Short stay: Hotel Juan de la Cosa, Santona, Cantabria, Spain
Hotel Juan de la Cosa is an upscale hotel situated on the unspoiled, mile-long Playa de Berria on the outskirts of Santoña in Northern Spain‘s Cantabria region. Set in its own gardens, the hotel is situated roughly midway between Santander and Bilbao.
The welcome
We arrived in the late afternoon, having attended a sailing event in Santoña during the day. The hotel car park was full and the road immediately outside the hotel fairly busy with parked cars due to the popularity of the Blue Flag beach, but it wasn’t too difficult to find a space fairly close by.
The room
We had a family apartment room which was ideal for our needs since we were travelling with our children who were sailing in Santoña each day. The ‘room’ gave us the space we needed to spread out comfortably and store all our sailing gear (which takes up quite a bit of space!) as well as our usual possessions.
Efficient use of the space meant that the children’s beds dropped down from the walls when required, and could be easily tucked away when not in use.
The apartment room also included a double-bedded room…
…as well as a small bar/kitchen with microwave, kettle, toaster, fridge, two-ring hob, utensils, sink, draining board, washing machine and iron.
At the far end of the living space was a small dining area and drying racks which were really useful for drying out wet kit from each day’s activities.
The bathroom
The bathroom had a lovely, large shower, basin, lavatory and bidet, and was kitted out with the hotel’s own-branded toiletries.
The facilities
Additional facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, café and pinchos bar. Prices in the restaurant were significantly higher than you might find in many restaurants in Santoña, but the food was good. Pictured below is a tuna salad starter, and mains of beef tenderloin and seafood paella, to give you a flavour of what you can expect.
Other nice touches
The hotel also has its own indoor swimming pool and sauna.
Cost
We stayed in high season (early August) and the rate was 180 euros per night.
The best bit
The hotel’s prime location on one of the region’s most beautiful beaches is a strong selling point. For our particular needs, being able to have an apartment room which accommodated all of us, as well as our gear, was an even greater bonus.
The final verdict
This is one of the best hotels in the area and enjoys a prime spot on a protected stretch of coastline between Noja and Laredo. It has a wide range of appeal, catering really well for families with its apartment rooms, but also SAGA holidaymakers during the shoulder seasons.
Disclosure: Our stay was kindly assisted by CanTur and formed part of a trip sponsored by Brittany Ferries.
