Hotel Rural Garaiko Landetxea — Hotel in Garai

This small rustic inn has been well renovated cheerful almost elegant contemporary feel and the owners have clearly put some thought into the details. The young women who are you hosts are friendly and helpful and even served us breakfast an hour and a half before the normal start time so that we could catch an early flight in Bilbao. The inn has great views situated high in the hills above Durango and is part of a small and pretty compound consisting paradoxically of a large Pelota or Jai Alai court and small stone church. ||||In the headline to this review I use the word "cheap" both positively and negatively. At €90 a night with a good €5 breakfast and a very nice overall ambiance, Garakio Landetxea is feels like good value. Cheap in the negative sense as the i) the frame of stairs to the rooms remains somewhat inexplicably bare 2x4 and there is very little sound insulation between the floors and the walls so you get quite a lot of noise from other rooms. Also the shower stalls are quite small and can be a challenge for larger people. ||||Two other things that should be noted. First, there is no parking next to the Inn. You can drop off but then you have to exit the compound and go to a parking lot that is below the Inn. It is not far (about 50 meters) but you have to walk back up to the Inn along a fairly steep path that may be difficult for older people or people with disabilities. Second, you cannot open the windows very wide and there is no air-conditioning but there is a fan. It was quite hot when we stayed there and not being able to get more air flowing through the room was...

We picked this place because the sights in Basque country are spread out. The village of Garai is in the hills just above Durango, a town between major cities Bilbao and San Sebastian, slightly closer to Bilbao.||||The owner of the property is friendly, effervescent and helpful. We told her how long we had in the area (four nights) and she laid of a recommended itinerary each day at breakfast. Day one was San Sebastian and the beach towns west of it. Day two was a coastal drive, day three Bilbao and day four south to Vitoria and then east toward our next stay at Aìnsa, on the way back to Toulouse.||||Each day began with breakfast of croissants, bread, yogourt, fresh orange juice from their grove, excellent coffee, cheese and thinly sliced chorizo and jamon iberico. The breakfast room is sunlit and overlooks a garden. By day four, we Canadians were craving eggs, but the starch based breakfast is standard in southern Europe and it was excellent.||||The hotel is perched on a rise, with parking a short walk uphill to a compound that includes a church and a fronton for the Basque game of pelota/ jai alai. It's a five minute drive downhill to a major nexus of highways at Durango. One can get anywhere from here by car. There are mountain views on clear days.||||Our room was spacious, clean, modern and offered a view of a ridge topped with windmills. We would heartily recommend Garaiko Landetxea to anyone...

Really enjoyed our stay here. ||Uxue on reception was so friendly, helpful and welcoming, really made our 4 day stay wonderful. ||As previous reviews have mentioned, the hotel is really a B&B with about 8 rooms. This means there’s no one around in the evening and no restaurant (and nothing is open in the pretty village of Garai) so it’s 10 mins drive and then somewhat challenging parking to the large town of Durango which is very a locals town. ||Parking at the hotel is free but about 100 meters up a zigzag slope to get to the hotel. (You can drive up to the hotel to load your cases). ||Rooms are very stylish (exposed brick work), bathrooms have opaque glass walls but don’t offer much privacy and for two people with two cases, the rooms are smallish with minimal storage so it was a juggle to find floor space for them. As others have said, there’s also little sound insulation so you won’t be sleeping in. ||Breakfast was extra (8 euros pp) and was nice but identical each day. ||I think for a shorter stay (1 or 2 days) then this is a...