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Ever since the Guggenheim reinvented Bilbao as a design darling, the city’s hotel fleet has expanded and reflected (in the case of the Gran Hotel Domine, literally) the glitter and panache of Gehry's museum. Boutique hotels, high-design hotels, and high-rise mammoths have made the older hotels look small and quaint by comparison. Despite new developments, the López de Haro remains one of the city's best lodging options, and many longtime Bilbao visitors prefer the storied halls of the Hotel Carlton to the glass-and-steel labyrinths overlooking Abandoibarra and the Nervión estuary.
This quirky, cozy hotel occupies a traditional town house in the Casco Viejo. The beamed ceilings, stone floors, and ethnographical and historical objects (including a portable Spanish Civil War combat confessional) convey a sense of place—a welcome trait in a city where bland name-brand hotels dominate the market.
Brightly lighted, with clean Scandi-minimal design, this adorable B&B is steps from Plaza de España. Rooms are open and airy, and the continental breakfast, served in the cozy upstairs lounge, is fresh and varied.
Welcoming hosts run this no-nonsense, budget-friendly inn in a 13th-century family farmhouse overlooking the Bidasoa estuary. Beneath its quintessentially Basque low, wide roofline, rooms are simply appointed with old-fashioned wooden furniture and patterned linens. The property is situated 5 km (3 miles) away from Hondarribia's tourist fray, west of the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.
On a bluff overlooking the Bay of Biscay and the Urdaibai Nature Reserve just outside of Elantxobe, this rustic family-run inn is removed from the harborside bustle, offering a breath of country life on the Basque coast. The cheerful rooms have terraces overlooking the sea, and two suites are available for families.
Overlooking the San Mamés soccer stadium (known as "La Catedral") and with views of the Nervión River, this former schoolhouse is just a 15-minute walk through the lush Parque de Doña Casilda gardens from the Museo de Bellas Artes and the Guggenheim. Rooms are contemporary in style. The restaurant, El Botxo, serves carefully prepared Basque and international cuisine.
Just a few steps from the Plaza de los Fueros in downtown Gernika, the Boliña is a pleasant and modern base camp for exploring the Vizcayan coast. Rooms are simple and small but comfy, and the food is a great value.
This cheery inn across from the confluence of the Urbión and Najerilla Rivers has spartan wood-trimmed bedrooms with red-checked bedspreads and an excellent restaurant specializing in caparrones (kidney bean stew) and game dishes. The hotel has various lodging and meal options, and friendly staff can advise on area hikes.
A small, attentively run hotel near the Atxuri station, this modest pensión has modern rooms with views of some of Bilbao's oldest architecture. The owner and manager offer helpful advice about Bilbao.
At the foot of Monte Ogoño in the upper part of the charming and colorful fishing and seafaring village, this amicable inn rents simple, cheery rooms and serves house-cooked Basque cuisine in its diminutive dining room. Rooms with wood beams overhead look directly down into the deepwater harbor below; fourth-floor rooms have the best views. The hotel is a family enterprise, and the staff is unfailingly helpful.
This 12-room pensión (guesthouse) with shared baths may be the best value in the city center with its small but well-maintained accommodations, some of which (Nos. 1 and 2) overlook the facade of the Palacio Yohn. Pack light, or brace yourself for some cardio: Pensión Méndez is on the fourth floor of a walk-up.
This tidy 10-room hotel four blocks east of the cathedral stands out for its rock-bottom (by local standards) prices. Rooms are simple yet spacious, and details like fresh flowers in public areas make you feel like you're at a simple country inn as opposed to a city-center hotel.
