Hotel Atari — Hotel in San Sebastián

I stayed 2 nights at Hotel Atari in early June 2025. It was booked fairly short notice and, this being my first visit to San Sebastián, I decided that I’d prefer to stay within the old town. There was limited choice available, with most of the better reviewed more reasonably priced options being full. However Hotel Atari had availability…either a small single room (with the bed against a wall), or a “Deluxe Double with Balcony”. Despite travelling solo, I opted for the latter and booked directly on Hotel Atari’s own website. Total cost for 2 nights was a little over €550, inclusive of breakfast.||I arrived at around 2pm and was told that the room hadn’t yet been cleaned, but that I’d receive a text message when it was ready. I said I’d go next door to their bar to take a drink and perhaps a small bite, and asked if I needed a voucher or similar for the “free” glass of wine and the pinxto that was offered on their website and mentioned in the booking confirmation. The pinxto appeared to come as a surprise…I was asked to show the email and the young women on reception took a screenshot of this “so that I don’t get sacked”. I presumed this was a joke (we are talking about a tiny €4 snack!), but based on my later experience maybe it wasn’t!||Anyway, the room was available soon after. It was okay though really nothing special; long and thin and a little dark, with a door out onto a narrow balcony that was shared with two other rooms.||The following morning I went to the hotel’s first floor restaurant for breakfast. The reception wasn’t welcoming, with the first words from one of the staff being “room number?”. The breakfast is mostly a self-service buffet type setup, with an additional short menu of hot dishes (eggs etc.), and drinks served at the table. The buffet selection was decent, with good quality jamon filled croissants and the like. The most important however for me at breakfast is a good coffee and a good fresh juice.||The orange juice wasn’t self-service, but was poured for me at the table. The waitress poured (quite literally) a third of a glass, way less than I’d receive if I had ordered this at any local bar or cafe for €5. During the breakfast I asked for this to be topped up; I was very begrudgingly served a tiny bit more (less than first time), but told “no more”!!||I returned for breakfast the second morning. Same unwelcoming reception and same minuscule glass of juice poured (see the attached photo - absolutely no joke!). This time, when I asked for some more I was told “no, one only”!!!||Now seriously, I can understand freshly squeezed juice not being left in a jug to be consumed at will. But I would at least expect to be served a decent glass, equivalent to what I would receive if I had ordered this in a cafe. And really, if a guest asks for a little more, is it really appropriate to say “no”? This costs perhaps €5 maximum in a cafe, and that includes their profit and all overheads (the staff, the rent, taxes etc.) ….the incremental cost here would be the price of 2 or 3 oranges, and perhaps a minute or two of someone’s time, maybe €2 maximum!||Overall, I felt that this experience was just indicative of an establishment that is over-priced, corporate (which it is) and soulless.||After this short stay at Hotel Atari, I spent a few nights in Biarritz, then returned to San Sebastián for 1 night before flying back to UK. This time, I stayed at Pension Ur-Alde, a nice independently run simple little hotel, again right in the centre of the old town. The welcome was genuine, the service was warm, and it cost 60% less per night than...

My wife and I stayed here while visiting Spain on our honeymoon. I booked because the location in Parte Vieja seemed good, and because I had stumbled upon some promotional rate including breakfast. As lodging is steep in San Sebastián, I decided to try out Hotel Atari.||There are many things to like about this hotel. All the staff were highly professional and helpful – they called us a cab when we were leaving and were very attentive during meals. The location is also really great – there are many legendary pintxos bars close by, and it is easy to walk across the river to the Gros neighborhood for other restaurants and sea views. Walking to the coast and beach to take in San Sebastián's stunning views is also easy – Parte Vieja is an incredible location. The rooms were also fairly sized and well-insulated from noise (people party late in Parte Vieja but we were not disturbed and were on a lower floor), and the roof terrace, small as it is, had one-of-a-kind views of the rambling rooftops of Parte Vieja and the imposing Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus – it feels like you are hovering over the church, really unique. The restaurants onsite (Amama and Atari) are both good and well-run, including for breakfast. Competition for food is fierce in San Sebastián and I think we ate well here. ||That said I think a couple small changes could take this hotel to another level and maybe improve its star rating, which seemed to be 2, down from 4. I don't understand the nuances of the rating system to be clear, and I understand that there are limits to what can be done in an historic building. However it seemed to us like Hotel Atari could improve its guest experience in two main ways: First, the hotel could invest in nicer furniture. The bed was comfortable, but the table/chairs in the room and restaurant felt a little cheap. Second, the bathroom amenities could be better – robes, slippers, and distinct soap bottles instead of a single pump dispenser would make the experience significantly more inviting. ||Overall Hotel Atari is very well-run and has a unique location. If you want to stay in Parte Vieja this hotel merits serious...

Initially you can’t quite believe the hotel’s location right outside the cathedral doors in the Old Town - there’s so much going on in the Old Town it really is a perfect location.

The rooms are modern and well presented - cleaned well every day and most (maybe all) with a balcony with some sort of view.

There’s a roof terrace but I wouldn’t get too excited about that as there’s just a few empty tables - almost a shame with a view that nice to not have some sort of rooftop bar up there serving drinks etc - feels like a lost opportunity.

The staff at reception were helpful where they could be, but would say a drawback is the breakfast and particularly the service there - there’s clearly a requirement to have no more than 1 serving member and it just isn’t enough if you’re not going to allow people to get their own coffees/orange juice etc. There a ‘full’ menu but only a few items worth ordering, the avocado is absolutely horrific.

The pastries and small bites are limited but actually very nice but get tiring quickly, just feels with a good space and good food around they could do so much better with this element, and just have another member of staff up there, breakfast really became a chore and it shouldn’t on holiday. It certainly wasn’t ever served with a smile either but I’m not surprised given how much work she had to do!

So one star less than the full allocation for the breakfast and odd rooftop but overall this hotel is very much recommended, amazing location, reasonably fair price of circa 250EUR per night, and very...