Akelarre

Pedro Subijana has been cooking on Monte Igueldo since 1970, and Akelarre has held three Michelin stars since 2007. The hotel came much later, in 2017, and it was designed around the restaurant rather than the other way round: a low, glass-fronted building that steps along the hillside so that almost every room faces the Cantabrian Sea.

There are twenty-two rooms and suites, two of them with private pools, and the architecture keeps interiors deliberately quiet so the view does the work. Beyond the flagship dining room there is Espazio Oteiza, a more relaxed alternative with a cocktail bar, plus a spa, a small winery and a cooking school for guests who want to get behind the pass.

San Sebastián is a short drive down the hill, which puts one of Europe's densest concentrations of good eating within easy reach, from pintxos bars in the Parte Vieja to the beach at La Concha. Staying up on Igueldo means you get the city without the noise of it.