Stayed here for two nights in august.Lot of autobuses with tourists at this time,but no problem
at elevators or breakfast.Spacious room and bathroom,good comfort bed.Had room on the 7°
floor with frontview of the river.Could park my car in the street adjacant,but there is also a garage.Easy access by highway,hote is just enetering the city.It's about 10 minutes walk to the
parte vieja and another 10' along the river to Guggenheim museum.So it's a quiet part of the
city,would stay there again and didn't see any better location to visit the town.By car or metro
It's not far to visit the sea.

OK....OUR SURPRISE, was that we thought that we had booked the "other" Gran Hotel (Domine) right at the Guggenheim Museum. We had just given the name "Gran Hotel" to our travel agent, and only noticed the error the night before we left Australia !
A quick check of Tripadvisor showed us that this place was not too bad....just located on the outskirts of Bilbao.
THE GOOD NEWS: was that it was a great stay !
We enjoyed a large, air conditioned modern room with a wide city outlook. Dont be put off by the location, as it is actually a shorter walk to the restaurants, bars and nightlife in the Old Town !
Regular buses, right at the front door will wisk you downtown...and back.
The hotel is not that old, staff were pleasant and helpful. And, the buffet breakfasts were superb, with a good choice of hot food in addition to the usual "continental" offerings.
What we initially thought was a bad mistake, turned out to be a pleasant surprise !

Gran Bilbao is a very good hotel on a small hill 10-15 minutes to go into the old town of Bilbao. A bus station is in front of the hotel which has a direct access to the old town and to the center of Bilbao. There is no metro station in the surrounding of the hotel.

The rooms are very modern and very clean having a very good bathroom.
The hotel offers free wifi and an excellent breakfast (different breads, juices,....).

The only small disadvantage is that the hotel seems to be very open for bus groups.

The service at this hotel was good, the staff at reception spoke good english and were friendly & helpful. The hotel itself is modern but pretty sparse for a 4 star, no gym or pool and a pretty small bar. However the breakfast buffet was extensive, and the restaurant looked good but we didnt try it.

We stayed in a quadruple room, which had two bedrooms and one bathroom. One of the rooms is a couch converted into a double bed and the other has two singles pushed together. It is very spacious and has a mini bar, safe and large bathroom with power shower.

The location is a little out of town (probably a ten minute walk), and the walk home at night might be a little dodgy although we didnt experience any trouble.

The hotel is great value for money, we paid €140/night for the quad room, but the location is just a little far away for my liking.