Akelarre Ostatua

At first we were a bit unsure whether we should book a room here since we had seen some negative reviews - yet I can confirm that we were more than pleased with our stay here. Communication and check in were easy and friendly, the room has everything needed and it was super clean. The mattresses are comfy and it’s generally all we wanted for a night on the camino. Also, the location is great with many restaurants and bars around and just a minute off the camino. We are happy we stayed here!

We had 3 rooms for our stay. The hotel is okay – nothing fancy, but clean and very affordable. Check-in was super easy, we received our room codes via message. The location is excellent, right in the center and close to many bars and restaurants. Shower gel was provided. However, everything in the rooms is very old, including the furniture and towels. Overall, good value for the price.

PILGRIMS ON CAMINO DEL NORTE - DO NOT STAY HERE We stayed here while walking the Camino del Norte and unfortunately had a terrible experience. Our first room stank of cigarettes and ash and it was honestly hard to be in the space. In fairness, when we raised this with the hostel, we were moved to another room. But the second room was damp, smelt strongly of mould, and had damp sheets and black mould visibly growing on the walls (see photos). We then received accusatory messages from a member of staff, suggesting we were dishonest for having used the shower in the first room despite having told them we used it from the start. Given the condition of that room, it’s laughable they’d consider reselling it. The bathroom was also in poor condition, with a broken soap dispenser and a persistent bad smell. Check-in is fully paperless with no human contact which may be fine for some, but felt unnecessarily complicated for us as per previous reviews of the hostel. We paid £70 GBP for this double room… far more than we paid the night before to stay in a 1000-year-old monastery run by two monks, where we were treated with warmth and care and enjoyed a more comfortable room. This hostel currently appears high on the Buen Camino app while the albergue in Gernika is closed but I would strongly urge fellow pilgrims to look elsewhere. This was easily the worst and least hospitable place we’ve stayed along the route. The manager initially agreed that a refund would be appropriate but has since failed to pay. He began denying that the pictures were in his room and gaslighting us, arguing that it was unacceptable for us to use two rooms. The way this has been handled is disgraceful - we paid £70 to sleep in a mouldy room. The customer service throughout was defensive, dismissive, and entirely lacking in understanding or any form of apology. If I could give it minus stars I would.

Absolutely swindling pilgrims doing Camino Norte, including us. Our room was tiny (think Japan), tired (think 1980s) noisy (you can hear every other guest on your floor and above you) and not very clean. We had bought food to cook but had to wash everything in the kitchen first. So so so grubby. If we had paid €30, or even €40, it would be sort of OK, but we were charged €83, pre-booked and non-refundable, or we would have kept walking, despite being very tired. We have travelled for 3 years now, and this place is about the worst value in that time.

This place is terrible. Tiny room, with the shower and toilet in the same room, with only half a divider in between. Noisy building, also occupied by regular residents. Above a bar so lots of street noise too. Heating didn't work in the evening. There is no permanent reception like it says on the internet, but rather some strange auto-reception system which didn't work properly. I was told I couldn't use the upstairs kitchen which was supposed to be part of the stay. The people who look after it were trying to be helpful, but this is certainly not worth 60 euros.