay in our future at this hotel again? YES! ^
Thank you and safe travels.
Dec 1, 2016, 10:16 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: We love to Fly, Hotels and Discovery
Posts: 1,471
Ibaizabal at the Barcelo Bilbao Nervion, Bilbao, Spain [REVIEW]
May 2016, our dinner and breakfast experiences
During our stay at the Barcelo Bilbao Nervion (Please see also review) in May 2016 we had two meals at the Ibaizabal Restaurant.
The restaurant has an open plan concept and gives a choice of an a la carte or Prix fixe menu. There are international and regional dishes available.
The Prix fixe menu offers outstanding value, but the cost varies. Our Saturday meal for example was around 18 Euro per person / ca. 19.70 USD, while Sunday's was a bit more elaborate and cost 20 Euro per person / ca. 21.90 USD.
The quality of the dishes was of a high standard and the cuisine simple and light.
When we arrived at ca. 20.00 hours the restaurant was not that busy and only a few patrons were there. Some where Spanish and our neighbor were a group of French ladies. The later it got the more guests arrived.
The staff brought us to our table and gave us the menus. We ordered a bottle of still Font Valle water. Studying the drinks menu we realized the wine was very affordable and a glass of Rioja cost just 2 Euro (ca. 2.20 USD), so he had one.
It was a young one and good in his opinion.
Next we could choose from different types of bread.
We received welcome starters, which were stuffed pepper with cheese and salad. It was delicious.
Our appetizers were endive salads with smoked salmon. The salmon was smooth and the endive salad crunchy, so the contrast between the textures was good. While the leaves were bitter the salmon was salty and the dressing a bit sweet, so an umami effect was created.
The main course was cod with Ratatouille. The dish was colorful and beautifully presented.
He had a Crème Bruelee as dessert, while I had an almond cake with vanilla sauce. Both were very good and the cake fragrant.
Staff was attentive and friendly.
The dinner cost 40 Euro (ca. 43.80 USD).
Breakfast had been included in our overnight rate. When we arrived the restaurant was already full.
Thank goodness we were brought to our table and didn't have to search for a free one by ourselves like at some other hotels. It's a pet peeve of mine to have to look for myself.
Tea, coffee and juice was self-service.
The buffet was large and included a wide choice of hot and cold items, including egg dishes, bread, pastries, muesli, cereals, gluten free items, ham, cheese, yogurts including low fat, vegetables and much more.
We had the bad luck to sit near a couple, who made a big mess on their table and had a huge amount of food waste too.
Having to look at it wasn't very appetizing. The other patrons were better in this regards and left their space as clean as possible and with as good as no left overs.
We enjoyed both meals and would return, even if the breakfast service can be busy, because the staff is friendly and the quality of the food/choices and value are good.
Would we recommend this restaurant to a friend? YES! ^
Woulld we want to eat here dinner again in our future? YES! ^
Thank you and safe travels.
May 2016, our dinner and breakfast experiences
During our stay at the Barcelo Bilbao Nervion (Please see also review) in May 2016 we had two meals at the Ibaizabal Restaurant.
The restaurant has an open plan concept and gives a choice of an a la carte or Prix fixe menu. There are international and regional dishes available.
The Prix fixe menu offers outstanding value, but the cost varies. Our Saturday meal for example was around 18 Euro per person / ca. 19.70 USD, while Sunday's was a bit more elaborate and cost 20 Euro per person / ca. 21.90 USD.
The quality of the dishes was of a high standard and the cuisine simple and light.
When we arrived at ca. 20.00 hours the restaurant was not that busy and only a few patrons were there. Some where Spanish and our neighbor were a group of French ladies. The later it got the more guests arrived.
The staff brought us to our table and gave us the menus. We ordered a bottle of still Font Valle water. Studying the drinks menu we realized the wine was very affordable and a glass of Rioja cost just 2 Euro (ca. 2.20 USD), so he had one.
It was a young one and good in his opinion.
Next we could choose from different types of bread.
We received welcome starters, which were stuffed pepper with cheese and salad. It was delicious.
Our appetizers were endive salads with smoked salmon. The salmon was smooth and the endive salad crunchy, so the contrast between the textures was good. While the leaves were bitter the salmon was salty and the dressing a bit sweet, so an umami effect was created.
The main course was cod with Ratatouille. The dish was colorful and beautifully presented.
He had a Crème Bruelee as dessert, while I had an almond cake with vanilla sauce. Both were very good and the cake fragrant.
Staff was attentive and friendly.
The dinner cost 40 Euro (ca. 43.80 USD).
Breakfast had been included in our overnight rate. When we arrived the restaurant was already full.
Thank goodness we were brought to our table and didn't have to search for a free one by ourselves like at some other hotels. It's a pet peeve of mine to have to look for myself.
Tea, coffee and juice was self-service.
The buffet was large and included a wide choice of hot and cold items, including egg dishes, bread, pastries, muesli, cereals, gluten free items, ham, cheese, yogurts including low fat, vegetables and much more.
We had the bad luck to sit near a couple, who made a big mess on their table and had a huge amount of food waste too.
Having to look at it wasn't very appetizing. The other patrons were better in this regards and left their space as clean as possible and with as good as no left overs.
We enjoyed both meals and would return, even if the breakfast service can be busy, because the staff is friendly and the quality of the food/choices and value are good.
Would we recommend this restaurant to a friend? YES! ^
Woulld we want to eat here dinner again in our future? YES! ^
Thank you and safe travels.