Accommodation in Bilbao wasn’t the cheapest, but the Ibis Budget which was a short railway journey away was more affordable, so I stayed here for three nights. It takes around twenty minutes on the train and it’s only around £1 for a rail fare, so that was most agreeable.
The room was more functional than decadent. No-one walks into one of these hotels expecting chandeliers, velvet drapes and a butler asking whether sir would like his pillow angled towards the Guggenheim. Well, maybe my friend Richard actually, not that he’d set foot in anywhere with the word “Budget” in the hotel name.
The view from the window and this photo actually hides that it was quite pleasant with the large hill and forested area behind the factory.
Breakfast was only around £5 per day, which seemed worth it for the coffee and orange juice alone. It was quite a basic breakfast to be fair, that ham looked bloody awful. I am not entirely sure what journey it had been on before reaching the buffet, but I decided not to become involved. Sometimes breakfast is about knowing which items to leave alone with dignity.
The breakfast area was basic, but this is in keeping with the international Ibis Budget branding. The team members were keeping things clean and organised, with everything feeling well managed. They are trying to feed people efficiently in a clean space before everyone goes off to museums, offices, airports or, in my case, railway stations and craft beer bars.
The bread with jam was rather lovely, as were the croissants, so it was a filling start to the day. It may not be luxury, but it does at least prevent the first meal of the day from becoming a formal complaint.
The online reviews are average, mostly people who had expected more luxury than the hotel ever claimed to offer. The air cooling system worked reasonably well so I was happy with that, but there was no air conditioning. Given the heat, this was an important detail, as I was not in the mood to spend three nights gently poaching in a compact room as that would have been entirely sub-optimal.
For the money charged, which was under £50 per night including breakfast, I thought that the whole arrangement was entirely satisfactory. The team members were friendly, there were no noise issues either internally or externally, with the room being cleaned every day which doesn’t happen everywhere now. I’d certainly consider staying here again whenever I next visit the city, assuming I can once again resist the emotional pull of paying much more money to sleep closer to the centre. And that’s quite likely as I like cheap….