Pensión Ama Bilbao

I found the hotel centrally located in the old city centre with cathedral & Plaza Nueva nearby. It’s a 20min walk to the airport bus stop and the Guggenheim museum. Countless cafés, bars and restaurants are around. The room was very clean and had tv, aircon, hairdryer, capsule coffee maker and electric heater. I liked the decoration and the balcony. When I checked in I encountered a multilingual receptionist who was very friendly and gave useful tips. As a tip: rooms towards the alley let you hear street cleaning and party people at night - earplugs are recommended.

Rooms were fine except for a terrible “drilling” noise (some kind of mechanical noise) that randomly occurred throughout the night at odd intervals making it impossible to sleep. Very strange, and makes it impossible to give anything more than one star. Reading other reviews, it seems to be the air conditioner. But even turned off, the noise still continued. Also never heard any air conditioner like this before. Stay away! Get some sleep! Writing this at 4.30 AM after the thing woke me up again.

Pensión Ama is right in the heart of Bilbao’s old town – buzzing with life, full of shops, pintxos bars, and great restaurants (check my other reviews for food tips!). Check-in was smooth, communication clear. Our room – Lydie – was clean, comfy, and had everything we needed: air conditioning, safe, coffee machine, great bed, lovely bathroom… plus a bathtub for a touch of luxury. The double balcony overlooking the charming old street is perfect for soaking up the city’s vibe. Bilbao is super walkable (especially the old town) and public transport is cheap and easy. Pro tip: get a Barik card (€3) at any metro station or tourist office – we used just one for our family of four, and a round trip to the Vizcaya Bridge - all the way on the other side of the city - cost less than €6 total. And if you want to enjoy an amazing view of the city, take the Artxanda funicular – a round trip with the Barik card costs less than €1 instead of the usual €5 for a ticket. You can also use it to get to the airport – from the pension, including walking, metro, and bus, it takes less than half an hour. We stayed three nights and had a fantastic time. Would definitely stay here again!