Hotel Miro, Bilbao

Location

Hotel Miró couldn’t be better located, directly across the street from the Guggenheim museum. However, the Moyuá neighbourhood and the riverfront fall asleep outside of museum hours. The Hotel Miró is a mile from the Casco Viejo (old town) and its bustling pintxo (tapas) bars, which can be reached by a lovely riverfront stroll or by cutting through the more lively neighbourhoods of Ensanche and Indautxu, where you’ll find many of the newest bars and restaurants.

Accommodation

Designer Miró has been called Spain’s Calvin Klein, which explains his affinity towards neutral beige and white, clean-cut lines, and only occasional pops of colour in the 50 rooms. While the higher tier rooms feature the best views, all the rooms boast floor-to-ceiling windows (albeit some frosted) that make the sometimes close-quarters feel open and breezy. Marble bathrooms up the luxury factor. You’ve made it this far, so spend a little extra on the rooms with the museum view: the City Deluxe, Junior Suites and the sprawling Master Suites.

Dining

The offering at Hotel Miró is slimmed down, consisting of a courtesy bar with free coffee, tea, and sweets all day and reasonably priced wine, and room service. At breakfast, details are given due attention: The Brown Bread Bag breakfast (so famous it even has its own Instagram) is 100 per cent local, featuring a local bakery’s sourdough and jams made by hand in the Basque Country. The à la carte selection is tempting, too – feast on anything from hummus toast to a healthy roast apple porridge to an all out pork-y English breakfast featuring local black pudding, bacon and sausage.

Facilities

The Hotel Miró’s urban location means a lack of space in general, but they do make use of it well. There is a comfortable seating area with leather sofas, a small library upstairs and a mini gym. Reserve an hour in the atmospheric spa for individual use and enjoy the hammam, hydro-massage shower, whirlpool tub and an on-call masseuse.