San Sebastian holidays: a guide to the best areas and hotels
A neighbourhood guide to where to stay in San Sebastian, as chosen by our resident expert, including the best hotels near Zurriola beach, La Concha beach and the city's best pintxos (tapas) bars.
GROS
Laid-back and hip, Gros is where you will find the up-and-comers (when it comes to people and pintxos). It has a distinctly local feel and is speckled with hip bars and cafés that reflect a younger population, like Taula Var, a tiny bar with an outsized selection of Spanish wines and a curated collection of the best charcuterie, cheese and snacks from the Iberian peninsula. Perched on the Zurriola beach, the surfing influence is felt intensely in Gros’s first few blocks, where in summer you will find people wandering barefoot from surf shop to café and back to the beach. Plaza Cataluña is the social nucleus, and on the eastern tip Mount Ulia offers beautiful views of all of San Sebastián. For your money, Gros is the best spot for sleeping in the city.
Where to stay
Okako Hotel
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
7Telegraph expert rating
Okako is one for the artsy types. Owned and staffed by an eclectic family, this one-star hotel has a homey vibe—if your home is dotted with contemporary art and reclaimed antiques, that is. It is located on a discreet back street in Gros. Read expert review From £44per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Maria Cristina
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
The grande dame of San Sebastián hotels, designed by Charles Mewes, it has managed to retain its belle époque glamour while adding a few contemporary essentials. As the hub of activity during the city’s annual film festival in September, everyone from Bette Davis to Pedro Almodóvar has stayed here. Read expert review From £204per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Pensión Altair
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
This two-star pensión in the increasingly popular Gros neighbourhood boasts fresh, clean rooms with modern character and with an emphasis on comfort. In a city where most “budget” options are frozen in time, family-owned Altair stands out for its stylish décor and attention to details. Read expert review From £34per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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CENTRO
Elegant, with sweeping pedestrian promenades graced by women in furs and teenagers with shopping bags, the Centro is the chicest district of Spain’s chicest town. The buildings are stately, stone affairs, and each corner reveals a new top-of-the-line clothing boutique or cosy café bar. You’ll find the imposing Buen Pastor Cathedral, as well as the Reyes Católicos, a popular zone for drinking, eating and going out. Be sure to pop into Casa Valles, one of the last living examples of an old-school pintxo bar, for a gilda (the famed anchovy-olive-pepper pintxo), or into Amelia for haute cuisine.
Where to stay
Legazpi Doce
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Legazpi Doce is a budget San Sebastián option with a lovely location overlooking one of the city’s most beautiful plazas. Though it is technically a pension, everything from the services and the thread count are more befitting of a starred hotel. Read expert review From £50per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Arrizul Congress
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Hotel Arrizul Congress is the latest of a new species of San Sebastián hotel—stylish and contemporary urban hotels that forgo facilities (and sometimes space) in favour of attention to detail, design and a gracious personalised concierge service, starting with complimentary bubbly at check-in. Read expert review From £55per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Niza
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
7Telegraph expert rating
The Hotel Niza is a charming, turn-of-the-century building perched over the lapping tide of the La Concha Bay in San Sebastián. Perfection is a glass of txakoli and a plate of rice with clams from the hotel restaurant, Narru, one the city’s best. Read expert review From £50per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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LA PARTE VIEJA (OLD TOWN)
La Parte Vieja, the Old Town, never sleeps… not even during siesta. The leafy, tree-lined boulevard that forms its border is the meeting point for a stroll, an ice cream or a night out pintxo-hopping. The heart of San Sebastián, it is where you will find the most famous pintxo bars (classic spots such as Txepetxa, A Fuego Negro and Ganbara), the port that once served as the city’s livelihood, the oldest markets and the famous Mount Urgull. It is also where the value for your money, hotel-wise, plummets—and the noise outside your hotel window skyrockets.
Where to stay
Pensión Bule
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
This 10-room guesthouse stands out for being cheery, comfortable and very centrally located. With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking San Sebastián’s leafy Boulevard promenade, its fully modern, cosy rooms are ideal for people watching. Read expert review From £135per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Pensión Aldamar
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Pensión Aldamar’s tempting location is only the tip of the iceberg. This 10-room guest house is pleasant and up-to-date, with extras not usually included in a pension. A free minibar surpasses the generosity of hotels, so drink up on the balcony overlooking the Old Town. Read expert review From £123per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Pensión Casa Nicolasa
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
This upscale guesthouse is housed in what was formerly the most famous dining establishment in a town known for its food, Casa Nicolasa. By nature it has pared down services, but Nicolasa has nothing to envy – it's clean, friendly and has been styled with a cosy rustic décor. Read expert review From £141per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
ANTIGUO
Stately Antiguo is the neighbourhood oft-overlooked by visitors to San Sebastián. Yes, it is quite far from the Old Part’s attractions, but the distance is one of Europe’s most beautiful strolls, along La Concha bay. Antiguo has a more residential feel along the Ondarreta beach, its blocks lined with stately mansions. However, the lively Calle Matia holds some of great restaurants and buzzes with life any night of the week. Vinoteca Bernardina has some fine jamón ibérico along with a menu of elegant pintxos and wines.
Where to stay
NH Collection San Sebastián Aránzazu
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Don’t let a nondescript exterior fool you— the NH Collection San Sebastián Aranzazu is bursting with glamour. Little touches of luxury make it one of the city’s best, despite its location in the off-the-beaten-path Antiguo neighbourhood. Read expert review From £58per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel San Sebastián
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
7Telegraph expert rating
Hotel San Sebastián is a peaceful four-star hotel in the city’s Antiguo neighbourhood, with smiling staff who are ever happy to meet guests’ needs. Rooms are spacious and the ground floor’s lobby and bar are stylishly comfortable. Read expert review From £62per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel La Galería
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
This 23-room hotel is for guests who appreciate a bit of quirkiness. From its regal exterior to its colourful interior décor, it takes guests a step back in time. A stellar, beachfront location cements Hotel La Galería’s place on the map. Read expert review From £113per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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AMARA
If the rest of the city is all elegant, beach strolling, Amara is a bit more buttoned up and down to business. Mostly serving as catch-all sprawl, Amara has little more to attract outsiders than the Anoeta Stadium, which the Real Sociedad calls home. Don’t let its seeming lack of charm put you off, however—it’s one of the few neighbourhoods where you can find a taste of the old Spanish style, with no concessions to global trends. Case in point? The fried calamari at Bar Txirrita — visit on Wednesdays, when bars offer up happy hour specials for a pintxo and a drink.
Where to stay
Silken Amara Plaza
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
7Telegraph expert rating
Hotel Silken Amara Plaza’s 162 rooms tower over the Amara neighbourhood of San Sebastián. It may not be an ideal hotel for beach bums, but its rates are modest and rooms comfortable. Spacious common areas make it a good group or business choice. Read expert review From £60per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Astoria7
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
7Telegraph expert rating
There are many places around town that pay homage to the city’s famous film festival, but this former cinema is nothing less than a temple to the seventh art, and every room honours a different star of the silver screen. Read expert review From £106per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Zenit San Sebastián
San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
The Zenit San Sebastián is a lovely, modern hotel with warm, lodge-like communal areas and magazine-spread-ready rooms. The hotel makes up for a slightly off-the-beaten-track location with a beautiful terrace and facilities that make guests want to stay in. Read expert review From £48per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
