"I rarely leave negative hotel reviews.
In fact, I usually make an effort to recognise good hotels and good service. Unfortunately, Palacio Arriluce has become one of the rare exceptions.
My father and I are currently on a road trip through the Basque Country on our way to Asturias. My father is 85 years old and had unfortunately caught a cold shortly before our trip. Rather than spending several more hours in the car immediately after landing in Bilbao, I wanted to give him the opportunity to rest and recover before we continued our journey.
Because of that, I chose Palacio Arriluce.
Before booking, I contacted my Virtuoso travel advisor and asked for quotations for both a one-night and a two-night stay because we were considering extending our visit. I also looked carefully at the hotel's own website to compare room categories and availability.
I deliberately did not book the cheapest room category. Instead, I booked the next category up. Not because I believed I was entitled to a complimentary upgrade. I know perfectly well that upgrades are never guaranteed. However, when a hotel has several higher room categories available, one naturally hopes it might recognise a Virtuoso booking with a thoughtful gesture. Even the same room with a slightly better view would have been appreciated.
Our day began at 5:00 am in Hamburg.
After an early flight to Bilbao and the drive to the hotel, we arrived shortly before 2:00 pm. My father was exhausted and simply wanted to lie down for a while.
Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready.
That alone would not have bothered me. Delays happen.
What surprised me was that nobody could tell us when the room would actually be available. There was no estimated time, no promise to update us and no sense that anyone was taking ownership of the situation.
At that point I actually assumed the delay might be for a positive reason. Since I knew several higher room categories had still been available when I booked, I thought perhaps they had selected a particularly nice room for us or were preparing a Virtuoso upgrade.
So we happily went to lunch while waiting.
Unfortunately, this was where the experience slowly began to fall apart.
The food deserves genuine praise.
The fries were outstanding.
The Basque cheesecake was excellent.
The kitchen clearly knows what it is doing.
The service, however, told a completely different story.
I ordered a bottle of water and nobody refilled my glass.
After finishing my first beer, the empty glass remained on the table for around ten minutes while several members of staff walked past without asking whether I would like another one. Eventually I had to ask myself.
After we finished eating, our empty plates remained on the table for what felt like another fifteen minutes while staff repeatedly walked past without clearing them.
One waiter even reached across the entire table to place my father's plate in front of him instead of simply walking around and serving him properly.
None of these moments is dramatic on its own.
Together, however, they create the unmistakable impression that the staff simply has not received the level of professional training one expects at a luxury hotel.
One small example perfectly illustrates this.
When I asked which dessert was recommended, I was interested in the warm chocolate cake.
Instead of presenting it as something freshly prepared and worth waiting for, the immediate response was essentially a warning that it would take ten minutes.
Ten minutes is nothing for a freshly baked dessert. Many excellent restaurants ask guests to wait twenty or even thirty minutes.
A well-trained server would have said, "It's baked fresh to order and absolutely worth the short wait."
Instead, it was presented almost as an inconvenience.
I then ordered my coffee separately and specifically explained that I wanted it immediately rather than together with dessert.
The coffee arrived roughly twenty minutes later.
After dessert.
Again, not a disaster.
Simply another indication that nobody seemed to anticipate the guest's wishes.
By this point almost two hours had passed since our arrival.
Nobody had informed us that our room was ready.
Nobody came to the restaurant.
Nobody gave us an update.
Nobody apologised.
When we asked for the lunch bill, the waiter suggested charging it to our room.
I gladly agreed.
He then asked for my room number.
I explained that after almost two hours we still hadn't been told our room was ready.
Instead of simply contacting reception, I was told that it was "very important" for them to know my room number.
I replied that reception would surely be able to identify us.
The waiter asked me to remain seated while he investigated.
I politely declined.
We were hardly going to leave without paying.
So I walked to reception myself.
Only then was I informed that our room had already been ready.
Nobody had thought to walk the few metres to the restaurant and let us know.
A simple "Mr Schulz, your room is now ready" would have allowed my elderly father to rest much sooner.
Instead, we simply kept waiting because nobody communicated with us.
At reception I was handed the Virtuoso benefits sheet and the standard benefits were explained.
I thanked the receptionist and politely asked whether there had been a complimentary upgrade.
The answer came immediately.
"I'm sorry, but the hotel is fully booked."
That was the moment my disappointment turned into frustration.
Not because I didn't receive an upgrade.
Because I was being told something that simply wasn't true.
Before booking, I had checked the hotel's own website.
I checked it again while staying at the hotel.
Several higher room categories were still available for exactly the same night.
I even took screenshots.
To be absolutely clear, this review is not about a complimentary upgrade.
Hotels are perfectly entitled to decline upgrades.
I would have accepted without hesitation if someone had simply said, "We're sorry, but today we are not offering complimentary upgrades."
That would have been honest.
Instead, I was told the hotel was fully booked while the hotel's own booking engine continued to sell several higher room categories.
I have always believed that honesty is one of the simplest and most important parts of good hospitality.
I can accept "no."
I can accept mistakes.
I can accept delays.
What I struggle to accept is being told something that is demonstrably untrue.
Once that happens, trust disappears.
Ironically, I have attached two photographs of the view from our room.
Readers can decide for themselves whether overlooking rooftops, roof tiles and solar panels was worth all the anticipation.
The room itself is perfectly comfortable.
The building is beautiful.
The kitchen is excellent.
The hotel has enormous potential.
Unfortunately, luxury hospitality is not measured by architecture.
It is measured by honesty, attention to detail, anticipation and making guests feel genuinely cared for.
Our holiday began with an exhausted 85 year old father waiting two hours for a room, inattentive service throughout lunch and an explanation at the end that simply did not match reality.
That is not the way a Virtuoso guest hopes to begin a holiday.
It is certainly not the level of hospitality I expected from Palacio Arriluce.
P.S. I have attached two photos of the view from my room.
When I wrote earlier that I had hoped for "perhaps the same room with a slightly better view", this is what we actually received. I'll leave it to other travellers to decide whether rooftops, roof tiles and solar panels represent the sort of outlook one expects from a Virtuoso booking at a luxury hotel."
