Pension El Puerto

It was supposed to be a queens bed but we had two single beds pushed together!

At first, I was happy with service as the pension is central in the old town and next to the port and beach. I was also allowed to enter the room early by 12 pm as I arrived directly from the airport. However, it was difficult to get confirmation of details for me to be able to get into the property, and the woman cleaning was the only one around to talk to and unable to help out. It is also a pain to have to use keys to open and close the bathroom and bedroom all the time. However, at the same time, it does provide a sense of privacy and safety. I had a long day out and was looking forwards to my night sleep. However, I was shocked to wake up in the middle of the night by 4.30 am with both the TV and air conditioning coming on at the same time!!!. Both remote controls were on the bedside table so I was left feeling as if someone had direct access to them or they were set up on alarm from previous tenants!?. I couldn’t sleep for a couple of hours after that experience and nobody to talk to about it at that time of the night!!. I managed to sleep until 10.30am and woke up feeling tired and as if I had waisted my morning. I would not stay again but I realised afterwards that I had booked a similar accommodation in Vitoria and was concerned about it.

We booked a room at the Pension el Puerto for a very reasonable rate on what was a very busy weekend in San Sebastiàn. There are only a handful of rooms, but they’ve been designed in a clean, modern way that’s pleasing on the eye and makes the place feel ever so slightly more premium overall than your standard Spanish B&B. That said, we were in for something of a surprise when we opened the door to our room, which - unlike most in the hotel - was en-suite. The toilet was right next to the bed, with a very short screen separating the two, mere inches apart. As a couple, we laughed it off, but this certainly isn’t the place for you if you’re bothered about your modesty. The motivational ‘let’s go’ slogan on the wall only added to the hilarity of the situation - and the owners really could do with putting a wall around the bathroom area to give you the impression of privacy. Ironically, the shared bathrooms were far more preferable - with locks and everything. The team running the B&B were very nice, but there could have been a bit more attention to cleanliness - for instance, the back of our TV which swung out from the wall was covered in thick dust, and to watch half the channels, I had to retune the set myself. It was also slightly unfortunate that the only window in the room was so high it was out of reach and couldn’t be opened or closed. Nevertheless, this was a reasonable place to stay in a fantastic location - in the old town just a few metres from the harbour front. If you need somewhere to stay in San Sebastiàn that won’t break the bank in high season, this is a strong contender.

Booked a stay here with free reservation. All good - but when I wanted to cancel my reservation, nobody speaks English, not even broken French, and no reply to emails either. Is this a scam, or just their way of doing business?