Palacio de Aiete

"I've chosen the hotel because it had a parking and it was în the free traffic zone. It had 4 stars and nice pictures. But the reality hit us when we got into our room. It was really old, with smelly pillows and bad furniture. At most it should have 2 stars not 4. I strongly recommend you to chose another one."

"From the initial friendly welcome to the swift checkout, this was an excellent 11 day stay and we intend to return. We were in a third floor, front facing balcony room (323), which was a decent size, with clean bathroom and pleasant views from the balcony (pictured). Breakfasts were excellent, and whilst we didn't use the restaurant for an evening meal, the bar food, sent out directly from the kitchen, was of good quality. Parking might be an issue at certain times of the day, but there is further parking across the street so it shouldn't be a problem. We got a space straight away and didn't use the car at all during our stay but when we walked out of the hotel, we could usually see a space. It's a 20-30 minute walk down to the beach/town, and the uphill walk back an be quite gruelling, but we only did it once, as the buses were so frequent and dropped you within 200m from the hotel. Tip: go to the Information Centre in town and get a Basque Card, which lasts for 10 days, gives you reduced prices on many attractions, and makes a single local bus journey absurdly cheap, 69c from memory. If you want to be in the middle of the San Sebastian action, this is not the hotel for you, but as a peaceful retreat with easy bus access to town this is just the job. Highly recommended!"

"I was expecting far more based on the photos on their website. The biggest issue here is trying to find a carpark which was a disaster as this is in a residential area and I ended up having to park a long way away. The room we had was a reasonable size but they hadn't dried their sheets and towels properly and they smelt musty. The check in process took ages and a long queue of people built up. Breakfast was reasonable."