Stayed in this hotel with my wife during a recent tour of the Basque Country. It was recommended to us by a local friend mostly because of it´s location and affordable price. In the end, we really enjoyed it. It´s a smallish hotel housed in a classic building on a pedestrian street. The first two things one notices are the really narrow staircase leading from the street to the front desk and the incredible amount of kitsch decor covering every inch of wall and ceiling. The check-in "counter" is like a little 18th century accountant´s desk in the middle of a jungle of kitsch statues, ornaments, lamps, stuffed animals, and innumerable other works of "art". We found it really pleasant in a surreal kind of way; others may find the experience a bit too claustrophobic.

The room was nice, with a comfortable bed and a tiny but well appointed bathroom. The decor was still similar to the rest of the hotel but a little less overwhelming. A real plus was a charming, enclosed balcony in the room; it faced the pedestrian street and made you feel like a 19th century aristocrat, sitting in your own enclosed balcony looking down at life below.

To enjoy this hotel you must have an open mind and appreciate the different things in life. If you´re looking for 5 star accomodations and service, look elsewhere: This hotel is for those who don´t mind some imperfections and appreciate character and originality.

Rooms at the front of the hotel are cramped and very noisy. You must ask for a room at the back of the hotel.
The rooms are cluttered with tacky plastic things, but lack basics such as bed-side lamps.
Lumpy beds.
The bathroom doors are made of glass, so you have to be very friendly with your partner!

OK for one night, but no more.

This hotel has two locations. The main hotel is on the main shopping street in the new part of town and this is where the reception is located. As there was no room available in this section we had a room at the hotel's other location around the block (a few minutes walk). The room was on the 4th floor without an elevator but we were extensively warned about his by the receptionist before accepting the room.

This location does not have a reception and the room key also opens the door on street level. The decoration in the public areas is extremely tacky. The rooms however are simple and clean. They are also quite large given the price (47EUR for a double in September 07). This second location is however in a slightly dodgier location than the main hotel, having said this we never felt unsafe.

Overall not a bad place to stay in the new part of town (it is quite a walk to the old town) especially given the price.

We booked the Hotel Dato direct and chose a room with balcony for €50 per night. The hotel is very well located on a nice street close to the train station and taxi rank. The staff at reception were very pleasant. Our room had lots of Art Deco ornaments/clutter with little space for suitcases. There was a frosted glass door in to the bathroom giving little privacy. Our balcony was enclosed again by frosted stained glass. At night this whole balcony lit up with several lights and a "Hotel Dato" sign making me fell like my room was part of the Blackpool illuminations, thankfully it was switched off around midnight. The bathroom was small with a tiny bath. Neither the bath nor the sink had a plug for the plughole. There was a good hand held shower making it easy to wash your hair. Our bedcover had some stains on it and looked faded. Overall it was a good stay but the clutter in the room became annoying after the initial quirkiness had gone. The extra cost of having the balcony was not worth it as the area of the balcony was taken up with a large marble table with large bowl of artifical flowers on it, leaving no room for us to enjoy it.