Gastro-hotels are definitely on the rise thanks to their increasing popularity with international guests, and the strong emphasis on high-quality cuisine at the Monument hotel (which includes the three-Michelin-star Lasarte) is a perfect example of this. Incorporated into the hotel lobby, the Oria is a spacious, elegant and unique restaurant overseen by chef Martín Berasategui, hence the high standard of its updated take on traditional cuisine with its roots in the Mediterranean but with a nod to the Basque Country. Choose between three surprise tasting menus: Formula Oria (lunchtime midweek only), Tradición (a journey back to the origins of Martín Berasategui’s cuisine and the flavours of the Basque country), and Itsasmendi (“mountain and sea” in the Basque language), which showcases the wealth of the region’s bounty. Resident chef Xabi Goikoetxea enjoys chatting and sharing impressions with guests in the dining room.