19 April 2010

Intriguing hotel design in rioja land

If you're thinking about exploring the Rioja region in northern Spain, at the very least stop by for a look at the Hotel Marques de Riscal in Elciego.

Designed by the architect Frank O Gehry, it has quite an amazing set of details. It is also located in the middle of the winery with the same name. Tours of the winery are on offer all the time, and provide a good primer on winemaking for those without previous knowledge of the very intricate business.

The hotel includes a Library at the top with views of the quite beautiful area around it. They tell a story at the hotel that the architect was reluctant to take the commission and only agreed after they had taken him down to the cellars, and opened a couple of bottles of wine dating back to his birth year of 1929.

Frank O Gehry's previous work in Spain was the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.