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Learn Spanish in San Sebastian

Accommodation in San Sebastian

Students in San Sebastian generally choose to live with local hosts (private households) or in shared apartments, which means living with either local Spaniards or other students. San Sebastian is a large city and students must be prepared for a daily commute to college of 10/30 minutes by foot or public transport.

> Spanish Hosts
> Shared apartments
> Private apartments
> Hotels

> Travel Information to San Sebastian

Spanish hosts/Private households:

Stay with local Spanish hosts - this is a great way to put your Spanish language skills into daily practise with native speakers.  The opportunity to engage in social communication with non teachers is great for building self confidence and developing a better understanding of daily life,as the Spanish really live it.
Students live with their hosts and have a single bedroom (or shared rooms if booking as friends/couples).  Choose either B&B or half-board (breakfast and evening meal).
Distance to school: Allow 10/30 minutes daily commute.

Good news - no summer supplements applied to host accommodation!
Extra night's accommodation can be booked, with notice.

Shared apartments:

Live with local hosts (or with other students) on a self catering basis in single or a shared room.  This is the most independent accommodation option. You will have your own room with a desk and all the amenities and you will share the communal facilities (living room, kitchen, bathrooms, washing machines...) with your flatmates.  The school (or hosts) spring-cleans the communal facilities every two weeks, you will still be expected to carry out your share of housework (cleaning, washing up, taking down the rubbish, etc...).  These apartments are usually small flats with basic, modest facilities.

Please note that with this housing option you will either live with other students from the school or with local residents of San Sebastian. If you wish to specifically share with Spaniards (or with other students) please let CESA know, we will do all we can to meet your request, but we cannot guarantee to do so. 
Distance to school : Allow 10 to 30 minutes daily commute.

Please note there is a high season supplement for apartment accommodation, applied from June to September each year (already included in the CESA Course Finder fees shown).

Private Apartments:

The school can rent a private apartment for you and/or your group.
This will take some time to arrange, so please let us know two months in advance of your course.

Indicative costs:
Low season : 4 weeks stay : From 1585.00 EUR
High season  4 weeks stay : From 2195.00 EUR

Only offered to language students for the duration of their language course.

1. Prices stated are prices for full months and include general expenses
    (gas, electricity, community, local taxes) at average consumption.
2. Apartments have to be paid for in full, in advance.
3. All apartments include, unless stated otherwise:
    Cooking facilities, dishes, forks, pans and frying pans, etc...
    Blankets, bed, linen... But not always towels 
    Fridge, washing machine and cooking facilities

Please note the apartments do not usually have: telephone, bread toasters, electric coffee machine microwave oven and vacuum cleaner. Usually they just have basic furniture.

Hotels:

There a wide range of Hotels to choose from in the city, all within easy reach of the college, by foot.
Early reservations are advised and are essential for the peak summer period.

Pension Alemana
Located 50 meters from the beach, this pension offers the pleasures and luxuries of a hotel at a reasonable price. Please note, they have one small room that faces the interior with little light, but the rest of the rooms have plenty of light. The dining room where breakfast is taken is especially nice. This place usually fills up in the summer, so make your reservations early.
www.hostalalemana.com

Pension Aldamar
The location could not be better, 100 meters from the old part of town. It has large exterior facing rooms that are totally equipped (internet access in all of the rooms) at a reasonable price. It is a good idea to reserve well in advance especially from July to September when it is almost always full. The customer care is professional and thorough.
www.pensionaldamar.com

Pension Aida
This small pension is part of the chain Pensiones Con Encanto which are characterised by nicely decorated rooms, central location and friendly customer service. All of the rooms are exterior facing although none have views. It is well-located in the Gros neighbourhood just 3 minutes from the city centre. Great quality to price ratio. With only 8 rooms it is important to reserve your room early.
www.pensionesconencanto.com

Hostal Record
Near Zurriola beach in Gros, this family style hostel has 30 rooms in a villa surrounded by a garden. The customer service is friendly. Although it is not very close to school, it is a good option for an economical accommodation with a good location for beach goers.
Phone: 943 27 12 55
Fax: 943 27 85 21

Kursaal
Located 200 meters from the Kursaal Convention Centre and the beach in the Gros. 5 minute walk to the city centre and 3 minutes to the old part of town. It is also a member of the group Pensiones Con Encanto with the same guarantees of comfort, good service and price to quality ratio. There are only 10 rooms so make your bookings early.
www.pensionesconencanto.com

Hotel Orly
A 4 star hotel located in the city centre, 50 meters from the beach and with prices that are much easier to swallow than other hotels of similar standard. From the top floor you can enjoy a spectacular view overlooking all of San Sebastian.
www.solmelia.com

Hotel Maria Cristina
The only 5 star hotel in San Sebastian.
This is where the movie stars stay when they come for the film festival.
www.luxurycollection.com/mariacristina

Hotel Londres
Although it is "only" has 4 stars, for many this is the best hotel in San Sebastian with its location right on La Concha Bay. The rooms with ocean views are more expensive. The hotel restaurant has 1 Michelin star and has a buffet for 30€ that is worth the price.
www.hlondres.com

Hotel Parma
Located in the old part of San Sebastian right on the water and 100 meters from the Kursaal convention centre. The customer service is polite and professional with a pleasant atmosphere. Here you have the best ocean view rooms available for the price. In total there are 27 rooms, all of them are air conditioned with a private bathroom and WI-FI. It is important to note that not all rooms have ocean views. In fact, there is only one individual room that has ocean views with all the others being doubles. To avoid paying a double room rate, reserve in advance and request the individual room with ocean views. Given its ideal location, this place fills up fast so reserve well in advance.
www.hotelparma.com

Hotel Terminus
A 2 star located right next to the main train station. It is 5 minutes from the beach and 3 minutes from school. There are 18 rooms all exterior facing. When making your reservation, request a room that is not facing the train tracks to avoid the noise of the passing trains. The prices are quite reasonable given its central location and its 2 star rating.
Adress: Paseo de Francia 21
Phone: 0034 943 29 19 00
Fax: 0034 943 29 19 99

Travel

Arrive: Sunday PM
Depart: Saturday PM

College Transfers:

You are welcome to make your own way to San Sebastian, but the college can arrange a private transfer service for you from the following destinations (at additional cost - see CESA Course Finder for pricing details).
Transfer available from : San Sebastian, Biarritz, Bilbao, Irun/Hendaye
Times : 08.00 to 22.00hrs
When: On arrival and depature days (alternative days at additional cost on request)

Travel by Air:

We recommend you fly to Biarritz airport or to one of the main airports (Madrid/Barcelona) and then on to the smaller San Sebastian airport, although students can fly to Bilbao and Pamploma airports as well.

SAN SEBASTIAN, airport (EAS)
(Tel: +34 943 66 85 00)
19 km away, a small airport with several flights a day to Madrid and to Barcelona.
San Sebastian airport is only 19km away from the school. There is a bus “Fuenterrabia-San Sebastian” that stops close to the airport every 30 minutes and take around 45 minutes. If your luggage is very heavy it might be better to take a taxi or you can take the college arranged transfer at an additional cost.
Airport website: www.aena.es/san-sebastian
Airlines : www.airnostrum.es   /  www.iberia.es   /  www.spanair.com

BIARRITZ, airport (BIQ)
(Tel: +33 559 43 83 83)
50 km away, connections with London Stansted (Ryanair), London Gatwick (Easyjet) and Paris (Airfrance), Frankfurt, Brussels or Madrid (Iberia) and Amsterdam (Transavia) 
Airport website: www.biarritz.aeroport.fr
Airlines : www.ryanair.com  /  www.airfrance.fr  /  www.regional.com 
             www.transavia.com  /  www.easyjet.com

BILBAO, airport (BIO)
(Tel: +34 94 486 9300 or +34 94 486 96 64/63)
96 km away, offers good links to intercontinental flights, via London, Frankfurt, Paris... Bilbao airport is connected with Amsterdam, Basel, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Lisbon, London, Milan, Paris, Porto and Zurich.
Airport website: www.aena.es/bilbao
Airlines : www.airnostrum.es  /  www.easyjet.com  /  www.iberia.com 
             www.lufthansa.com  /  www.tuifly.com  /  www.vueling.com  
             www.airberlin.com

PAMPLONA, airport (PNA)
(Tel: +34 948 16 87 00)
75 km away, connections with Lisbon, brasil, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Rome, Copenhague, Krakow, etc.
Airport website: www.aena.es/pamplona
Airlines : www.airnostrum.es  /  www.ba.com  /  www.iberia.es
             www.spanair.com  /  www.flytap.com

Train Travel options to San Sebastian:

San Sebastian lies on the Paris-Madrid line. The fast train TGV (5 ½ hours) stops at the border (Hendaye), 19 kms away. Timetable may change depending on the dates, but there are at least 10 trains a day. From the border you can take the Euskotren direct to San Sebastian.

Spanish trains: www.renfe.es
French trains: www.sncf.com

Travel by Ferry:

Portsmouth - Bilbao (Santuritzi) Tuesdays and Saturdays
For more information: www.poportsmouth.com

   

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