"Check In/Arrival: We stayed at Palacio Arrulice in the Deluxe Marina room for 2 nights. The hotel concierge organized us a private vehicle (Mercedes G Class) from the airport to the hotel which was seamless from the baggage claim to the hotel. This was 70 euros which was very reasonable as a taxi costs about 40 euros. On arrival, the property is stunning and impressive. You pull in the gate and pass the pristine Croquet Club lawn on your left and are met by very professional bellman. Check in was smooth and all of our Amex perks were honored as this is a fine hotels and resorts property. Grade A+
Room/Amenities: The Deluxe Marina Room had a beautiful balcony overlooking the marina with a table and two chairs. The room was very clean and neat, but overall was small and tight with limited seating areas, drawer and closet space. The bathroom had dual sinks, but limited counter space. The shower was very nice with strong water pressure and you could easily adjust the temperature to your liking. Toilet area was also tight but had a heated seat which was a nice plus. Beds were very comfortable with large king size pillows. The room had a steamer for clothes, a hair dryer, and an easy to use safe. There were outlets for your electronics which had direct USB and USB-C cable inputs so we didn’t even need to use our Euro adapters. Wi-Fi was easy to connect to with a code given to us on check in and the TV had the ability to connect to your streaming services from your phone or laptop so we could watch Netflix in our room. There was a coffee maker in the room with pods and a mini fridge stalked with soft/hard drinks.
The main complaint we had was the air conditioning. The air conditioning was very weak, and the room was hot for almost the entire duration of our stay. The air conditioning shut off completely by itself on the first night after we went to sleep. We contacted the front desk around 1am on our first night and they manually turned it back on from the front desk. This felt odd since it seems like it is a common occurrence. Not sure if it is an energy/cost conservation measure, but it was disappointing to wake up in the middle of the night sweating since it just shut off. Even after it was turned back on, our room felt hot. We spoke to the front desk the next day and were reassured multiple times that it would be fixed, but the tech didn’t come to fix it until our check out day as we were packing to leave. It was frustrating to be in a 5 star hotel room that constantly felt too hot to relax in. The air conditioning also doesn’t work unless the balcony door is shut and locked, which is frustrating if one person wants to sit outside while the other is inside showering or something. Grade C
Food/Dining: We heard that Bilbao/Getxo is a foodie paradise and our first meal at Bar Ingles did not disappoint. We ordered beef tacos and the gyoza dumplings which were delicious. Finished the meal off with the Carmelized French toast and brownie which were also on point. The daily Marina Breakfast was also very good. They provide you with your choice of coffee, you can order from the breakfast menu, and a full buffet style selection of meats, cheeses, pastries, fruits which were beautifully prepared and presented. At nighttime, the terrace was a lively atmosphere. We had espresso martinis which were tasty and some bar snacks. Overall, the service was very good, we spoke very poor Spanish so I’m sure there were a few things that got lost in translation, but they were polite and attentive. Grade A
Location: The hotel overlooks the Port with a nice walkway along the water that you can easily walk down to with a small beach. The hotel is located in Getxo which is about 20 min from the Bilbao airport. We went into Bilbao which was easy to get to by car/taxi and walked around the Guggenheim museum area and Casco Viejo area. There isn’t a lot of restaurants/bars around the hotel that you can walk to. But it felt like most everything was about a 10-20 min drive around. Our friends had a car which if you are staying for a long time or want to explore, I would recommend renting a car. But, taxis are very reliable and reasonably priced. Grade B
Overall Impression: The hotel is beautiful, clean and the staff are all polite and attentive. The Deluxe room ran us about $1500 for two nights. If the room did not have the AC issues I think it would be worth it, but that unfortunately clouded our experience at this hotel.
Overall Grade B+"
