The hotel Leyre was virtually on the threshold of the bull arena. Under the arena is a cheap parking and then it's only 2 corners down the street. The old city centre of Pamplona is just a few minutes walk and then you're in the middle of the bull-running area. The service of the hotel was very client friendly. When checking in we got all kinds of information including a booklet about things to do in Pamplona, city walks and tours in the surroundings of the city. We used it every day when we were there.

We got the impression that the hotel had to be very creative with it's space since the lobby, elevator and hallways are quite cramped. This did not effect the rooms however which are nice. If you're a light sleeper the noise from the other guests or cleaning ladies may be a bit of a problem. We do not have an issue with that but reading the other reviews I can imagine that it can be a bother. Still, for what you pay the Leyre is certainly not bad. (NB when we were there they were building a new appartment block across the street which gave us a view on a construction site. Our guess is that by 2012 this is over)

Two things made this a nice stay: the staff were wonderful and the location for San fermin. I still can't get over how amazing the location was for everything. Then hotel is clean. Rooms have plenty of space and the bathroom was great. I only marked the rating for price down because of the huge increases for the event. Still, I recommend this hotel.

the parking at the bull figt arena (plaza de toros) is really good to do (EUR 10 for the night)
Friendly people in the hotel.
Breakfast simple but genuine

Room smells horribly of cigarette smoke. Staff completely unhelpful saying there are no other available rooms. Except I checked in at 1:30 PM.
Very noisy, can hear complete conversation of neighbors. Lots of road noise.

Would not recommend this hotel.