An icon for this well-known and loved wine region in Rioja is the Hotel Marqués de Riscal. This unique hotel was designed by internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, who also designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (only 130 km away from the Hotel). Gehry wanted to create something memorable, so he decorated the roof with giant cascades of titanium colored in pink, gold and silver and designed the hotel with tilted walls and zigzag windows. With the mountains of the Sierra of Cantabria as its backdrop, the Hotel sits between the vineyards of Rioja and the medieval town of Elciego.
The Hotel Marqués de Riscal has a lot of history behind its creation. It sits as the center of The City of Wine – an area of 100,000 square meters that consists of the Marqués de Riscal cellars, the Hotel, two restaurants and more. The cellars were constructed in 1858, the same year that the winery, Vinos de los Herederos de Marqués de Riscal, was founded. Below the hotel sits its own cellar with a priceless collection of bottles. Be entranced by the architecture, ancient town and expansive vineyards at this one-of-a-kind wine hotel.
