Does anybody have experience of Santander &
accommodation there?

Yes, Steve. In year 2,000 I visited Santander twice. The first time, in April, I stayed at Hostal Liebana. It's close to the Bus & Train stations, inexpensive, and they can be contacted on the 'web.' I also stayed 2-nights at Hostal Picos de Europa in Potes (Very nice).
In September I returned with the wife and we stayed at El Sardinero in a place called Hostal Paris: nice location, but it's too close to the 'discos' that close at 04:00. The noise of the 'motos' at that hour woke us up every night. Of course if you are interested in discos, that may be a different story.
To get from Madrid to Santander I recommend Continental-Auto bus from Madrid's Avenida de America: 5.5 hours on the 'Business Class' bus that departs Madrid at 14:00.

Thanks Eddie, very helpful

Local buses in Santander cost just 100-p's. And I found the 'card' for Hostal Liebana: it's on C/Nicolas Salmerón, 9, Primer piso, just a few steps past Hotel Alisas

Local buses in Santander cost just 100-p's. And I found the 'card' for Hostal Liebana: it's on C/Nicolas Salmerón, 9, Primer piso, just a few steps past Hotel Alisas

Hi Steveaqui! Have you looked for acommodation for Santander in the "Hostels & Other Lodgings" forum yet? Not sure you'll find anything there anyway. My ladyfriend's family is from Santander! I also just did a search @ HotelSearch.com and found a SURPRISING number of pensiones, hostales, and hostal-residencias which have basic websites (few with photos though). Might be worth a look.

Saludos, MadridMan

Sevilla-Santander:
In September we made that rrip in 2-legs:
1. Sevilla-Madrid AVE (09:00) arrived Madrid 11:30. Took a taxi from Puerta de Atocha to Avda. de America Transportation Center.
2. Madrid-Santander on Continental-Auto Gran Clase (14:30) arrived Santander 20:00.
There's a fairly decent Cafeteria in the Avda. de America Transportation Center on the same level as Continental-Auto's ticket counter. We had a light lunch there. In Sept '00, roundtrip on the Gran Clase bus between Madrid-Santander was ESP 8.400

Thanks Eddie, what's Santander like in your opinion?

The Province used to be called Santander (aka la Montaña) - now it's Cantabria, but it's still la Montaña. I found a friend who I hadn't seen since 1960 when I was studying Spanish there in Sept. The college used to be Universidad Internaciónal de Santander. It was party time every night with the Tuna Universitaria at El Chupi on Avda. de los Castros in El Sardinero. Now it's the UIMP: Universidad Internaciónal Memendez Pelayo. The discos behind the Gran Hotel Sardinero seem to have have displaced the traditional Tuna Universitaria, although I am sure they are somewhere around.
I love Santander. It's a place you can get excellent seafood. And then there's Liebana and the Picos de Europa: Cocido Lebaniega and Orujo de Liebana (Aguardiente). I have stayed in Santander but prefer Sardinero. You will soon see why.