Pensión Edorta

We’d had a good stay here last year, so we booked another visit months in advance. Then, on the day we were due to arrive, we learned without warning that the reservation had been cancelled and there was no room for us. We had to find other accommodation in a rush, at a higher price and outside the old town. We’ve traveled around the world for years and have never had a place cancel on us without notice. This was terrible. It was our second trip to San Sebastian, and we expect to return many times, but I won’t stay here again. Don’t book here.

The room was clean, pleasant, and recently refurbished, and the price was good compared with other San Sebastian hotels. Staff were polite and gave us helpful information about the city and neighborhood. They’d also told us four months ahead that exterior work on the building would take place during our stay. The pension is in a great area for trying pintxos, with public transport nearby, so a car isn’t needed in the city. The entrance to the building isn’t very welcoming, though, and the soundproofing could be better, especially between floors. Since there’s no breakfast, a kettle in the room would be useful.

I’ve traveled around the world for twenty years and can’t recall a place as bad overall as DOT rooms pension Edorta, San Sebastian. The room, service, and location all fell short. I checked in on the first day, couldn’t stand it, found another hotel around 2 AM, and moved out. That hotel, across Playa de la Concha beach, had air conditioning and an ocean view, and cost the same. I rarely write reviews, but this experience was bad enough that I want other travelers to be careful. In my view, DOT wants the most profit while offering poor facilities in a noisy spot and as little service as it can get away with. There’s no staff on site. For help with reservations, directions, or getting in and out, you may be stuck waiting a long time, including without a key on arrival, since staff work remotely. They took no responsibility for incorrect phone instructions or their inability to help customers, saying it’s a pension and not a hotel. There are hotels nearby that are much better and similarly priced. Their staff member Silvia Dot didn’t know the pension is near a dead-end street where Old Town taxis can’t enter. I trusted her to arrange a taxi for an important appointment I’d made six months ahead. None came, and none would have been able to reach the designated spot. We eventually walked to the main street and caught a taxi, but arrived late. Her attitude was terrible throughout. She insisted the taxi would show up at the spot she chose, then implied that because it’s a pension, service should be practically nonexistent and that helping us was a favor. The room looked nothing like the nice, spacious, comfortable rooms in the advertising. Ours was old, worn, bare, dirty, and uncomfortable, with so little space we could hardly turn around. The two hard single beds were pushed together and had dirty linens. A ceiling fan blew right over our heads, which could make us sick. I’ve included photos of the room’s condition. The Old Town location was extremely noisy. The room was so hot that we had to open the window for air, but the street noise carried on into the morning and made sleep impossible. There’s no air conditioning, and San Sebastian, especially the Old Town, can get extremely hot. After a full day in the sun, travelers need rest. In my opinion, people should avoid staying somewhere without air conditioning when plenty of nearby hotels have it.

The rooms were good and the location was perfect, but the service was the worst we experienced anywhere in Europe. The manager was very rude and wouldn’t own up to his mistake with the reservation. There are plenty of better places in San Sebastian.