The Viking

Some time ago I came across an article(can't seem to find it now though) describing the construction of a hyper-exclusive hotel at one of the major wineries in La Rioja. According to the a rticle it was scheduled to open in 2005 and to be run by Starwood.
Being an oenophile and gastronomic nerd this location would fit me perfectly!

Anyone with any in-depth info, links or rumours?

marflysaa

I believe you are referring to the Hotel Marques de Riscal in the Rioja Wine Country designed by Frank Gehry. Here is the press release and a short article on the property. Only 14 rooms, but should be a real stunner.

Jeroen_SW

Thank you very much for your posting and your interest in this exciting new opening !

We have just assigned the SPG Category to the hotel. During the remainder of 2006, the Hotel Marqués de Riscal will be an SPG 5 category. However, this category may be revised for 2007.

The hotel will have his soft-opening later this month and will be open to the general public as of September 2006.

The reservation system will be updated with this new information and I expect that you will be able to redeem your StarPoints for free nights at the hotel in the next week or so. Please be advised that we have only limited availability during the first 2 months due to several groups and events booked.

We are currently updating the information on our website, as well as adding new pictures so you will have an idea of how the building is coming together. Please visit www.luxurycollection.com/marquesderiscal to check the latest information or make bookings online, of course at the Best Rates Guaranteed !

We look forward to welcome you to Elciego soon !

The Viking

Great news, already planning a trip within the next 9 months. Will the hotel participate in full with spg, and in what category?

Jeroen_SW

Hi Viking,

Great news, I know you have been following the opening for some time allready. Let me know once you make your reservation.

The Hotel will indeed fully participate in the SPG program. It will be considered a resort, therefore the 72 hours guaranteed availability for Platinum members and above will not apply. During the remainder of 2006, we will be a cat. 5 hotel but this may change during 2007.

Thanks again for your interest and I look forward to see you in Elciego next year.

Best regards,

CaptainG

In the MOMA architecture exhibition they have Frank Gehry's design model for the Marques de Riscal on display. Looks to be a visual masterpiece and follow the same flow of the Disney concert hall, which is my third favorite hall after Boston Symphony Hall and that place in Vienna . I'm not sure how much longer the exhibition runs in NY. I know the High in Atlanta had a architecture exhibition in November '05 and thought they were going to get another in late '07 for those who don't make it over to Spain immediately.

-- CaptainG

sc flier

This is the MOMA exhibition that has already closed...

On-Site:
New Architecture in Spain
February 12–May 1, 2006

However, this link related to the exhibition shows a model of the property.

johnsmith

I've been trying to book a room (points) for next summer, but can't do it via the website. The plat line also couldn't do it. Not sure whats causing the issue

Sam P. Goodman

Shame on the plat line. I too had trouble booking an award stay for next summer and was told to try back in November. No thanks. Not wanting to wait, I contacted William and he asked me to try calling again because a memo had just gone out addressing this issue. I think it has to do with hotels selling revenue rooms, but not opening up award rooms in the computer system. The CS rep has to book it at rack and then fill out an extra form to make the award reservation. At least that's what happened in my case. Everything went fine when I made my second call--it just took the rep a little extra time to make the reservation since it was a new process.

Long story short, try calling again. They should be able to do this.

Now that I have my stay booked, I have to figure out the best way to get from Bilbao to Elciego and from Elciego to Madrid. I've done some basic searching without luck. Anyone have experience with this?

scavanger

We have been following this place for some time and started calling them back in the winter when it looked like a July opening -- we almost put off our summer trip to September just so we could stay there - anyway just booked a 5 night award stay for the first week of June next year -couldn't do it online and the Plat desk had a bit of difficulty but managed to execute. As requested above any info on the area etc would be of value e.g. car rental vs. train etc...

ZME

In this part of Spain, rent a car. You won't need one in either Bilbao or Madrid, so pick it up when you leave Bilbao. Driving around Spain (outside of the large cities) is easy. It allows you the freedom to see the many great sites in this area. I would recommend returning the car to the Barajas Airport when you get to Madrid, rather than an in-city location. The extra cab fare is worth the lack of stress is trying to navigate Madrid's inner-city traffic.

johnsmith

so I tried to book the hotel again today...now its available on the website, but its a cat 6. William--I'm sending you a PM on this one.

Sam P. Goodman

Early bird = worm. Based on prices (650 Euros/night when I'm going), not too surprising that this one is now 6.

scavanger

A nasty but not all together unexpected surprise on the change to Cat 6 for this hotel -- Notwithstanding the hotels heads up that a Cat change was coming (and very nice that they gave that heads up) - it seems from the above postings that johnsmith was having the same difficulties as others, including myself, in trying to execute an award stay back at the end of August- hopefully Mr. Lurker can assist him -- More importantly with just 43 rooms and at least three of us there around the same time I wonder how the upgrades will be allocated???

Jeroen_SW

Hello everyone,

First of all, sorry for not replying earlier but we have been extremely busy with the opening of the Hotel. We are extremely proud to have sucessfully gone through our first months of operation with great feedback from our guests. About 2 weeks ago we had the official opening party and the Hotel was inaugurated by his Highness King Juan Carlos of Spain.

I do encourage all of you to have a look at our website www.luxurycollection.com/marquesderiscal. We are continuously updating it but we got the first real pictures online just now. In the near future we will finish a full photo shoot and keep updating the site. Also, the Special Offers Page will soon be updated with some spectacular packages!

Regarding your attempts to book the Hotel redeeming your StarPoints, I am really sorry about the inconveniences caused. There were some technical difficulties moving forward, but they should all be resolved now. As suggested by some of you, if you still experience difficulties please contact the SPG Platinum Desk as they will get in touch with me or my team directly and we will try to address the issues.

It is almost not necessary for me to answer anymore, because the question about the transportation was also answered correctly... Indeed, the easiest way to move around from Bilbao to Elciego is by car. There is a great highway connection, which will take you about 1h15m (toll motorway, aprox. € 10). The road to Madrid is also mostly (toll) motorway and will take you aprox. 3h30m to 4h to get there. Considering the time to get to and from the airports, this will be almost the same.

Thanks again to all of you who keep following the Hotel Marqués de Riscal, The Luxury Collection and I hope to welcome you in Elciego soon.

Best regards,
Jeroen