Lovely town. Lovely room. Lovely friendly chambermaids.Wonderful breakfast staff and the hottest coffee in N. Spain! Be careful you don't end up being ripped off by the parador booking site. Most unpleasant and unhelpful receptionist! We stayed in 5 paradors over a week. This was the bottom of the pile. Recommend Argomaniz! Nothing for miles but beautiful!

We are great fans of the paradors, but this place, along with the town, is very disappointing. It is dull and dowdy although reception and room staff are helpful and welcoming.
The bar was in the Gil Blas accross the road. The bar staff were cold and unhelpful; the decor tired and faded.

Found the hotel to be a little faded, but comfortable. No problems with staff and an excellent breakfast (as in most Paradors). Dinner at the Parador Gil Blas opposite is an option, but is not to be recommended. The food was fine but the service about as bad as it gets - a gang of unsmiling waitresses who seem really angry with the world and who think nothing of removing your plate before you've finished eating. I could write more.....

This is the cheaper of the two Paradors in Santillana del Mar, and it shows.

The exterior is pleasant but the interior is gloomy. Our room was spacious and nicely furnished but with a tiny window which looked out onto a wall, giving the impression that you were in a basement. The bathroom was rather shabby - the hot water from the bath tap was very hot, but also chocolate brown, so we gave that a miss & used the shower, which was OK.

Breakfast was in another gloomy room off the lobby. Not bad, but not up to the usual Parador standard. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant so we ate in the other Parador, the 4 star Gil Blas, just across the plaza. We had an excellent meal in a nice dining room, with friendly staff and prompt service.

We didn't get to see the rooms, but from the look of the public areas this seemed much the better of the two hotels. If we stayed in Santillana again, we would definitely pay the extra and stay at the Gil Blas.

Santillana is a charming and well preserved place with plenty of restaurants (and tacky tourist shops) and well worth an overnight stop. Although it is "pedestrianised" don't assume that you can stroll around with impunity. During our visit, cars and vans were trundling around all the time, so be careful before you stand in the middle of the street to get that great photo shot.