Hotel Marques de Riscal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Elciego

This hotel is a destination in and of itself ! The perks are amazing for bonvoy elite members -giving a super value in a luxurious setting. In addition, each stay comes with a bottle of wine and tour of the winery!!! The hotel, designed by famous architect Franky Gehry, is a work of art itself. The rooms (they gave us a very nice upgrade!) were well appointed and immaculate. All the staff were attentive and helpful. The wine bar served amazing food - we shared croquettes, Russian salad and a special carmelized apple cheese dessert and it was all fresh and amazing ! Room service was also excellent . I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel- it was one of the highlights of our trip to Spain.

We had stayed here in 2010 on a previous Spanish road trip, and my husband was keen to return. It was the last night of our three week trip and was a real treat. I wondered how the building would have fared over the past sixteen years as it looked a bit of a nightmare to maintain. It looked just as we remembered it, from the moment we drove up and our bags and car were dealt with, the professionalism of the staff, the lovely room with all its facilities (the first time I have seen a steamer in a hotel room), friendly bar staff and the delicious wine and snacks. We had booked the 18 course tasting menu for dinner which was perfect at the end of our trip as we had so many meat heavy meals that a variety of small dishes suited us perfectly with a bottle of Marques de Riscal rose. We decided against a 'wine flight', experience has shown us you end up eating not very much and drinking a lot which would not be a great idea with our trip to the ferry at Bilbao the next day. The Sommelier however convinced us a glass of champagne would be a good idea to start off. It was all lovely. Had a great night's sleep in I think the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in, it was like sleeping in a cloud. Very comprehensive breakfast explained to us at length, sitting on a terrace looking over Elciego and vineyards - bliss.

We came for the tasting menu and tour. 99€ per head. It’s the only way as a non resident you can go into the Frank Ghery building. Lunch was spectacular. And the wine of the marques de Riscal by the glass and very reasonably priced. A superb experience

The hotel itself is incredible our room was excellent decent size with a really lovely patio area with great views. Our stay was disappointing though. We do not eat meat but do eat fish. On our arrival around lunch time we were looking forward to a long leisurely meal in the sunshine. We were directed to the outside grill. There was absolutely nothing in the menu we could eat other than a green salad. I appreciate many people would be fine but I can’t understand why some sort of fish ( raw salmon was available in the bar) roasted vegetables or halloumi could not be offered. We ended up in the wine shop cafeteria with very indifferent food. The next day was tricky only one non meat starter and main course available which was in fact very nice but same menu for dinner so we would have had to eat exactly the same thing again. We went to the bar and ordered a salmon poke bowl which was raw and a tomato salad.

This hotel was one of two inspirations for our trip to Spain for my 70th birthday. It is everything it is cracked up to be….a beautiful but quirky modern structure in the middle of captivating Rioja country, abutting the walkable and quaint medieval town of Elcolegio. The rooms are spectacular, as are the views, and service was top notch. The restaurant was great too….highly recommend on all counts!