This list of spa hotels in the Basque Country started in a pool full of magnesium salt in a forest above San Sebastián.
It made me realise that the Basque Country is famous for everything except this. People come for pintxos, surf, Michelin stars and the Guggenheim. Nobody tells you that within about an hour of San Sebastián you can bathe in wine, in 200-year-old salt water, or in the Atlantic itself, heated up and pumped into a pool facing the waves.
I live in Biarritz this winter, so this part of the world is my back yard now. Below are the eight spa hotels in the Basque Country I think are worth your money on both sides of the border. One of them I have stayed at and reviewed in full. The others are the ones I would book next, and I have been honest about which is which. No invented experiences here.
The quick version
| Spa hotel | Where | Spa style | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arima Hotel & Spa | San Sebastián | Nordic forest spa, magnesium pool | A quiet reset close to the city |
| Akelarre | San Sebastián (Igueldo) | Sea views, high-end cosmetics | Combining a spa with a 3-star dinner |
| Villa Magalean | Hondarribia | Small boutique spa | A romantic night in a pretty old town |
| Gran Hotel Balneario de Cestona | Zestoa | Historic thermal spa | Classic, unhurried wellness |
| Hotel Marqués de Riscal | Elciego, Rioja Alavesa | Wine therapy by Caudalie | Wine lovers and architecture fans |
| Hôtel du Palais | Biarritz | Guerlain spa in an imperial palace | Grand-hotel glamour |
| Sofitel Le Miramar Thalassa | Biarritz | Seawater thalassotherapy | Serious thalasso programmes |
| Grand Hôtel Loréamar | Saint-Jean-de-Luz | Seawater pool on the beach | A spa weekend by the sea |
Spa hotels in the Basque Country: Spain or France?
Something worth knowing before you choose. On the French side of the Basque coast, the wellness tradition is thalassothérapie: treatments with heated seawater, seaweed and marine mud. Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz have been doing this for a long time and they take it seriously.
On the Spanish side you get two different things. The old tradition is the balneario, a spa built around a natural mineral spring. The newer one is the design spa: hotels that build a hydrotherapy circuit, saunas and treatment rooms around a concept. Arima and Marqués de Riscal are that second type.
Neither is better. It depends on what you want afterwards: the ocean, the mountains or a glass of Rioja.
1. Arima Hotel & Spa, San Sebastián
The one I actually stayed at.
Arima means soul in Basque, and the whole hotel is built around that idea. It is a family-run hotel on the green edge of San Sebastián, right next to the Miramón forest, about 15 minutes from the centre by car or bus. It was the first Passivhaus-certified hotel in Spain, which in practice means it is extremely quiet.
The spa, Foresta Wellness, is 1,200 m² and adults only. The design is Nordic: natural materials, calm colours, glass looking out at the trees. The star is the magnesium pool, warm water full of Epsom salts with hydromassage jets. The spa team told me to give it twenty minutes, not five, and they were right. There is also a 34-degree hydrotherapy pool, a cold contrast pool and, since summer 2026, a new sauna area with a Finnish sauna, a eucalyptus steam room and infrared saunas. Treatments use Alqvimia, a Spanish organic brand.
In summer there is a rooftop pool that looks straight over the treetops. I swam in it and it was one of the quietest hotel pools I have been in.
Good to know: book a Superior room or higher, because the Standard rooms face the street, not the forest. The rooftop pool is open from mid-June to mid-September only. Non-guests can buy a spa pass.
Best for: busy people who need to switch off fast, and travellers who like trying new spas.
Read my full review: Arima Hotel & Spa: an honest review
2. Akelarre, San Sebastián
Akelarre sits on the slope of Mount Igueldo, on the west side of San Sebastián, looking out over the open sea. Most people know the name because of the restaurant, which has three Michelin stars. Fewer people know there is a hotel and an 800 m² spa attached.
The spa uses Valmont and Sisley products together with natural elements from the region, like Cantabrian sea stones, plus Dead Sea salt. It is a member of Relais & Châteaux, so expect the price that comes with it.
Why it is on my list: very few places let you do a spa afternoon and a three-star dinner without getting into a car in between.
Best for: a special occasion where food matters as much as the spa.
3. Villa Magalean Hotel & Spa, Hondarribia
Hondarribia is the town right at the French border, about 20 minutes from San Sebastián, with a walled old town and brightly painted fishermen’s houses in the Marina quarter. Villa Magalean is a small boutique hotel with a spa and a restaurant, inside the town itself.
This is not a huge wellness resort, and that is exactly the appeal. It is the option for a quiet night away where you can walk to dinner and back.
Best for: couples, and anyone who prefers small and personal over big and impressive.
4. Gran Hotel Balneario de Cestona, Zestoa
If Arima is the future of Basque spas, Cestona is the past, and the past has aged well.
The spa in Zestoa opened in 1804, and the grand hotel was added in 1893. It is built around two springs of salty mineral water that locals call guesalagas, which were already officially recognised at the end of the 18th century. Think high ceilings, big lounges and a proper old-world spa atmosphere, with thermal baths, pressure jets, massages and hydromassage.
Zestoa is in the green valley of the Urola river, inland from the coast between San Sebastián and Bilbao.
Why it is on my list: because it is the opposite of a design hotel, and sometimes that is exactly what you want. It is also usually far more affordable than the others here.
Best for: slow, classic wellness and a nice sense of history.
5. Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Elciego (Rioja Alavesa)
This one is technically in the Basque Country, even though everyone thinks of it as Rioja. Elciego is in Álava, and the hotel is the building you have probably seen in photos: Frank Gehry’s explosion of pink, gold and silver titanium ribbons in the middle of a vineyard. There are 61 rooms.
The spa is a Vinothérapie® Spa by Caudalie, 1,400 m², built on the idea of combining mineral-rich water with grape and wine extracts. The signature experience is the barrel bath, a soak in grape pomace in an actual wine barrel. There is also an indoor pool, a hammam, a sauna and a traditional foot bath.
It is a longer drive from the coast, but it combines well with a trip inland. The desert of Bardenas Reales is in the same general direction if you want a very different kind of landscape the next day.
Best for: wine lovers, architecture fans, and anyone who has always secretly wanted to bathe in wine.
Tours and experiences in San Sebastián
6. Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz
Crossing into France. Hôtel du Palais was built as a summer palace for Empress Eugénie, and it still looks exactly like that: huge, facing the Grande Plage, a bit theatrical. It is part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection today.
The Imperial Spa is 2,500 m² and works with Guerlain. There are nine treatment rooms, an indoor pool with counter-current swimming, a hammam, a sauna and a fitness area, and an outdoor pool looking at the Atlantic.
Best for: grand-hotel glamour and a spa you dress up for.
7. Sofitel Biarritz Le Miramar Thalassa Sea & Spa
If you want real thalassotherapy rather than just a nice pool, this is the reference address in Biarritz. The hotel sits by Miramar beach near the lighthouse, and the spa is a proper thalasso centre.
Expect a heated seawater pool, a second pool with a swimming current, sauna, hammam, a relaxation lounge with ocean views, and treatments with seawater baths, jets, Vichy showers and marine products.
Best for: people who want a structured wellness programme over several days, not only an afternoon.
8. Grand Hôtel Thalasso & Spa Loréamar, Saint-Jean-de-Luz
This hotel is right on the beach of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a few steps from the centre of town.
The Loréamar spa is around 1,000 m². The heart of it is an indoor seawater pool heated to 32 to 34 degrees, with hydromassage jets and a view of the bay, plus sauna, hammam and a salt cave. It has won several international awards for thalassotherapy.
It pairs well with a day of exploring the coast. The tiny village of Guéthary is a short drive away.
Best for: a spa weekend by the sea, with a town to walk around in between treatments.
Tours and experiences in Biarritz
One more: a spa day without a hotel
If you are staying in the centre of San Sebastián and just want a few hours in warm water, look at La Perla on La Concha beach. It is a thalasso centre, not a hotel, with a seawater circuit looking directly over the bay.
And remember that Arima also sells spa passes to non-guests, so you can do the forest spa without moving hotels.
Tips before you book spa hotels in the Basque Country
Bring a swimsuit and flip-flops. It sounds obvious, but when I booked my spa slot at Arima, it was the one thing they reminded me about. Some spas sell or lend flip-flops, not all of them do.
Book your spa time in advance. Many hotel spas here work with time slots, even for guests. Ask for your slot when you book the room, not when you arrive.
Check the age rules. Several of these spas are adults only. If you are travelling as a family, ask before you book.
Look at the seasons. Outdoor and rooftop pools usually open only in summer. The indoor spas work all year, and honestly a spa is at its best on a grey November day on the Atlantic coast.
Get a car. Apart from the city hotels, most of these places are much easier by car, and the Basque coast is one of the nicest drives in Europe. I have mapped out a full 7-day Basque Country road trip if you want to combine two or three spas with the rest of the region.
For a rental car in the Basque Country, I compare prices on DiscoverCars. It searches the big rental companies and local ones at once, and the cancellation rules are shown clearly before you book.
Which of these spa hotels in the Basque Country would I choose?
For a short, quiet reset close to San Sebastián: Arima. That is the one I know and would go back to.
For a once-in-a-lifetime dinner-and-spa night: Akelarre.
For the full French thalasso experience: Sofitel Le Miramar in Biarritz or Loréamar in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
For something completely different: bathe in wine at Marqués de Riscal.
Whichever you pick, give the water at least twenty minutes. That advice cost me nothing and it worked.
Read more from the Basque Country
- Arima Hotel & Spa San Sebastián: an honest review
- My 7-day Basque Country road trip
- Best restaurants in San Sebastián
- A perfect spring Saturday in Biarritz
- Surfing in Hendaye as a beginner
- Guéthary, the prettiest Basque village
- Bardenas Reales, Spain’s desert
My stay at Arima was hosted as a press visit. All other spa hotels in the Basque Country on this list are independent recommendations based on research; I have not stayed at them and none of them paid to be included.
Disclosure: this article may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend what we believe in.
