"I did a bunch of research before booking and this hotel aligned with everything that we had hoped for and more. The location was perfect (unless you want to be right by La Concha beach and I don't know why you would). This hotel was a ten minute walk to just about everywhere - the Old Town, the beach in Gros, the bus station (for bus to and from Bilbao) - and 15 minutes to La Concha. After booking what I believe was a Cozy (think el cheapo) room in advance, we offered to upgrade to the next sized up room for around 40 euros per night for two nights and it was totally worth it. BEST OF ALL WAS THAT THE WOMAN AT THE FRONT DESK ALLOWED US TO CHECK IN EARLY WHEN WE ARRIVED AT 10AM FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE. We were in room 104, which faced the river, and it was great! Blackout blinds and double paned windows left the room dark and quiet all night. And the breakfast with fresh squeezed OJ was fantastic!!
A few pointers - I've been to Europe many times in my life and never had this issue before, but the mattresses in five of the seven places that we stayed at had hard as a rock mattresses with a thin almost useless topper (and I like a firm mattress), so if you're a side sleeper like me, you could be in trouble. I don't know if this is a thing in Spain and Portugal, but it became an issue almost everywhere. So the first night at Abba was a bit rough, but the front desk was great at adding a second mattress topper for the second night and that made all the difference. So be sure to ask in advance for a second topper for your mattress if you're a side sleeper.
You should know that even if you book a room facing the river on the third floor, you won't have much of a view because there are huge trees that run the length of the river.
Comment for mgmt - you have a beautiful rooftop bar with amazing 360 degree views. We went up there to grab drinks and chill out one afternoon. There weren't a lot of people up there and yet the service was non-existent. We finally left after 20 minutes."
