El hotel está a ochenta metros del mar, así que iremos andando.

Because Spanish usually uses estar for location.

• El hotel está... = the hotel is located...
• Es is more for identity, definition, or essential characteristics.

So:

• El hotel está en la costa. = The hotel is on the coast.
• El hotel es grande. = The hotel is big.

In this sentence, the speaker is saying where the hotel is, so está is the natural choice.

Here, a is used to express distance from something.

So está a ochenta metros del mar means it is eighty metres from the sea.

This pattern is very common in Spanish:

• Está a dos kilómetros del centro.
• Estamos a cinco minutos de la estación.

It is not exactly translated word-for-word into English, but it is the normal Spanish structure for saying how far something is from somewhere.

Because de + el contracts to del.

So:

• de el mar → del mar

This contraction is mandatory in normal Spanish.

The only common exception is when El is part of a proper name, such as:

• de El Escorial

But with ordinary nouns, you use the contraction:

• del hotel
• del centro
• del mar

Good question. Mar is one of those nouns that can appear as masculine or feminine, but masculine is very common in standard everyday usage, especially in general contexts like this.

So del mar is completely natural.

You may also come across la mar in literary language, regional usage, or certain set expressions, but for learners, el mar is the safest default.

Así que means so, therefore, or so then.

It introduces a consequence:

• El hotel está a ochenta metros del mar, así que iremos andando.
• The hotel is very close to the sea, so we’ll go on foot.

It is very common in spoken and written Spanish.

A similar connector is por eso, but the structure is a little different:

• Está cerca; por eso iremos andando.

Both are natural, but así que is especially common for linking cause and result in a smooth, conversational way.

Iremos is the future tense of ir: we will go.

The verb ir in the future is:

• iré = I will go
• irás = you will go
• irá = he/she will go
• iremos = we will go
• iréis = you all will go
• irán = they will go

So iremos andando means we will go walking / we’ll go on foot.

Spanish often uses the simple future like this, especially in neutral written language or when sounding a bit more definite. In conversation, people also often use vamos a ir andando.

Yes. Both are correct.

• Iremos andando = simple future
• Vamos a ir andando = near future / going to go

In many everyday conversations, ir a + infinitive is very common and can feel a bit more conversational. But iremos andando is perfectly normal and natural too.

In this sentence, iremos andando sounds concise and idiomatic.

Andando is the gerund of andar.

Here, ir andando means to go on foot or to walk there.

So:

• iremos andando = we’ll go walking / we’ll go on foot

This is a very common Spanish way to express the means of going somewhere.

Compare:

• ir andando = go on foot
• ir en coche = go by car
• ir en tren = go by train

In this sentence, the idea is: the hotel is so close to the sea that walking makes sense.

Because ir andando focuses on how you will get there: by walking.

If you said caminaremos, that means we will walk, which is also correct, but it can feel slightly different. Iremos andando keeps the idea of going somewhere and adds the method.

Compare:

• Iremos andando. = We’ll go on foot.
• Caminaremos. = We’ll walk.

Both can work, but iremos andando is especially natural when the destination is understood from context.

Yes, andando is a gerund.

In Spanish, gerunds are often used after verbs of movement to describe the manner in which the movement happens.

So:

• ir andando = go walking / go on foot
• venir corriendo = come running
• salir volando = fly out / leave flying

This does not mean continuous tense here. It is not like English we are walking. Instead, it tells you how the action of going is done.

Not in this sentence.

• a ochenta metros del mar = eighty metres from the sea
• al mar would mean to the sea

So the meanings are different:

• Está a ochenta metros del mar. = It is eighty metres from the sea.
• Vamos al mar. = We are going to the sea.

Here the speaker is describing distance, so del mar is the correct form.

It strongly suggests that, yes, because of the context.

The sentence says the hotel is very close to the sea, so the natural conclusion is that we’ll walk there. Spanish often leaves the destination unstated when it is obvious from the context.

So even though the sentence does not explicitly repeat al mar or a la playa, listeners will normally understand it.