Marqués de Riscal: a twenty-first century hotel in the oldest winery of Álava
Marqués de Riscal: a twenty-first century hotel in the oldest winery of Álava
They say that when the blue sky of the Basque Country goes dark, other lights come out and sculpt this magical setting made up of mountains, valleys, and plains. In the Rioja Alavesa region, it is the plowed and sewn vineyard that reflects the caress of the sunset and sunrise all around. Located in the town of Elciego, in Álava, the iconic Marqués de Riscal Hotel stands tall – one of the two Luxury Collection hotels of the region. It is there where guests find every imaginable detail – as oscillating and modern as a wine in movement.
With a perfected technique and a new color palette, almost two decades ago architect Frank Gehry undertook a project that is admired even today in the best architecture schools: bringing the oldest winery in Álava, founded in 1858, into the twenty-first century – along with the hotel that would encapsulate its universe into the philosophy of a unique sleeping, eating, and drinking experience. The result? Two buildings that are interconnected via a glass bridge: The Gehry Building –with 14 rooms, a library, two restaurants (one of which has been awarded a Michelin star), and a wine bar– and the Spa Wing, with 29 rooms and the Vinothérapie® Caudalie Spa area.
The hotel recently undertook an expansion project with 18 new rooms in the Spa Wing. Categorized as ‘premium spa rooms with a balcony,’ these guestrooms feature a surface area of 44 m2 and a loft-style design, an Italian marble bathroom with double sinks, a separate shower and bathtub, a walk-in closet, and a private balcony with views of the Gehry Building, the mountains, and the medieval town of Elciego. All this with recyclable materials and topped off on the rooftop with a photovoltaic solar self-consumption system which supplies energy to the Spa Wing building.
In addition to the construction of the 18 new rooms, nine of the ones already existing in the Spa Wing have had a private terrace added. These rooms are now called “premium spa rooms with a terrace” and “Riscal suites with a terrace.” With all this, the hotel now has a total of 61 rooms and suites.
Gehry, also the designer of the Guggenheim of Bilbao, once stated that he originally didn’t set out to cover the museum with titanium, but instead with stainless steel. “We did everything to it: we hit it, we treated it with acid. We tried all the textbook resources to make the material more expressive, but it wasn’t possible,” he once explained. Everyone knows that life is full of lucky coincidences, but what nobody can imagine is that this titanium jewel came to be as an improvised solution. With the experience gained from that project, Gehry conceived one of the most famous hotels in the world: Marqués de Riscal – a hotel which, just like good wine, acquires a more exclusive flavor as the years go by.
Marqués de Riscal Hotel
Calle Torrea 1, Elciego.
Tel.: +34 945 180 888
