Although named after the famous Spanish artist Joán Miró, this hotel, just down the street from the Guggenheim Museum, takes after the man who created it, Antonio Miró, one of country's top fashion designers. A powerful collection of black-and-white photographs lines the corridors and Miró's clean, minimalist fashion palette is used to good effect in the 50 rooms, where pale beige walls and leather sofas, black carpets and marble bathrooms predominate. Dramatic, heavy, beige curtains are used instead of doors to hide the clothes-storage areas and flat-screen TVs, DVD and CD players, giving the impression of an intimate modern theatre. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the front rooms frame a view of what will one day be the new Bilbao: a park and shops, offices and apartment buildings scheduled for completion in 2005. Staff at the Miró are friendly, efficient and discreet: this hotel is all about merging old-fashioned service with idiosyncratic, modern touches: there's a DVD library with some very amusing titles and a small, up-to-date gym and spa with Jacuzzis and a massage room. The hip cocktail bar just off the lobby (where breakfast is served, as well as bar food) is beige and flourescent yellow. There is no restaurant but Bilbao has an outstanding range of options.