Hotel review. Hotel Lasala Plaza, San Sebastián
Where Pintxos, Panoramic Views, and Peaceful Luxury converge
Hotel Lasala Plaza, San Sebastián
The Vibe:
If you’re after a hotel where you can kick back, relax, and not be subjected to the shrieking of children, then Hotel Lasala Plaza in San Sebastián is your place. It’s adults-only, which is like a golden ticket to peace and quiet. You’re right in the heart of the Old Town, so you’re just a hop, skip, and a jump from the pintxos bars, yet it still feels like you’re in a secluded retreat. No screaming toddlers or prams blocking your way to the beach here—though I’m sure if you had a heart-to-heart with the staff, they’d probably tell you they've met their fair share of precocious adults. Perhaps the ‘adult-only’ tagline isn’t exactly a promise of tranquillity so much as a polite way of saying ‘we tried.’
The Location:
Location-wise, it doesn’t get much better. You’re a short stroll from La Concha beach and right in the heart of the old town so the streets are lined with places where you can stuff yourself silly with pintxos. And yes, you will. It’s a given. Getting into the old town by car was another matter. We pulled over at a bus stop to consult the special instructions that were sent before our arrival, then, in a panic, had to search the car for a pair of glasses so we could decipher them, by which time the local police pulled up and started wildly gesturing in fast, Macarena-style motions that we had to bend it like Beckham and leave the no-go zone. I decided to smooth things over and jumped out to tell them (mostly in sign language) that we were simply confused tourists, headed to an adults-only place in the old town and were having trouble reading our instructions in Spanish. They seemed so bewildered (and repulsed) they let us go, whereby we proceeded to drive up a narrow one-way cobbled street with an ice-cream shop and arrived at the back of the hotel (key entry only). Thankfully, being an adults-only establishment, there are plenty of clued-up youths on hand to help.
The Rooms:
They’re sleek, stylish, and have beds so comfortable you’ll start to wonder why you ever bothered with your own mattress at home. Some of the standard rooms are on the small side but the Sea View and Historical rooms are generous and full of light. The bed linen was sumptuous—nothing groundbreaking, but very nice nonetheless. The coverlet at the end of the bed? Well, it was faux suede, and that’s where I draw the line. Faux suede always feels a bit…cheap. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect in a budget hotel or on one of those plastic covered velour massage chairs in an Asian airport lounge. A nice local linen would have been a better touch.
The heated marble bathroom floor? Lovely. Perfect, in fact. Until you come to the Japanese-style toilet. Ah yes, the whiz-bang technology all luxury hotels now insist on. If you’re over 50, like me, trying to read the tiny buttons is a challenge in itself. I’m just here for a bit of peace and relaxation, not a NASA space mission. If I could give one piece of advice to an aspiring adults-only hotel designer, it would be to scrap the techno-toilet and simply install a multi-lingual button on the shampoo and body wash dispenser that announces, loudly, the contents. That’s all. I don’t think that’s really asking too much. Another minor complaint was the absence of hair conditioner. I’m noticing this seems to be an emerging trend and I’m at odds to work out what the eco warriors deem unfriendly about knot-free hair. Suddenly, where there was once a distinguishable white product next to a clear product (akin to colour brail for the near blind), we now have two clear ones that ostensibly do the same job and NO conditioner! It’s madness! And while we’re on the subject, I do appreciate a bit of a vanity kit offering but the room was sadly devoid of so much as a cotton pad to remove my makeup. Understandably, I removed a point for this.
The Rooftop:
Oh yes, now we’re talking. It’s got a pool, 360 degree views, and a bar that’s just the right level of swanky without being pretentious. You can watch the sunset, sip a cocktail, and pretend you’ve got your life together like all the other adults in the pool. If you can nail a quiet moment on your own up there, I doubt there’s a better place in town on a sultry summer’s night.
The Dining:
I’ll come clean and admit we didn’t dine in-house but we did have breakfast, which was actually quite good (as opposed to the regular Spanish offering of cheese and ham with cake). The hotel clearly caters to empty-nesters (like us) who are suddenly aware of their mortality and demand holiday staples like oat-flour pancakes with sugar-free red berry compote, green detox juices, and individual bottles of pre-mixed ginger and lemon water—that kind of thing. The servings are small, which I like, but American guests might need to go a few rounds with the oat-flour pancakes (roughly the size of the absent cotton pads in the bathroom) to feel like they’re truly at home.
Final Thoughts:
All in all, Hotel Lasala Plaza is exactly what it says on the tin: a luxury adults-only retreat in the heart of San Sebastián. Modern, sumptuous, and the perfect base for everything the city has to offer. It’s somewhat devoid of the friendly buzz other hotels like Arbaso have in their public areas, but if quiet is what you’re after, look no further. My rating? 8/10 for luxury. 8/10 for value.
De Lasala Plaza, 2, San Sebastian, Spain
San Sebastian
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