Lodging in San Sebastián

While on the RS Basque Tour, we stayed at Hotel Parma. The location is ideal.

Located in the heart of San Sebastián/Donostia’s Old Town, the “Pension Basic Confort” ( spelled with a “n”) is a gem. This small family-run hotel has modern finishes—including an elevator—in large, quiet rooms. La Concha Beach is a 5-minute walk away. The hosts are fantastic and provide a map of the best Pintxos ( tapas) bars with many just around the corner. With very reasonable rates in Spain’s most expensive city for accommodations, Pension Basic Confort is listed on Booking.com
Have a great trip!

I used Booking.com, a nice array of options from small hotels, to chains, to apartments and B&Bs. The map option tells you exactly where it is at (as opposed to the somewhat vague location on other sites) and you can filter by price and amenities.

I would not be concerned about being in the core of "Old Town", the business area just South of old town and along the beach works as well, as does the Gros area across the river. All are easily reachable on foot.

You do not mention when you are looking at being there, but it does get crowded in the Summer months, there is a film festival toward the end of September, and probably other events. Point being rooms do book up, so book early for choice, and you will pay probably as much, or more, for a room than you will in Madrid or Barcelona for the same room.

Cities in the Basque Country are walkable and everything is at a very close distance. Public transportation is excellent and very affordable, so no issues on that side. Donostia-San Sebastian is a city to walk, so you may practically stay anywhere as distances are mostly irrelevant.

Thank you everyone for your replies. We will be there the first week of April so expecting it to not be so crowded.

I guess a couple things to add...

Obviously the food and Pintxos are a main reason for going to San Sebastian, in April, it will not be the beach.

We found a wealth of information by searching on YouTube for different travel blogs, including a couple videos by James Blick in his Spain Revealed series.

I also used this App: https://pintxos.es/en/ They did a good job on it, highlights some of the best Pintxos, very nice pictures showing what it is, and gives you places to go. I can't vouch that they have updated it, but it should be a good start for some research.

In September 2019, we loved our stay at Legazpi Doce Rooms & Suites in San Sebastion. Highly recommend visiting Chillida Leku. The El Peine del Viento (comb of the wind blow hole) at La Concha Beach is great fun too.

Just a small note, the Comb of the Wind is at the far west end of Ondarreta beach, not La Concha. Next to it, the funicular train to top of Igeldo mountain, for the best views of the city. And a 110 year-old amusement park!

Oops! Thanks for the correction @MikelBasqueGuide!