Talo Urban Rooms

Great great great rooms!! Super value. Since everything else in San Sebastian was so expensive. And it wasn't too far from the beach. About a 6 minute bike ride. Yes, highly recommend renting a bike if you stay here. Makes it so much easier to get around and faster. HOWEVER, it was a self-check in type hotel which I found a bit of a hassle. Zero people interface at check in. HOWEVER HOWEVER, they did have daily room cleaning which is great obviously.

Not far from downtown, top floor of a modern building, comfortable on the whole. Maybe someone may appreciate the total absence of staff. Not me. Totally automatic check-in, in a dark hall. If you add that the room is kind of a cubicle, a bit warm in this season, basically furnished (although very clean), that the terrace offers a view...on nothing but roofs and roads... I was feeling inside a futuristic nightmare. Sorry, maybe it's just me. Anyway, in my opinion a lower price could be more appropriate.

What can I say that’s positive about sleeping in a cardboard box ! The room was clean, bed and pillows comfortable. Electronic check in was easy. However that is about it. The hotel (if you can call it that) is located in a residential area about 20 mins walk from anywhere. The pictures on the website are deceiving. We had a triple room and it was tiny. Not enough room to swing a cat. Nowhere to hang or put your clothes. There is a communal area. But it only has a fridge, so no tea/coffee making facilities (luckily there is a nice bar opposite called Cafe Bar Ane which is open from 9am but doesn’t do takeaway). We stayed for 3 nights, which was 2 nights too long. This is a hotel for overnight stays with minimum baggage only and definitely no kids.

Rooms are small but comfortable. Communal terrace accessable from the common area as well as rooms 1 and 3. Self service check in and out (no reception, bar etc). Towels provided as well as integrated shower gel. In the common area there is a fridge and freezer as well as provided water and an iron. It's not the most well equipped hotel, but it's clean and 20 minutes walk to the old town. A good option for one or two nights. (June 2022)

There is no check in staff at all totally automated therefore inpersonal. Rooms are small hotel style but without the facilities.|Cheap and nasty decor. ||There is a fridge with NO CUTLERY in a shared space. No washing machine.||Unless you have your own cutlery and plates what good is a fridge.||Airconditioning wasn’t working and it was hot. They said aircon doesn’t start now, 3 weeks before summer.||On a very bust road so have to open windows to get cooler air but it is very noisy.

The room is small (as expected) but very well designed; large picture windows, plenty of light. Great water pressure in the shower and plenty of hot water, excellent air-con, fast free Wi-Fi, free coffee-maker coffee. Very clean. Very comfortable bed. Secure parking. The directions to the hotel and check-in and parking instructions were excellent. We were welcomed by a very pleasant and helpful member of staff. The whole experience exceeded our expectations.

We stayed at Talo for three nights. ||||A) Finding it - We liked the location (based in a business centre about 20 minutes walk from the centre). But as many reviews state, actually finding the place is a real challenge. Tip - if you are driving take signs for the much larger Zenit Hotel which is next door. ||||B) Parking - Getting into the car park and the building itself involves typing in various numbers into keypads. The underground car park is dimly lit and Talo only has three or four slots which we found very hard to find when we arrived on our first night. ||||Warning - Take care if another large vehicle is coming of the car park at the same time. The entrance is narrow and our car was hit by the automatic door as it was coming down. ||||C) Cost -San Sebastian is expensive, but at 180 Euros ( £160) per night we felt it was overpriced for what was quite a small room. The owners really shouldn't be charging more than 100-120 Euros. ||||At 180 euros a night, you would expect some basics like a hairdryer and iron in the room. Incredibly, these were shared with other guests, as was a fridge! This really isn't good enough. However, we did get free coffee and mineral water, which was much appreciated. ||||D) Health and Safety- There is no receptionist and from what we could tell, there were no staff on the premises overnight. Security felt fine - you needed to type in codes to get in the building. But modern hotel walls and doors tend to be thick for a reason (fire safety).But here the doors and walls are wood and pretty thin. Unusually, I saw no signs for the evacuation procedure. This is quite concerning. ||||Summary: This is a stylish room, which takes some getting used too. While our first night impressions were very poor, the room itself grows on you. It is light, air con is excellent, wifi is very fast and someone has obviously thought about the room's layout. Perhaps most importantly, the bed is one of the most comfortable I have slept in for quite a while. ||||Talo has some similarities with Qbic in Amsterdam. This too is based in a business centre a little out of the centre and shares a similar concept i.e. minimalist urban chic. But Qbic is better value and, crucially, it also employs a member of staff. That human touch does make a difference when it comes to hospitality.

Concrete ceiling, concrete floors and pillar; plywood walls, that weren’t insulated so that you could hear every noise; no wardrobe, no drawers, no bedside tables, no chairs and no safe. The room is suitable for a one night stop over with minimal luggage. It was completely unsuitable for our five night stay to celebrate our wedding anniversary. There was no comfort. The rest of the facilities lounge, kitchen and sun terrace were communal and not what we expected. On the positive side it was clean. ||It was a good 30 mins walk from the city centre and sea front through a residential area and my wife felt threatened walking at night. The local bus stopped running at 2135. ||In our case the room was not fit for purpose and we checked-out after one night and found more suitable accommodation. The cost of this room was expensive and led us to believe we would be staying in luxurious surroundings, which these were not. ||The customer service was of the "take it or leave it kind”. All in all a very disappointing experience which has spoilt our special holiday.