The GHDB is undoubtedly one of the most artistically, aesthetically-pleasing hotels I have ever visited. The lobby, at quick glance, could pass for a surrealist painting and Javier Mariscal's whimsical artwork adorns the walls of every hotel room. Each floor sports a different color theme and hotel room doors are uniquely painted so they fade chamelion-like into surrounding hallways. Unfortunately, that is where the hoopla ends. The rooms are cold and modern. The staff, while eager and friendly, are ultra-busy and subjected to constant interruption. For such a large hotel in a well-known chain (Silken), I was surprised to find that some staff spoke no English whatsoever. Internet access is a whopping 10 Euros for 20 minutes while it was free at other hotels I visited in Spain. Gran Domine is only feet from the Guggenheim but Bilbao is so small that it makes little difference. I'm probably being overly-critical as GHDB is ranked #1 by many. All-in-all the hotel is entirely satisfactory and the price reasonable.

I would highly recommend the Grand Hotel Domine in Bilbao. Great location to the Gugenheim Musuem as well as to Bilbao City Center. Rooms are great, comfortable and ecclectic.

In an otherwise unattractive city in transformation, this hotel stands out like a sore thumb.

Our room (318) overlooked the Guggenheim, and having already seen the Aztec exhibition in the Guggenheim's NYC branch late last year, we didn't mind the extra time spent in our superb room, and when not in our room we were drawn to GHDB's trendy 'Splash&Crash' bar to sup on more-ish Cuba Libres and Kir Royales.

The weather in Bilbao may have been drizzly, but inside we were cheered up by the quirky design skills of 'Mariscal', the team behind the whole image of the hotel. The bathroom was the highlight with its Starck standalone bath and wet-room shower, and an incredibly cheap minibar meant we could quaff Cava a la P Diddy as we relaxed under atmospheric lighting while gazing out on the Guggenheim. And as for the bed turn-down service with it's little squeezy toys and chocolates, well I could go on and on and on ...

We have stayed at the Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao (ghDB) for a few nights at the end of May 2005. On our holiday we opted to use the Trip Advisor as the last minute accommodation option, and took into account other reviews to see how hotels were rated, etc. We booked the first night via tripadvisor and got an excellent deal on Hotels[-].com, it was an executive room at half price. The hotel then offered us even a better special price for our second night after we asked at reception after our first night, with brekky for 2 thrown in.

If you are looking up this hotel you probably already know about its amazing design, it's internal courtyard with the 7-story high sculpture and you probably already heard about the hotel's best feature - the roof terrace overlooking Bilbao's famous Gherry landmark (where they also happen to serve great breakfast). This in addition to the fact that many of ghDB's rooms also overlook the museum.

The Hotel is truly of 4-star quality, the service is superb, you never see anything or hear anything, things just magically appear and are done, beds are prepared for the night with a special touch of little animals holding chocolates on your pillow. Any demand or request for information was handled with outmost courtesy and expeditiously met. Such a nice change from other 4-star establishments that are that just in name, have noisy gossiping staff who move tables at 7am dragging them across wooden floors, but don't get me started on that one! Enjoy the best of Bilbao from this great hotel, including sunset shots of the Gug Museum from the rooftop, free apples at the gym that also overlooks the museum and great bath & shower design of executive rooms, to name just a few!