Hotel Marqués de Riscal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Elciego

Friendly and good service,a recommended hotel to stay

Second time here. Decided to stay in the way up to San Sebastián. Ambassador Member. Positives - fantastic location, in a winery and if that’s your thing that’s great. Breakfast service is good although very limited. But staff are great. Where it falls down is lack or inadequate response. Check in was very poor by what looked like an inexperienced guy. No acknowledgment of Ambassador status and it went downhill from there. We were upgraded but away from the view that we had booked for. Room was larger but with a hotel view and I’m probably now one that appreciates its architecture. There was an offer to move us when I raised it after 2 days but that was only after I was annoyed at the other issues. No space available for dinner (on a Tuesday), hours to get hangers brought to the room reflected long response times via the App, incorrect or a failure to interpret a menu and indeed no food available, when we did use the restaurant the manager (probably told to attend to us) missed part of the order as he didn’t write it down. Food good in the 1860 restaurant. Again, service good. Spa and Pool are nice but once a few kids are in there it’s like a playground. Difficult to relax - but that’s fine. It is what it is. Overall - just disappointing. It’s expensive. Probably 2/3 days is enough as El Ciego has nothing. But good restaurants in Lagaurdia, but many close in the week. Would I stay again. Nope.

We loved our stay here and it was definitely worth the painful drive from Bilbao. Our terrace room was great, as was the spa and complimentary wine tour. The staff throughout were wonderful and you cannot fault the vision of the owners. Frank Gehry is unquestionably one of the finest architects to have practiced in my lifetime - the building is magnificent. From the outside. What Gehry excels at in architecture terms, he fails at when it comes to interior design - which is very tired and mismatched. The 1860 restaurant is like an airport cafeteria, the hallways lack any sense of luxury or style and the funiture around the spa is quite shocking. And very uncomfortable. We also thought the menu was a but dull and the food quality distinctly average. Please sort it out guys!