Mercure San Sebastián Monte Igueldo - MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW IN THE WORLD (?)

On the web site for the hotel "We invite you to enjoy the MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW IN THE WORLD in a renovated hotel full of charm, where our team considers the customer to be its raison d'être. Welcome to San Sebastián or, as they say in Basque, Ongi Etorri Donostiara"

We had a pleasant(ish) one night stay in this Mercure in January.

Arrival is by way of a long and narrow winding road to the top of the Monte Igueldo. You need to have already printed your booking or you will be charged by the Park Warden for access ( our booking was inspected for about 10 minutes for some reason ).

There is a free car park for guests, and checking was quick. ( the lobby has a cash machine if you needed it ) We were given an upgrade to a room with a sea/bay view. The hotel was almost deserted, there must have been about 3 other guests staying.  Was disappointed that the room did not have the view advertised without stepping out on the terrace and then leaning out. The hotel is really about the location and view. We were given two welcome drink vouchers that we used for a Jack D and Coke in the bar later.

Room design featured a built in bench seat. The bathroom needed a little better cleaning. ( no tissues or loo roll when we arrived and it seemed to be trouble for them to be delivered from housekeeping) The min- bar with free soft drinks turned out to be two bottles of water and some capsule milk for the Nespresso coffee maker. Room was also a little dusty in places.

We enquired about access to the town below ( did not wish to drive the road in the dark ) and was told that the park barrier shut at 6pm anyway. We could use the other road back not going through the park after 6pm.  There was no shuttle bus option, and our planned route of the Funicular was out of service for a week. with no notice on the website.  The pool was also closed for the winter.

The receptionist suggested that if we wanted to see the view from the front of the hotel we could go around the side and look from there. We did, and watched the sun set over the town. The view was very nice.  Unfortunately we were prevented from returning to the entrance to the hotel by the passage way becoming locked. There was no signage to warn, and the receptionist had not mentioned that they locked the gate at sunset. After what appeared to be hours, our shouting resulted in it being unlocked and we were allowed back to the hotel without any apology . This experiance tended to spoil the stay.

Breakfast was served in a separate dining room. We were the only guests. There was a good but limited choice.

Not sure if the customer is king in this hotel, but the view was lovely if stressful.

Welcome gift

Breakfast Buffet.

The View