Zinema7

San Sebastián is an underratedly glamorous city, especially in September, during film festival season. It’s this connection that Zinema7 trades on, and the large-format film-star portraits in the guest rooms are only the most conspicuous example — locals will remember that one of the city’s iconic golden-age cinemas once stood on this very site.

From a historic movie house to something of a historic hotel; there’s nothing else in town like this very contemporary hundred-room boutique hotel, alone among San Sebastián’s old-world luxury palaces. The décor is modern, full of mid-century influences, recalling the postwar era when the film business was at its most chic. Rooms, presided over by those unique film-star shrines, are clean-lined, contemporary-luxe, equipped with flat-screens and DVD players in case a cinematic mood strikes.

In festival season it’s understandably a pretty tough ticket, but during the rest of the year San Sebastián can’t quite fill the Zinema7 with nothing but the beautiful people. It’s got a brisk side line in business and conference travel, and for those on the company dime, it’s a real find — stylish, wired and central, it’s of a considerably better class than the usual business hotel.

How to get there: Zinema7 is located in the city center of San Sebastian, within walking distance of the rail and bus stations. San Sebastian Airport(EAS) is approximately 20 km away, and Bilbao Airport(BIO) is roughly 100 km away.