Hotel Marqués de Riscal City

In 2002, the Marqués de Riscal winery commissioned Frank Gehry to design a hotel for its facilities in Elciego, La Rioja. It is an innovative building using titanium cladding and stone. Construction began in May 2003 and the hotel opened in July 2006. The Hotel Marqués de Riscal is located in the heart of the Marqués de Riscal Wine City and is the crown jewel of Marriott International's Luxury Collection. Designed by Frank O. Gehry, one of the world's leading architects responsible for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the hotel combines deep-rooted winemaking tradition with cutting-edge design, luxury and advanced 21st century technology.

The hotel is a true masterpiece by renowned architect Frank Gehry, with avant-garde design characterized by flowing lines and titanium ribbons that stand as an icon of modernity amidst the traditional landscape of the Rioja Alavesa. The exterior design is famous for its pink, gold and silver titanium 'waves' that reflect the colors of the wine: the pink titanium refers to the wine, the gold titanium to the mesh of the bottles, and the mirrored stainless steel alludes to the capsule that covers the neck of the bottle. The rooms in the main building have unusual shapes that follow the contours of the building, with huge windows slanting outward, looking through a network of steel brackets and titanium ribbons. The rooms in the annex building, in contrast, are more traditional in plan, but their windows frame a front-row view of the gleaming Gehry building.

The hotel is located in Elciego, in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, surrounded by vineyards that produce some of the best wines in Spain. The historic Marqués de Riscal winery, founded in 1858, is adjacent to the hotel and offers tours and tastings. Laguardia, one of the most beautiful medieval villages in La Rioja, is just minutes away. Bilbao and its Guggenheim, also designed by Gehry, are an hour away.