Hotel Artetxe, Mount Artxanda, Basque Country, Spain
High above Deusto on the Mount Artxanda, the “balcony of Bilbao”, this small family-run hotel offers all the tranquility of a rural environment with fantastic views over and easy access to the city of Bilbao (a short drive or bus ride, or a half hour’s walk). The 2 star Hotel Artetxe combines a familiar and professional way of dealing personally with guests as well as a nice and quiet natural surroundings.
The hotel is an authentic Basque “caserio”, a large stone built country house, and its 12 spacious rooms are comfortably furnished in traditional style. The ceiling of the room had charming oak beams, and the hotel as a whole felt cosy and friendly without feeling too small.
The bedrooms on the first floor are reached by a stone staircase with a wooden porch whereas the entrance leading to the appartments are at sidewalk level on the ground floor by this hotel succeed to maintain the original rural Basque architecture.
Breakfast is provided at the hotel, and there is a bar in the lounge area; there are restaurants within walking distance. With pretty gardens, a terrace and a paddle court there is plenty of space for relaxing outdoors. Parking is in the grounds. The Artetxe restaurant’s kitchen offers prime quality fish and meats, a classic style, traditional in the working of the dishes and a home made cofectionery treated carefully.
Only 12 kms from Bilbao Airport and 3 km from downtown Bilbao, close to the coast and lovely countryside and a good golf course (6 km). Hotel Artxanda is a very good spot for a start or finish to a holiday in a traditional country inn, or for a short break.
Hotel Facilities
- a la carte restaurant
- garden
- laundry service
- handicapped facilities
- tennis court
- bar-cafeteria
- parking
- golf course (3 km)
- children's playground
- padel court
Room Details
- fully equipped bathroom
- cable & satellite tv
- heating
- non-smoking rooms
- handicapped rooms
- hair dryer
- telephone
- room service
- internet access
Map
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Guide to the Basque Countryside
Miguel de Unamuno wrote one of the best definitions of the Basque countryside: "everything seems to be at your fingertips, made to order for the people who reside here and give it life; it is a domestic landscape, homelike, where more earth than sky can be seen". Bizkaia's inland valleys are uneven and beautiful, with high mountains and low valleys cloaked in legends and deep valleys with a marked rural flavour. The Encartaciones is land of battles between different sides and tower houses, many of them perfectly kept that will take us, magically, to an enchanted past.
The region of Alava's western valleys presents an outstanding natural landscape. In the north we find the valleys of Zuia and Ayala, with their refreshing waterfalls and solid tower-houses. In the south, we can find singular landscapes such as the Salinas de Añana and the ravine of the Valderejo Natural Park. The Alava Plain has been always a passing route for many pilgrims and traders.
Following the course of the river Oria and under the unmistakable silhouette of the Txindoki mountain we will find settled Tolosaldea, a county that better has kept alive its Basque cultural and folk traditions, along with Goierri. In order to know deeply this region's characteristics we must visit municipalities like Idiazabal, famous because of its worldly famous cheese, Segura and Zerain. Finally, we'll go to Ormaiztegi where, for instance, we can visit Zumalakarregi's historic museum.