Imagine spending the night inside a living gallery, where every corridor and corner reveals a new contemporary masterpiece. That's the promise of The Artist – Grand Hotel of Art, a fiercely independent 5-star boutique hotel in Bilbao that has been generating significant buzz, crowned with a prestigious One Michelin Key in the Michelin Guide 2025.
Sleeping Amongst Sculptures: The Hotel Vibe
Located a stone's throw from the iconic Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the boundary between the city's celebrated art scene and the hotel effortlessly blurs. The experience begins in the lobby, dominated by Spanish artist Javier Mariscal's towering 'Fossil Cypress' column, an 85-foot structure comprising 86,432 stones that ascends through the atrium. The playful, bold interiors mix furniture from various eras, while colour-blocked elevator shafts offer flashes of Mariscal's paintings as you glide to your floor.
The welcome is warm and personal, often featuring a handwritten note and sweet treats. The hotel's 145 rooms are spacious, employing warm hues and solid wood to soften the modern edges. A Deluxe room offers practical luxuries like two full-length mirrors, ample luggage space, and a 49-inch smart TV. While not all rooms command a view of the Guggenheim, the design ensures you're never far from an artistic statement.
Facilities, Food and Five-Star Touches
The undisputed highlight for many is The Rooftop on the seventh floor. It serves as both a breakfast venue with a well-curated buffet—featuring those reportedly irresistible chocolate-dipped croissants—and a breathtaking viewpoint for admiring the Guggenheim's silhouette. The wellness centre, though compact, includes a fitness area, sauna, and Turkish bath, with access included in your stay.
Culinary options are a major draw, with four distinct venues. OLiO, the hotel's fine-dining restaurant, creatively blends Basque tradition with French technique in dishes like langoustine with Basque pork. The lobby bar, Sixty-One, serves expertly crafted cocktails in a sophisticated setting that transforms into a live jazz venue monthly. Thoughtful touches, from a 24-hour room service to a loaner umbrella for Bilbao's drizzle, underscore the hotel's commitment to guest comfort.
The Verdict: Art for Life's Sake
The Artist successfully merges a gallery experience with genuine hospitality. While some may find elements like the wooden slats in certain bathrooms impractical, the overall effect is inspiring. It’s a hotel that caters powerfully to aesthetically minded travellers and art lovers, offering a seamless extension of Bilbao's cultural pilgrimage. With rooms starting from around £200 per night on a room-only basis, it positions itself as a premium, character-filled base for exploring northern Spain's artistic capital.
Perfect for those who see a hotel stay as part of the destination's cultural fabric, The Artist proves that sleeping among masterpieces can be more than a novelty—it can be the heart of the journey.
