UBA Hostel
The €25 budget pick of Donostia, perched above Amara with valley views, a rooftop terrace, free parking and the only sub-€30 bed in the city if you don't mind a 25-minute walk or a Dbus 28 ride into town.
UBA Hostel is the Amara budget choice — €25 a night beds, free parking, panoramic terrace looking south over the Urumea valley, and the lowest price-per-bed of any hostel in Donostia. 7.5 across 1,833 reviews. The catch: 25 minutes' walk to Old Town pintxos or a Dbus 28 ride that runs until 22:30.
UBA Hostel sits at Camino de Uba 43, a hillside lane above the residential Amara neighbourhood south of Donostia-Amara Renfe. From the door it is 25 minutes' walk along the Urumea river into Parte Vieja for pintxos, 22 minutes to La Concha, and a Dbus 28 ride (€1.85, every 20 min, last bus 22:30) gets you to Plaza Bilbao in 12 minutes. The location is the deliberate trade — €25 a night beds versus €33-45 at Centro hostels.
The building is a converted hillside guesthouse — around 80 beds, a mix of 4 to 8-bed dorms, a few private doubles and a handful of family rooms with en-suite. Dorms are simple bunks with curtains, in-bed reading lights and corridor lockers. Bathrooms are shared by floor and reviewers consistently call them clean if not glamorous. The big windows in the south-facing dorms get the morning sun and look over the valley — reviewers consistently mention this view as the unexpected upside of the location.
The ground floor has a shared kitchen with a stove, microwave and proper fridges, a small lounge with a coffee machine, and a coin-operated washing machine in the basement. The breakfast counter (€6, included for some rates) is simple — coffee, fresh bread, butter, jam, fruit. The hostel's signature is the rooftop terrace: panoramic, south-facing, with a small bar that opens 18:00-22:00 in summer (cans + simple cocktails), the cheapest sunset-with-a-drink spot in Donostia.
Who this is for: budget travellers (€25 is the floor), couples wanting a private double under €70, drivers (free parking, almost no other Donostia hostel offers it), and anyone whose plan is beach-and-walk rather than late-night pintxos. Skip if you want to stumble back from Old Town at 1am — last Dbus 28 is 22:30 and the walk uphill takes 25 minutes minimum.
- 01€25 beds make UBA the cheapest hostel in Donostia — €5-15 below every Centro option, every night
- 02Rooftop terrace with valley views and a small bar (18:00-22:00 in summer) is the cheapest sunset-with-a-drink spot in the city
- 03Free street parking outside the front door — a real Donostia rarity, and central paid garages run €25 a day
- 04South-facing dorms get the morning sun and the valley view that reviewers consistently flag as the unexpected upside of the location
- 05Family rooms and twin privates are well-priced for couples and groups — the cheapest private-with-en-suite in town
- €25 beds (cheapest in Donostia)
- Rooftop terrace with valley view
- Free parking outside
- Coin laundry on site
“One of the best hostels I've ever stayed at. The facilities, parking, 5-10 minutes to bus stop, friendly staff. Roof terrace at sunset is unbelievable for the price.”
“The view was gorgeous. The staff was so nice. South-facing dorm windows get the morning sun and the valley view, woke up smiling every day.”
“The beds were comfortable, and the large windows offered a nice view. €25 a night is a real bargain for Donostia, and the bus 28 into the centre runs every 20 minutes.”
- Donostia-Amara Renfe station8 min walk downhill
- Dbus 28 stop into centre3 min walk
- Urumea river path into Old Town5 min walk
- Parte Vieja (Old Town pintxos)25 min walk / 12 min bus
- La Concha promenade22 min walk
- Anoeta stadium and sports park10 min walk
