Gran Hotel Domine, Bilbao, Spain

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  • uggboylovestravel
    Participant

    Our 1 night/2 days stay, August 2016

    We knew about the Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao since it opened in 2002 and joined the Leading Hotels of the World and managed by Silken Hotels of Spain – now it is a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Lifestyle and independently managed.

    Somehow Bilbao always went below our radar at first and we managed only to go there for the first time in May 2016. At the time we stayed at the Barcelo Nervion in one of their beautifully designed suites (Please see review). We loved the city so much we returned in August 2016 for a weekend (1 night) and finally stayed at the Gran Hotel Domine.

    The Gran Hotel Domine is very special, it’s a beautiful design-driven luxury hotel. The hotel was the complete responsibility of Javier Mariscal, an artist, beside the bathtub design by Philippe Starck. The building material, furniture and artwork were all made in Spain. This was the first time ever a hotel in Spain was called “100% Made in Spain”. All food served in the restaurants and bars are also sourced in Spain.

    We took a taxi from the airport, which took approx. 15 minutes and cost 25 Euro (ca. 27.80 USD). We were surprised that the main entrance is at the back of the building. We always believed it was opposite the entrance of the Guggenheim Museum, but that is the side entrance.

    There were displays of items for sale, for example Basque soaps, and the numerous awards the hotel has won.

    When entering the atrium we encountered Javier Mariscale’s “Fossil Cypress”, stones in a metal enmeshed net. It was something we were looking forward to see and was impressive. It stretched the whole six floors and was 26 m high. We were surprised some guests had left their signatures on the stones they could reach.

    Reception was at the other side, facing the Guggenheim Museum together with the Le Cafe Metropole at the time – the Metropole has been dropped and is now known as Le Cafe – and the Splash and Crash Cocktail Lounge.

    There was also a stylish seating arrangement with interesting lightning features and a small garden with waterfall, where the bubble lifts were hidden.

    Check in was a breeze and within two minutes we were on the way to our room on the second floor.

    Overall the hotel felt artistic, warm, supported by the use of earthy tones, and our medium sized Executive Room felt chic and residential.

    We liked the wood panelling, the views over the Guggenheim Museum, the little table set up for the tea/coffee making facility (Baque Tea), the unusual painting, the Nakamichi stereo system and the accompanying Jazz, Blues and Swing CDs. We listened to one, which was excellent.

    There was a wardrobe and a comfortable large bed with gorgeous embossed GHDB logos.

    The wardrobe opened unusual, like an accordion and had limited storage space, but suited our needs for a short stay.

    Beside this were a fully stocked mini bar, a chair and a metal and wood covered writing desk.

    Mini bar prices ranged from 3 Euro / ca. 3.35 USD for water, a small Toblerone and Olives to 37 Euro / ca. 41.10 USD for a half bottle of Mum Champagne.

    The flat screen TV offered 58 TV and radio channels incl. local channels and news channesls from around the world.

    Magazines and books completed the detailed room picture and included The Dapper Magazine, the Preferred Hotels and Resort Lifestyle catalogue among others.

    The bathroom was large with a bath tub and shower combination, double sinks and a separate room for the toilet and bidet.

    The amenities were by the White Company London, which we like and we thought the choice fits with the style of this beautiful hotel.

    Breakfast was included in our rate and served on the top floor of the hotel. The venue had indoor and outdoor seating and felt very special with the romantic ambience and beautiful views over the city, the Guggenheim musuem and beyond. The sunshine and warmth helped too.

    The breakfast was luxurious and included a wide selection of items, including Cava, different types of fish, cold cuts, cheese, bread, pastries, yogurt, fruits and much more.

    The staff was excellent and reminded us in regards of friendliness and attentiveness of the one at the Palais Coburg’s Clementine im Glashaus in Vienna, where we stayed a month before our 2nd visit to Bilbao.

    We loved our designer environment of the hotel and we would want to stay again at this hospitality gem when visiting hopefully Bilbao again in our future.

    Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? YES!
    Would we want to stay again at this hotel in our future? YES!

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