Parador de Hondarribia

This was a super fun experience for us. It was our first stay in a Parador and I'm glad our friends recommended it. The rooms were ok, very noisy with paper thin walls but the view was so cool that you didn't care. The staff was very nice and we really enjoyed having drinks in the salon and envisioning what this must of been like when it was first built. I would highly recommend this if visiting the area.

This historic and well appointed hotel is what you expect from Paradores. The location is ideal for visiting the town of Honarribia with its many restaurants, San Sebastian and Bilbao. Secure parking on site is a bonus.

After our experience with unfriendly staff in the Parador of Baiona- which we thought was an incidental experience- but it wasn’t. Staff in the Parador of Hondarribia exceeded it amply. We have never been insulted and threated so rudely before. Not exactly what you would expect in a top class hotel. I’m not sure if it has to do with the fact that Paradores are stately owned and staff are in fact civil servants, not afraid of losing their job, while being lazy or unfriendly. If so I hope a commercial hotel chain will take over the beautiful Paradores asap. What happened: It started when arriving at the hotel, nicely located on top of a hill, at a market square with nice terraces. You can’t park before the hotel, so we stopped at a “No Parking” place at the edge of the market square. For that reason my husband stayed in the car and I walked to the hotel. The welcoming was- like in the Parador of Baiona- not very warm. I asked the receptionist to send somebody out to get the luggage. He answered that getting the luggage was not part of their service! Although the receptionist hardly did speak any English I succeeded after some arguing that I insisted on it, then he sent out a tiny little girl to get our luggage! I told him I had reserved a parking spot at the hotel grounds, when making the reservation- which was advised- he answered that my reservation of the parking spot was of no importance! He said that he decided who got a parking spot. (Not the 2 elderly Americans standing next to me, who were on the point of breaking out in tears about so much randomness and unfriendliness. They had to park somewhere downtown). Well, after much insisting I finally got my parking spot. On my question how to get there he told me in Spanish something like twice right, next street left, than left again etc. So I asked him for a map or to draw it for me; he didn’t. On my question if our room had the reserved sea view (wise through my experience in Baiona) he could only say in a kind of Pink Panther English “"zis is a neisz roam". Since I do speak a little Spanish I decided to accompany my husband in finding the Parador Parking lot. On the hill there was just 1 sign”P Paradores”. The streets became narrower and narrower and finally we only had 10 centimetres on both sides of the car and at the end of the street we saw a sharp turn, so turning would be impossible if we were wrong. So I decided to leave the car and asked a friendly old Spanish gentleman if he knew were we could find it. He didn’t but advised me to enter one of the buildings in that street and aske somebody there. Well, finally I was in the cellars of a huge building (turned out to be an elderly home) and I met a very friendly old nun, but she also didn’t know where the Paradores parking lot was. So my husband decided to walk the street and found out that after the sharp turn there was a big fence and the parking. When we parked our car we found out that on the parking lot there was a glass elevator going up and ending next to the front door of the Parador!! Why did the receptionist not tell us when checking in. It would have been so easy to get the luggage out there instead of making someone crossing a complete market square with the luggage. Our superior room was nice, but not very big. The bathroom was moderate, the water closet was not in a separate room but in the bathroom. The only washing stand had a “design” faucet wetting the whole bathroom (and making the floor slippery), since too much water was running from the faucet for the small washing stand. The safe in the room turned out to be fixed in such a way that you had to crawl into the closet to open or close it. In front of the Parador the sun was shining bright on the terraces. But as you learn, I asked the one and only friendly person in the Parador- a bar keeper- if they served drinks on the terrace. Well, they didn’t. I told him that I had seen a terrace in the Parador, but it was in the shade. He answered that the Parador also had another terrace in the sun. I had seen it but there was a fence closed with a padlock. Then he asked me if I wanted the sunny terrace to be opened. I said make a guess. Well he won a price by guessing “Yes”. Immediately we ordered a bottle of wine, a bottle of water and some Serano. And we sat for 2 hours on that sunny terrace, overlooking the Atlantic ocean, but all alone. Till some young Englishmen shouted at us asked us how in the world we got there; it seemed the waiter had closed the fence behind us!! The guys made him open it and within 10 minutes the terrace was crowded! So a lot of work for the waiter. At 7 p.m. I decided to make a reservation in the restaurant of the Parador we had passed on our way to the terrace. I had seen the sign “for residents only” but since we stayed in the hotel that would be no problem. Besides, in the Parador of Baiona we had got a voucher for 15% discount on meals and drinks for the restaurant in Honadarribia. So asking the receptionist to make a reservation for 8 p.m. in the restaurant he smiled and said ’We do not have a restaurant”. I showed him my voucher and he smiled again, took it and threw it in the waste paper basket “has no sense”. I asked it back. On the general information in our room was written ”Your visit will introduce you to culinary delights". Well not, as was clear now. Besides, the general information is very general; there is no special information about the Parador you’re in. Weird, since the Paradores are all unique buildings and a unique selling point. Asking him where to have dinner he said ’There are plenty restaurants in town”, asking him to call a cab at 7.20 p.m., since the hill was rather steep, he answered “I walk, so you van walk too” I was too stunned about such a rudeness, that I left . Well, thanks to Tripadvisor, we found nearby a small restaurant. When we returned to the hotel after dinner the receptionist, the waiter and another staff member stood in front of the hotel entrance and didn’t move to let us in. Fortunately my husband is impressively tall and they moved and let us enter the hotel. At the scanty breakfast- in the restaurant “for residents only”, staff only spoke Spanish. And being attentive and smiling was also forbidden to this staff. It's unbelievable that in a hotel in this classification staff doesn't speak proper English, only Spanish, since most of the guests are foreigners. Overall conclusion: Never ever we will stay at a Parador again. Although the buildings and, most of the time, the views are magnificent, price /quality ratio versus service /hospitality is completely out of balance. Insulting guests, being unfriendly and not at all hospitable is not an incident but the unique selling point of the Paradores we visited and unfortunately not the buildings. Hope they will be sold asap to a commercial hotel chain without staff.

Very interesting and pleasent hotel. Hondarribia village is a very interesting and pretty place. I do recommend a longuer stay so one can enjoy the sinery and visit the town and other places to go. Breakfast buffet was delicilicious.

We have stayed in many Paradors and this one is by far the nicest one. It is beautifully situated at the top of a hill in a very cute village. The standard of installations and service of the hotel was excellent. Unfortunately there is no restaurant for dinner, but we had a drink enjoying the sunset on the terrace. The restoration of the building is faultless and our room was amazing. The kids really felt like we were in a castle. We went for Tapas in the village every evening to the pedestrianised calle de san Pedro. Amazing gourmet pinxtos at restaurante Gran Sol.

Having stayed in* or visited the Parador de Salamanca, Parador de Cuenca, Parador de Santillana*, Parador de Fuente De, Parador de Baiona* and the Parador Santiago de Compostela* we can say with confidence that Parador de Hondarribia* ranks well with the best of them. The rooms are large and well appointed, the staff is efficient and friendly, the views looking toward France are terrific and it is all an excellent value. Also, Hondarribia is a charming town with an excellent selection of pintos bars and high end restaurants, beaches and an airport providing direct flights to Madrid and Barcelona.

The parador is located in the old town on a hill with a lovely view. There was nothing wrong with it, Clean, good service, excellent breakfast, no problems with the WiFi. But the price was far too high especially compared to other paradores. And then you had to pay extra for parking, located at the hotel yard. No English speaking TV channels. You have to know Spanish or bring a good book.

Hondarribia is a fascinating town. There are two parts, the old town at the top of the hill and a newer very lively port area(especially on a Saturday), both worth exploring. The Parador is in the old castle at the top and the public rooms are full of history. There was parking available at the Parador which was worth paying for. No restaurant although they had an arrangement with an interesting looking restaurant near by. We chose the Taberna across the square which was excellent. There was a terrace bar with fantastic views across the bay which was a pleasant place to sit. However there was only one small bar which was open to the public and getting served on the terrace was not easy. We opted for a superior room which had a fabulous view over the bay but no balcony. The room itself was disappointing, functional and small, you would not have known you were in a castle. As the cost was 291 euros B&B we did not feel like upgrading to a suite which does look amazing in the pictures. We did not feel that this Parador represented good value for money and although we liked the location we would look for another hotel next time.

The staff were efficient but not friendly. We did not receive our complimentary breakfast as I had prepaid on booking and the staff were unable to make a refund....Neither were we offered a complimentary drink.