Melia Bilbao, Bilbo

The design is nicely different from usual. They forgot the importance of quality and details when they built the hotel, though. The rooms will very soon need a redecoration, even if the building is not that old. There are stained carpets, and also the automatic curtains in some rooms are broken. Maybe not quite 5 stars...

This place is hip and is close walk to everything. A new multi shopping mall is next door and the museum is down the road. The food at the cafe is a great choice with an english menu.

My husband is disabled and uses a wheelchair much more when we are away than at home, so hotel facilities are important. Having wanted to visit Bilbao for some time, this hotel was a real find. The adapted rooms are state of the art. The wheelchair goes everywhere; the bathroom, with its sliding door; level access shower with drop down seat and non-slip floor is a dream; everything, from the beds to the toilet is at the right height for a wheelchair user. The whole hotel is wheelchair accessible and the staff couldn't have been more charming and helpful. Best of all, the riverside development on which it stands is a wheelchair ride from the Guggenheim and the more classical fine arts museum. There is a stop for the modern, wheelchair-friendly tramway just across the road and it will take you just about everywhere else so no need to fiddle about with taxis. Of course, nothing in life is perfect and we did have one complaint - there was no soap dish in the shower.......... We did, rather tongue-in-cheek, mention it in the satisfaction form we completed and to our astonishment and delight, received an email soon after thanking us for telling them and assuring us that one would be provided. So in conclusion, it was just about perfect!