Hi Spain Travelers!
I need some quick help. We're celebrating our 25 Anniversary with a 2-week trip to Spain in 3 weeks and have not booked any hotels, rail tickets or car rental yet. We do have our airfare booked, thank goodness. I was thinking about using EuropeDestinations.com since we're so late in booking, but am willing to try to book myself with some advice on nice hotels/restaurants/must sees.
We're flying into Madrid, departing from Barcelona and thinking about the following itinerary and would appreciate any advice.

Madrid - 3 days
AVE train to
Seville 3 - days (Anniversary)
Car Rental for Southern Spain
Malaga area (not sure where to stay)- 3 days
Barcelona - 4 days

Thanks in advance for any advice!

you need to move fast now as Spain will be high season as you arrive.

Malaga depends if you want great hotel or just somewhere to lay your head. If the latter then Hotel Victoria in Malaga is in the centre of the action but perfectly clean

You must reserve the rent car before going to Spain, as it's much cheaper to do ahead. Even Avis or National have good rates on the web. Beware that an automatic is much more expensive than standard drive

Thanks for the plan ahead tip on the car rental. Since this a special trip for us, we're looking for nice hotels in Seville and Malaga/Marbella area.

We also want to visit as many bodegas in the Jerez de la Frontera area as we can.

Any Bodegas that we shouldn't miss?

thanks!

Hola

Congratulations!

If you're gonna "splash" out on hotels the The Alfonso XIII - http://www.alfonsoxiii.com/eng/informacion/ in Seville should be memorable. In Madrid try the http://www.westinpalacemadrid.com/eng/informacion/. Both these hotels are part of the Westin chain so you might be able to get a better deal if you stay at both.

Good luck and have fun!

I've always thought if I wanted a top hotel for 2 people in Madrid, I might try Priceline, where people often seem to win the Westin Palace as a 5 star for pretty good prices.

www.biddingfortravel.com has a hotel list which shows the hotels which have come up (but may not be completely comprehensive) and also bids that people have won.

I also see the Intercontinental Madrid Castellana being won as a 5 star in Madrid...

Several years ago we stayed at the Casa de Carmona in Seville, a most beautiful villa. Every room is different and our experience was extraordinary. Check it out.