Radisson Collection Hotel, Gran Via Bilbao

A clean, elegant and modern hotel in an ideal, safe, location in Bilbao city in close proximity to everything but regrettably, it’s a five star hotel without the five star service. We took two stars off from the rating primarily for the bed and the air conditioning because for us, they’re two crucial factors for any stay. The bed was very hard. Had we only been staying a couple of nights it wouldn’t have been as much of an issue but we were staying 7 nights so 3 nights in, we asked at reception if a mattress topper could be put on top of the mattress because both our backs were sore. The hotel boasts a pillow menu (realistically they’re cushion-sized, not pillow-sized) so we assumed, as a 5 star hotel, the Radisson Collection Bilbao might actually want its guests to be comfortable. The two receptionists we spoke to said they didn’t have any toppers but they would arrange for blankets to be put down on top of the mattress to make it softer but two days later, nothing had been done. We had already complained about the air conditioning three times and at that stage we only had to suffer another two nights so we felt uncomfortable having to raise the issue with the bed again. The air conditioning is simply unsatisfactory. We set the thermostat to 19 degrees celsius to cool the room down quickly (the controls were locked so 19 was the lowest, although we did begin to wonder if it was at all times centrally controlled at reception) and we set the fan to high as opposed to automatic but the room never cooled down to a comfortable temperature. We tried leaving our second key card in the controls beside the door to allow the room to cool down and to charge our electronic devices whilst we were out of the room but each and every time the maids cleaned our room, they took the second key card with them and the room had heated back up again. When we say it heated back up, it was extremely slow to cool down in the first place, even when left on overnight - perhaps a degree or two at most. We managed to catch the maid to get the key card back the first time and on the second occasion we went down to reception for a replacement card, querying why the maids kept taking the card with them. The receptionists indicated that the maids probably just forgot to put the card back after taking their own card out and they would “leave a note for them” but the next day the same thing happened. Clearly this is a cost-saving exercise to prevent electricity being used when guests are out of the room, which is ridiculous. 5 star is not budget and we paid a lot of money for our stay. For the last two days of our stay, coinciding with a 40-degree temperature warning in Bilbao, the air conditioning broke down entirely. The heat in the bedroom was unbearable and we barely slept a wink. We rang down to reception twice and they indicated their engineer was working on it and that the entire hotel was affected, not just us, as if this was sufficient justification. The room itself was well-apportioned and everything seemed very new and well-maintained. I booked in for the 2-hour treatment in the spa and the service from Sara was excellent - she was extremely attentive and the gratuity was richly deserved. The spa facilities were fairly basic - a small dipping pool with a decorative waterfall, a sauna and a handful of loungers - an hour’s use of the spa was included with my treatment and had it not been, frankly I wouldn’t have bothered, particularly since use of the spa facilities is chargeable. There are just a few other minor points that irked us but I thought we should mention them as part of our review for feedback purposes: (1) on one occasion, we had to ring down to reception to ask for our shower gel dispenser to be refilled and on a separate occasion, we had to leave a note for the maids to refill our hand soap dispenser. Perhaps the hotel should replace its opaque black dispensers with clear/translucent ones so the maids know when the contents need to be replaced; (2) there were robes but no slippers/flip flops in the room for those guests intending to use the spa - I dressed in my robe to go down for my treatment but I had to wear running shoes down to the spa, which felt counterintuitive and quite silly; (3) we were charged €5 for a packet of crisps, which we discovered on checkout were not complimentary. There were complimentary cookies and the menu mentioned €5 for “Pringles” but not a 30g packet of crisps, which is fairly extortionate even for a 5 star hotel; (4) we were in a superior room, room number 315 and we could feel people at the wall behind our bed seemingly banging against it. We could also clearly hear chairs being dragged around the floor in the room immediately above ours, which woke us in the early morning. We were at pains to request a quiet room prior to our arrival and we specified we didn’t want to be on the 6th floor because the rooftop bar, where breakfast is served, was on the 7th floor and we knew the 6th floor would probably be noisy. We’re not sure what the noise coming from above was, unless it’s a suite with perhaps a table and chairs right above the bed in 315; (5) I was the victim of attempted robbery in the San Francisco area of Bilbao. Two youths attempted to steal the necklace from around my neck and left me with painful bruises. I was a little shaken up and asked the hotel staff if it was something that should be reported to the police because I knew the exact intersection where it happened. I was told that the hotel would never recommend going near that area (as if it was somehow my fault that I didn’t know better) and for this reason, the police would probably just say that it is a dangerous area and my necklace wasn’t actually stolen. I would have expected a little more empathy from hotel staff if nothing else. For anyone reading this - Google Maps will bring you through San Francisco as a shortcut to the hotel from Old Town Bilbao, so be extremely careful not to get too close to the area on the furthest side of the train station. All in all, we had a nice time in Bilbao but we left feeling tired, not refreshed, with a feeling that the Radisson Collection Bilbao did not live up to our expectations and that we paid for a service we didn’t really experience. I appreciate the city of Bilbao probably has a lot of tourists over the Summer months and hotel staff may get fatigued but it must be borne in mind that guests pay a lot of money to feel looked after and deserve a certain level of hospitality.

Staff is really good. Rooms are really clean and spacious. We had a great time at the rooftop and lovely breakfast.

Don't be fooled by the five star rating. This is at best a 3.5 star hotel.Apart from reception, staff don't speak English and there is an obvious staff shortage in the catering areas. Breakfast is shockingly bad for a 5 star hotel. Machine coffee, choices are very limited and there is cleanliness leaves a knot to be desired. Suffice to say I have had better breakfast and service in a two star in a northern Greece town. Even basic essentials like slippers ,you have to ask for from reception and of course not even a complimentary bottle of water in the room. Iv this was a 3 star hotel I would not complain but 5 stars? Certainly the Radisson brand should have another look at at standards of this n Hotel unless this is the way they chose to go .

I was there for a cocktail party for 41 persons on the roof terrace but it was very very disappointing. The service was not 5-star hotel like. I wrote an official complaint by never received any answer or follow up

The hotel looks great and furnishings are lovely. However, we were given a room on 6th floor (605) and the noise from the bar above was horrendous! I called at 12.30am and was told they were shutting and just putting away the chairs. I was then woken up at 6am again by them moving around chairs! We barely slept and I did mention to staff again in the morning and no response. Staff grumpy at breakfast and barely any clean tables, people sat outside stead. Style over substance! I did submit a complaint via the website and no response.