Hotel Eguren Ugarte

The views here are sensational, and Laguardia’s cute little center is close by. We were in town for a wedding at the hotel and had a lovely stay. The rooms are a bit dated, as other people have mentioned, but the bathroom was spacious and housekeeping cleaned thoroughly every day. Breakfast was substantial for Europe, with especially good scrambled eggs and coffee. The staff were helpful, and the hotel is well appointed. I’d happily stay again if I’m in the area. Not sure why Google lists it as a one-star hotel.

The vineyard and property are beautiful, and I liked the Grande Reserve wine, though not the regular Reserve. But the service was so bad that I wouldn’t recommend staying here. I was assigned a smoking room even though I have asthma and had clearly explained that to the staff. They offered no solution until my husband noticed other rooms were available. Then they said we could move only by paying extra, so we had to upgrade to avoid risking an asthma emergency. The front desk staff were dismissive and unhelpful. The manager was unavailable for the whole 24 hours we were there. For a hotel of this level, that treatment was unacceptable.

We booked the wine tasting and cave tour for the day after our stay. The tour was good, though I wasn’t keen on the wine they included. Dinner, though, was the highlight: a set five-course meal that was absolutely divine, with so much food I had to make myself finish. I’m pescatarian, and they kindly swapped one of the meat dishes for seafood. The chef seemed to be working alone, and the one server was looking after every table. There were long gaps between courses, but with just two people on duty, I can’t blame them. My friend and I stayed for a night in November. Our room was small and dated, but the vineyard views made up for it, especially at sunset from the window. We could also walk around the grounds. We had a wonderful time at the hotel and on the tour. Thank you!

The cave tour was a real surprise, and I highly recommend it. The hotel grounds are lovely, with vineyards you can wander through, and Laguardia and other vineyards are an enjoyable walk away. It would’ve been handy to rent bikes and explore farther. The wines are tasty and very affordable, and all the rooms have great views, though ours was a bit noisy. Dinner comes from a changing set menu and was okay. We’d spent the week in San Sebastian beforehand, so we’d gotten used to a very high standard. The hotel doesn’t really have its own bar, but there’s one by the main restaurant and tour area. If you ask reception for a drink, they’ll let you sit in the lounge and enjoy the views. It’s a very pretty hotel with lovely grounds.