Hotel Carlton

Elegant hotel with gorgeous views, charm and history! Our suite was beautiful, well maintained, clean, and spacious. We ended up checking in twice this holiday season and plan to be back again next month. After staying in a few other five star hotels in downtown Bilbao, I can say this property is my favorite thus far. It’s conveniently located in Abando, close to shops and lots of great restaurants, bakeries, and bars. The hotel is also celebrating its 100th year.

What a wonderful getaway in this historic lovingly maintained landmark and hotel. A very bittersweet stay made the very best by the caring, helpful staff in reception , breakfast, housekeeping and all over ! :-) The hotel was beautifully decorated to highlight the magnificent structure and stairwells. My room was super spacious and had all the comforts of home. Very comfy matttress and pillows as well as a private area toiket area in the bath. It was cozy as good be and kept spotless by the housekeeping team. Breakfast was a pure delight with a large variety of hot and cold foods and loads of traditional pastries to sample. A pretty dining area as well with attentive staff to make the special coffee or eggs . To add to the convenience, the hotel is very central to walk around Bilbao and explore. The airport bus is very very close by to secure an inexpensive ride to the airport. All in all, one of my best hotel stays in a long time. Im so glad I visited and selected such a gem!! Thank you to all the staff for a memorable stay.

In September we had the good fortune to stay at the Hotel Carlton while on a Viking land tour in Bilbao. The hotel is quite nice, centrally located, the staff are very helpful, the rooms are very clean with enough space, the morning buffet is wonderful. Our room looked out on the Federico Moyua plaza which was beautiful to see with all the multi-coloured flowers. The morning buffet was just delicious, with lots of selections to keep you happy for much of the day of sightseeing. We loved our stay here and recommend this hotel!

Very good experience. Hotel location is perfect, at the very center of the city. Check in was easy. Staff was friendly and professional. Rates paid are fair for the quality you get. They have a little gym. Breakfast was good. Rooms are decorated more old style, but well kept and maintained (no carpet smell etc). I would recommend both for leisure and business trips.

I have been coming to Bilbao for years to visit family and have stayed in what feels like every four star hotel in the city. There was always something not quite right, whether it was noise, cramped rooms or an awkward location. Then I tried the Carlton. That extra star shows itself in the comfort, the calm and the sense that things are as they ought to be. My search for the right hotel in Bilbao is over. This is, in all likelihood, the best hotel in the city.

Incredibly beautiful hotel. The hall, the rooms, the ceilings are amazing. The service is fantastic and helpful. It is on sich a central location that you can reach all the main attraction of Bilbao on foot.

I chose this hotel for two reasons: a) the location and b) the "old world charm", judging by the photos. The location is indeed super-central, you can walk to everywhere, such as Casco Viejo, the Guggenheim and the bus station. The entry level spaces are indeed very Belle Époque, beautiful! I traveled solo this time so booked a single room. Got a room on the 6th floor, with a terrace, which was fantastic. But for some reason there was no furniture, not even a chair to sit on so I enjoyed my morning coffee with a view standing upright. The room was clean and quiet and had everything I needed, including a comfortable double bed with four cushions, a coffee machine, safe, curtains to blind the room, a well-equipped bathroom. The room decoration is not exactly five stars (looks nicer in photos than in reality), standard chain hotel materials, functional but not elegant, but I didn't mind. I was very comfortable. The hotel also has a pretty decent gym, featuring three different Technogym cardio machines, weight machines and a series of dumbbells. There's also a nice park a couple of blocks away, if you love running as I do. The location and profile of the hotel also means that big events such as demonstrations and sports events can happen. Tjlhis was memorable and fascinating on a Saturday night (Basque-Palestine footbool match, preceded by pro-Palestine demonstrations) but not on the day when I was leaving for the airport. The only reason why I did not give an overall five-star rating is: the reception personnel needs to be better trained. The night before my arrival I got an email saying the payment had not gone through, no further info. I was a bit worried why and if my booking was canceled - or what? Upon arrival, asked the girl checking me in and she just said "don't know, my colleague did it" - and of course there was no problem with the card. She asked me if I wanted an invoice, I said I needed just a regular receipt and she kept insisting on the invoice and had to get a colleague to do it for her. I understand if you're new and don't know everything, just smile, be kind and ask for patience. But the attitude... The day before my departure I asked the reception how to get to the airport at midday on Sunday. They told me to take the bus which would stop practically next door. Upon check-out I discovered there was a race (?) blocking the whole center, no airport buses or taxis passing through. The same girl (with the attitude) advised me to walk to a taxi rank half a mile towards the Casco Viejo. This would have been stupid in that situation, as taxis could not be found, so I walked to the bus station (with luggage of course) and was fine. But I could see other distressed Guests at the bus stop trying to figure out how to get to the airport. I tried to get some to join me in walking, it's an easy one-mile walk, but they did not want to. In conclusion, yes, I enjoyed my stay and would stay here again, in spite of the reception service level. The location is unbeatable, just have a plan B for getting to the airport. Just in case! ;)

A classic hotel offering spacious rooms and attentive service. The central location makes it easy to explore Bilbao on foot while enjoying a quiet stay.

A classic hotel that hasn't aged well. Stuffy, pretentious with basic and traditional amenities. Expensive restaurants, slow Wi-Fi, no convenience store, loud banging at 6am (called the front desk with no follow-up). Great location near the subway and central to downtown.

An elegant grande dame located on the central square across from a beautiful garden. We stayed for one night in mid April in a Superiorto kick off a visit to the Basque Country. Our room on the fifth floor (512) was delightfully large with a nice balcony overlooking the square. In April the 187€ was a steal for this quality and especially given the inclusion of breakfast (23€/pp value AND two free passes to Guggenheim museum-20€ value). Like most historical properties it would be a nice upgrade to have better access to power outlets, but other than that I thought the marble bathroom was a good size and we had more than enough room in which to spread out. The hotel itself is beautiful with rich red carpets on a sweeping grand staircase and an amazing stained glass domed courtyard just off the lobby. The Belle Époque stained glass and other touches add a refined elegance to your stay. The breakfast buffet was included in our room rate and was absolutely outstanding with so many classic basque foods plus anything else you could possibly want from fresh fruit and juice, many pastries and breads and omelette s cooked to order. An amazing feast and not to be missed. Highly recommended

Will stay here again if I ever come back to Bilbao. Everything is more than I expected. The room is spacious and the breakfast buffet is very impressive. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The location is excellent. It's right outside of the metro station and only a shirt walk to the Guggenheim museum..

New favourite hotel in Bilbao. Best location wise-only a few steps away from airport bus pick-up and metro. Short walk to the Guggenheim.Very fancy rooms (old school), clean and low key cool balconies. After staying at Ercilla, this will likely be my next go to hotel in Bilbao. The staff were very helpful. Price way-reasonable!.

Best place to stay in Bilbao, hands down. Upscale hotel, professional and friendly staff! Rooms are spacious, clean and very well distributed. The view from our room overlooked the city which was amazing! I recommend you book in advance, it does get sold out a lot.

Dare I say it: I loved Bilbao, probably more than San Sebastian. Sure, even in the summertime the weather can be quite unpredictable (I had my umbrella with me at all times) and chilly, but I'm fairly used to these things after living in Galicia (and Chicago!). My stay at Hotel Carlton made my visit to Bilbao all the more enjoyable. The hotel is situated directly in the center of town and is a comfortable walk from the Guggenheim Museum, as well as the "old" part of the city. Upon checking into the hotel (and without even asking!), the concierge gave me a thorough description of the area, described highlights and key attractions in Bilbao, and advised me to take my camera on a clear day and head to the Mirador de Artxanda. I heeded his advice and after a sharp, uphill climb, was presented with one of the most beautiful views of the center of Bilbao and its prominent architecture, the surrounding mountains, and the river. Throughout my entire stay, the service was polite and friendly - I was always presented with a "Buenos Dias" when leaving for coffee in the morning and a "Buenas Noches" when finally arriving back to the hotel after an evening of pintxos bar crawling. The room itself was comfortable and clean with in-room wi-fi. I also made use of the small fitness center in the building, which surprisingly enough, had ample cardio and weight equipment. It was definitely one of the nicer hotel gyms that I've made use of in Europe. Most of the guests of the hotel appeared to be on business, judging by how many of them were in suits, speaking English, and having the front desk call for taxis to take them here-there-everywhere, but given the affordable pricing of the hotel (under 70 euro a night) and the key location, Hotel Carlton is a wonderful place for tourists and vacationers to stay as well.

Decent location but in need of a facelift. Staff were friendly but the hotel is aged. The location was very good and the airport bus literally went to the door step, right in the centre of town. The room stank of smoke and room was showing signs of age, could do with a new carpet, more paint etc. Hard to call the hotel gym a proper gym, and same goes for the steam room, pretty basic. i cant say this was a surprise however, the prices reflected this lack of renovation.