What part of city best to stay in Bilbao?
 

I'll be staying in Bilbao in the end of August for 3 nights, really 2 1/2 days.

I'm trying to choose between a couple of hotels, a couple is located about half way between Old Town and Guggenheim, in the vicinity of Barcelo Nervion, for example Hotel Conde Duque.
Another hotel, really B&B I got a good deal from is Caravan Cinema in the Old Town Casco Viejo. I really like lively street with no traffic in the Old Town but the area seems a bit farther from other attractions. Also not sure about the noise at night. So trying to decide which place to choose.

We're a party of 3, we won't have a car so don't care about parking availability.

Thank you in advance.

Choose something around the Hotel Carlton, which is in the center of the city, easy walking distance from everwhere and close to the street car and metro lines.

The Hotel Carlton is a very nice hotel, enjoyed my stay there. There may be other options closer to the Guggenheim and Old Town.

I stayed at the Hotel Conde Duque Bilbao, but really can't recommend it, as it had too many problems for my tastes. Here's my TA review:

"I spent 2 nights in a room with a small balcony overlooking a wide pedestrian-only passageway, and a side view to the river, in mid May.

"Although very well located, my experience of the Hotel Conde Duque was not without problems:

"Access to the parking lot is governed by the hotel staff, who monitor video screens and open doors as appropriate. Or at least that’s how it is supposed to happen. When I checked out, no one seems to have paid attention, even though I was very clear in saying that I was going to get my car. I only got out after nearly ½ hour and the help of another couple who ended up stuck behind my car. That was seriously problematic from my perspective!

"The breakfast buffet was a bit disappointing – it held the basics, but had no special meats or cheeses, and although it offered scrambled eggs, they were cold.

"Water temperature was a bit weak.

"Some staff were very welcoming and helpful; others, less so.

"Stayed May 2015, traveled solo."

That said, I was very glad that I stayed in that location: While the Hotel Carlton is nicely positioned for ease of access, I was glad that I stayed nearer the river about half-way between the Guggenheim and Old Town, as I truly enjoyed walking along the river in each direction, day and night. JMO.

If I go back to Bilbao (a city a loved!), I'll look for a location as near the Conde Duque as possible.

Enjoy Bilbao!

The bet area? Are you willing to drive down busy, sometimes narrow city streets? Will you have a GPS to help you find your location?
Are you willing to suffer street noise at night?
If so then the old part is just fine.
I would suggest you look at Booking.com find something in your price range via the map location is easy. t the moment there is a choice of around 60 hotels in the old part. An advantage with Booking reviews is that the reviews are deleted after around 2 years or so and they are written by persons who have actually stayed there. The museum is not too far to walk away.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Hotel Carlton is way beyond our budget. Additionally, the choice narrows quite a bit for three people in one room, not all hotels have triple rooms.

Ribeirasacra, we won't have a car in Bilbao.
I'm using booking.com for my research. The hotel Caravan Cinema gets 9.8 out of 10 for location based on over 700 reviews which is as high as it gets.Yes, noise may potentially be an issue but it's not mentioned frequently.
Both hotels have large triple rooms.
I'll keep my eyes open to larger chain hotels like Barcelona Nervion in case they have some deals closer to my travel dates. In the meantime, leaning towards the Caravan Cinema.
Thanks everyone.

I'm also looking at places to stay next summer (July). According to Booking.com the Hotel Carlton is less than the Caravan Cinema (at least on my dates) although they are both much more than the Hotel Conde Duque.

Kja - sounds like your main problem with the Conde Duque was parking related. Do you think if you had not needed parking you would have liked it sufficiently to recommend it? I've been looking for a while now and it seems to be by far the best deal. I'm finding virtually nothing (that I would stay in) under $150 for a single in July. Way more than all the other towns in the region.

@ isabel: As my review notes, I was a bit disappointed in the breakfast buffet, water pressure, and attitude of one person at the reception desk -- but none of these issues were, for me, deal-breakers. The others at the reception desk were much more welcoming, and one man was truly helpful. The location was, IMO, perfect for my interests. If the relatively minor (from my perspective) non-parking-related issues are important to you, then you might want to read other reviews to see how often they are mentioned. Hope that helps!

Do not look at rankings too much look facilities first then if they have a "trend" in the reviews make your ultimate choice on if there is something outstanding in the reviews that put you off.
Reviews confers everyone is different. However, if they keeps saying (for instance) that the rooms are very dark and you feel you could not cope with that then look for something else.
Reviewers can complain or praise the oddest things in any accommodation which do not make any sense.

Ratings are based on averages, which are indicative of reality as the law of large numbers says. If average location rating is 9.8 based on 700+ reviews then it indicates some real "trend" as it cancels out the "noise" of reviewers random complaints. This is the rating of Caravan Cinema in the old town.

Isabel, for a party of three Caravan Cinema is less than half price of Carlton for the end of August.

Nope sorry these "ratings" cancel out nothing. These ratings are based upon statistics.
If you do not know how these ratings are collected/concluded/manipulated then they mean little to anyone.
Which statistical methodologies are used in this data analysis?
Which method of data collection was used in this analysis?
Personally, I doubt if the data is as simple a say "Correlation"
I will also repeat what I said before: Reviewers can complain or praise the oddest things in any accommodation which do not make any sense. Reviews confer everyone is different.

kja - thanks, given I don't seem to have many other options the fact that you at least found it well located and the downsides were relatively minor makes me feel like I can risk it.

I always read a bunch of reviews - until I get a sense of the pluses and minuses. The numbers don't mean as much as if you keep reading the same things over and over (both positive and negative). Also reading similar reviews on different sites (TA and booking.com for example) gives a pretty good impression of what the place will be like. I've been quite pleased with most of the hotels I've booked in recent years, and I pick them based mostly on user reviews (after of course getting the basics from the hotel's website).

ribeirasacra,
while I agree in general with your last comment, I think the situation with the average location rating is much simpler.
Each reviewer is given an opportunity to rank a hotel from 0 to 10 on a number of parameters, location being one of them.
So the statistical methodology is simple: add up the ratings of all reviewers then divide them by the number of reviewers - it's called sample average.
The core of 9.8 is extremely high, it tells me that the reviewers of Caravan Cinema on booking.com are extremely happy with the location, on average. :)

The methodology described above is my guess as to the actual calculation, of course, it can be verified by adding up the scores given by all 700+ reviewers and then dividing them by the number of reviewers.
:)

Not having a car in Bilbao is fine, especailly in the old quarter where most of the streets are pedestrianized and you would have to end up paying to park at a parking garage outside of the Casco Viejo (Pensión Caravan Cinema does not have a parking garage).

And I wouldn't worry about too much noise at night in the Casco Viejo. Even on the weekend it's not that bad, as most bars close at midnight (http://tinyurl.com/zfbc4xb)

Bilbao is small and you can go walking anywhere. I´ve had guests staying at Caravan Cinema and their opinion has been excellent. Quiet street at night, no bars nearby, it´s the heart of the commercial area in the Old Town and pedestrian. I´d also try Barceló Nervión, Jardines de Albia, Hesperia or Silken Indautxu, on that price range. But almost any will do, distances are walkable or you can use the excellent public transport service in the city.

@ isabel: I hope the Conde Duque works for you! I trust you'll let me know.

mikleg,
thanks a lot, very helpful.
I did extend my stay in Bilbao by one day per your recommendations. :)

kja - I just booked the Conde Duque. I was wondering about the other hotels you stayed in on that trip, I see in your report you mention the name of the hotels in each city but don't see that you review them. I guess the reviews are on TA? But I don't know to find a specific person's reviews on TA. I'm not sure you and I have ever stayed in the same hotels but your travel style seems similar to mine so I would value your reviews over ones from 'strangers' on booking or TA.

@ isabel: On TA, I'm KJA3. Type KJA3 into the FIND box (even though I'm not a hotel, restaurant, etc). That should give you a menu from which you can select "TripAdvisor Members." If you have questions, please post them on my trip report so we can free razuzin and keep my comments about that trip in one place. ;-)

@ razuzin: Sorry for the digression! I don't think you'll regret a bit more time in Bilbao -- I found lots to enjoy there.

kja, no problem at all. I'm still in early stages of my trip planning, so would be interested in any recommendations/discussions beyond the choice of hotel in Bilbao.

In general, I'm seeing that Bilbao has a much better choice and more reasonable prices for hotels than San Sebastian, my next stop. For example, the hotels of a level of Barcelo Nevrion or Mercur Jardines de Albia in terms of comfort and location could be twice as expensive in SS.