Hotel Colonial de Santillana

The hotel staff were so kind to us, a couple of distressed visitors. The cafe and restaurant were excellent. They made the best fresh tortilla anyone could ask for, and the coffee and croissants were delicious. The home-grown pomello was delicious too!

It’s a nicely decorated hotel with large rooms and ceiling fans. The staff were top notch, and since we’re touring by bicycle, we really appreciated them storing our bikes inside overnight. Guests with cars can use the hotel’s own parking. The breakfast buffet had a good selection, though getting an egg came with a strange €2 surcharge. Which room you get matters: the odd-numbered rooms face south along the busy road. With the windows open, it’ll be noisy, and on a hot sunny day the room might get quite warm.

It’s on the main road into Santillana del Mar, so bring earplugs if vehicle noise bothers you. There wasn’t much traffic at night. The hotel is one block from the medieval city, and one block from a laundromat and butcher. Breakfast had plenty of choice, including locally made cakes, toast, fruit, croissants, and excellent coffee from a machine with a chocolate option. They’ll make eggs and bacon (pancetta) for an extra €2. We loved the service and helpful staff at this small hotel. It’s very clean, with fresh bathrooms and bedrooms after new renovations, plus tasteful decor. The towels are huge and excellent, and the water pressure was great with hot water always available for showers. Highly recommend it.

Don’t arrive at breakfast without an appetite, the servings are massive and lovely! We also found the on-site parking extremely useful, and the staff were helpful and quick to respond. The hotel has lots of character and charm, and we got a warm welcome. It’s just outside the old town, which gave us a bit of a break from the happy tourists. Our room was fine. Its window faced the main road in and out of town, but nights were quiet.