Meliá Bilbao

“Great location but half board option not good”

Firstly the positives. The hotel is in a great location next to the river and is a couple of minutes walk to a tram stop and around 10 minutes to the nearest metro station. The Guggenheim museum is 10 minutes away. Also our room - a suite on the 10th floor - was excellent with a huge balcony. We a… more

Firstly the positives. The hotel is in a great location next to the river and is a couple of minutes walk to a tram stop and around 10 minutes to the nearest metro station. The Guggenheim museum is 10 minutes away. Also our room - a suite on the 10th floor - was excellent with a huge balcony. We always stay in Level rooms in Melia hotels and we found the Level at Melia Bilbao to be one of the least inspiring - it didn’t help that there was a heatwave but the sun in the afternoon and early evening made the Level room uncomfortable to spend much time in. The snacks weren’t great and the Level staff weren’t particularly friendly or welcoming. There were several times when there were numerous tables that hadn’t been cleared. What really let the hotel down was the restaurant. We had booked half board and the menu for guests on the half board package is much smaller and less inspiring than the main menu (which we were initially given in error). Also we stayed for 5 nights and the limited menu doesn’t change so we ended up eating out of the hotel 2 nights. On one of the nights Spain were playing in the World Cup and there was a large screen in the restaurant showing the game. We were told there were no tables available so we said we would have room service instead but were told that had been suspended for the night because there weren’t enough staff. After a wait, we were found a table but the service was very slow. When our food arrived one of the meals was still frozen. During our stay we took the train to San Sebastián - worth visiting but at 2 1/2 hours each way on the train it would have been better to have taken the bus which is much quicker. We also took the train to Bermeo and stopped off at Gernika, both worth visiting. If you are planning on using public transport in Bilbao, make sure you buy a Barik card - you can buy the card at metro stations, it costs 3 Euros then you top it up like an Oyster card. All journeys, especially the train journeys, are much cheaper if you use the card as opposed to paying as you go. We’ve stayed in a lot of Melia hotels across the world and the Melia Bilbao just didn’t feel like other Melias - the distinctive smell and the welcoming staff were missing. Also, unlike most Melia hotels, there is no separate Level check in or Level reception. I would recommend Melia Bilbao for its location, but wouldn’t recommend the restaurant, especially the half board option.

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“Not what we expected for 5* Hotel”

Not what we expected for 5*. Our room had mould in the shower room, they play annoying hotel music everywhere, even in the underground car park. We stayed half board but the food was dismal and even though we were fair paying guests all the tables were reserved one evening because the football was … more

Not what we expected for 5*. Our room had mould in the shower room, they play annoying hotel music everywhere, even in the underground car park. We stayed half board but the food was dismal and even though we were fair paying guests all the tables were reserved one evening because the football was on playing via a projector. Breakfast was acceptable but there were flies on the food and the staff were miserable. Even though the hotel did their best to offer us upgrades sadly we didn't feel that was enough so it's a NO from us.

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