Rooms

Rooms come over 3 floors with a lift to whiz you up and down, but the original staircase is rather smart, and you’ll probably use that once your luggage is stowed in your room.

The same crisp style runs throughout. You get white-washed walls, attractive rugs on dark wood floors, pressed white linen on fabulous kingsize beds. Up on the top floor, many of the rooms are built into the eaves with original beams on display. There are shuttered windows to keep you cool, and beautiful shower bathrooms with sparkling white tiles; some have a tub, too.

The biggest difference is size. Some Classic Rooms are quite small, others are quite big. The Superior Rooms are all big and tend to be on the first floor with high ceilings; we'd opt for one of these. The Suite is enormous, its sitting room stretching far enough to incorporate 3 sets of double doors that open onto Juliet balconies at the front of the house; the bedroom here was the master bedroom of the original mansion.

Some rooms have the view, others have four-posters; one has Chinese wallpaper and an ornamental fireplace. Bigger rooms have sofas, all have desks, and free WiFi runs throughout. Some at the top have skylights that flood the rooms with light, and west-facing bathrooms on the top floor have rather good views from the shower. All rooms have air conditioning and minibars with water, juices and soft drinks; the Suite, Deluxe and Superior Rooms also have coffee makers, bathrobes and slippers.

Features include:

• Complimentary mini-bar
• Hairdryer
• In-room treatments available
• Minibar
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

Breakfast is a feast and you can eat on the terrace in good weather. You get freshly squeezed orange juice, croissants and baguettes, plates of meat and cheese, bowls of fruit and yoghurt. There are also scrambled eggs or omelettes (tortilla de patata) with bacon or txistorra (typical Basque sausage).

There's an informal snack bar for 'quick and easy' lunches and dinners like burgers, cheese and bread, and salads. Handy, because these meals are available daily, and can be taken as rooms service.

The hotel’s Bailara Restaurant - led by head chef Enrique Fleischmann - has a menu offering a seasonal menu of traditional ingredients with a modern twist. We haven’t had the chance to dine here yet, but with dishes like grilled scallops with mash and fried artichoke, and oven-baked peach pie, we can't wait to pay a visit. The restaurant is open for lunch from 1pm until 3.30pm, and then again for dinner from 8pm until 10.45pm. From 1st April until 30th September it is closed all day on Tuesdays and Wednesday lunchtimes - but reopens for Wednesday dinner service (8pm-10.45pm). Then from 1st October until 31st March, it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

These seasonal opening hours mean there will be times you'll need to eat out, there are a couple of simple restaurants in town, and reception can advise. For something a little different, try a local cider house - a Basque speciality - with traditional menus. Alternatively, head to Frontón in Tolosa (10km away), where fantastic ingredients are cooked as simply as possible in search of intense flavours. It’s quite expensive, but worth the money.

If you fancy something really special, nip up to San Sebastián for the night. The city is firmly fixed on Europe’s culinary map and 3 of its restaurants have 3 Michelin stars (Akelarre, Arzak and Martín Berasategui). All are hideously expensive and you have to book well in advance, but you can always drop into the Old Town instead and try some pintxos: think tapas with attitude and much more flair.

Features include:

• Bar
• Restaurant
• Room service
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• There’s good hiking in the valley. You can climb a hill then roll back down to town for lunch, where a couple of simple restaurants serve tasty home-cooked Basque food: a bowl of soup, a plate of vegetables, a piece of meat, all for a few Euros
  
  
• Tolosa, 10km away, is not the most touristic town, but it's worth a peek, especially on Saturdays, when its market draws a local crowd. It has a small Old Town and some Basque gothic architecture
  
• Follow the valley up to Azpeitia and check out the Sanctuary at Loyola, a shrine to St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, who was born here. There’s a large parkland garden, a much-visited basilica and a museum of religious art
  
• In Zumaia (near Getaria), you can visit the flysch route - a 60-million-year-old geological formation of rocks and fossils
  
• The Basque Country is full of rock art, courtesy of our ancestor, Cro-Magnon Man. These days the art is off limits, but head north to Zestoa (21km away) and find Ekainberri, a cool little place where they have replicated the art and the cave. It’s well worth the trip
  
• There are great mountain-biking routes, 20 minutes away
  
• Have lunch on the coast at Getaria (34km away). This hugely popular seaside town is known for its grilled sardines and roasted meat and fish. Stop at well-priced Elkano for some of the best Basque food you’ll find (book ahead). There’s a lovely beach, too
  
• Keep heading west to cool little city San Sebastián. The enormous La Concha beach is exceptionally pretty. There’s a statue of Christ overlooking town above the small port, so climb up for excellent views, then drop down to wander the narrow Old Town alleyways
  
• Biarritz and Bilbao (the latter for the Guggenheim) are both within day-tripping distance

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Mountain biking
• Museums / galleries
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Traditional cultures

Kids

Families are welcome and there are a couple of connecting rooms. Baby cots and extra beds can be added to most rooms.

Best for:

Babies (0-1 years), Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

The Suite, Deluxe and Superior Rooms can all take a baby cot or extra bed. Families of four should book the Family Room which is the Suite connected to a Superior Room

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

Distances:

• Airport: 70 minutes
• Shops: 15 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Iriarte Jauregia is set in Bidania (Bidegoian), a town in a mountainous valley in the centre of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque region of northern Spain. It is a 25-minute drive from San Sebastián, and just over an hour from Bilbao.

By Air
The closest airports are Bilbao and Biarritz (both approx 85km away, and 70 minutes by car; Biarritz is over the border in France). Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving these airports.

From the Airport
The hotel can arrange a transfer, which will cost the same as a taxi - see Rates - or you can hire a car (recommended). If you fly into France and hire a car, make sure you are allowed to drive in Spain.

By Car
For car hire see our car rental recommendations.

By Boat
Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth to Bilbao. The journey takes 24 hours. Early booking is recommended. They also sail to Santander (103km from Bilbao) from Plymouth and Portsmouth.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on Getting to the Basque Country